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Go to any shoe shop right now and ask for their best pair of high heels.
If you are a woman, that request will likely be entertained without so much as an eyebrow raised.
If you are a man, however, that is unlikely to be the case without an explanation of buying it as a gift for someone.
At this point of time, the practice (and physical pain) of wearing high heels, such as stilettos, is most associated with women’s fashion.
This was not always the case though and there was a time in history when men strutted their stuff proudly while wearing high heels.
When was this and what changed?
To understand, one needs to look back at the history and purpose of high heels.
Long, long ago
Spend any time walking about in high heels and you might start complaining they are not comfortable footwear for long strolls.
That is indeed true and the reason why is because high heels were not actually designed for walking as much as riding.
The first high heel shoes saw the light of day as riding shoes, crafted for and worn by medieval Persian nobility.
For Persian noblemen, horsemanship was regarded as a prestigious skill requiring considerable talent.
To comfortably ride a horse, one would need a pair of stirrups – the rings hanging off each side of a horse – where you place your feet.
High heels helped riders keep their feet on the stirrups, with the arch between the heel and the rest of the sole keeping the shoe securely in place.
Additionally, the extra stability was welcomed by noblemen who went into battle.
After all, it was much easier to handle a bow and arrow on horseback if you had shoes that helped you stay on your horse.
Across the sea
In an alternate universe, high heels might have been a fashion that stayed confined to Persia.
Thankfully, in our timeline, high heels eventually managed to make the great journey to Europe.
This is normally attributed to Persian ambassadors who dressed their best as they made their way to the court of Europe’s kings and queens in the early 17th century.
We may never know what European courtiers thought when they first saw the shoes.
What we do know is they likely loved what they saw, as high heels became the latest fashion trend to take hold in the continent.
Since the Crusades, anything that originated from the East was seen in Europe as desirably exotic.
Hence, people who wanted to be trendier than their peers likely adopted the wearing of high heels as quickly as possible.
Like today’s high heels, the high heels of the time were likely to be uncomfortable for long distance walks or for working in the fields.
But perhaps that was exactly why the nobility liked wearing them, as they could separate themselves from the flat-shoed peasants.
Enter Louis XIV
Possibly the most famous king of the French Bourbon dynasty, Louis XIV was a trendsetter in the vein of Audrey Hepburn and Marilyn Monroe centuries later.
The man stood at 163cm but wore heels that increased his height by an astounding 10cm! Imagine walking around in those monsters of fashion statements.
Given that the man wished to be known as the Sun King – the figure which the entire universe revolved around – it was unsurprising that he would include fashion in his arsenal.
His high heels were almost always a bright red, with the dyeing process being an expensive one, which he could obviously afford.
Additionally, red shoes had been traditionally worn by powerful figures, such as the Pope and the Byzantine emperors, for reasons unclear.
Nevertheless, Louis’s heels were not left plain, as some were actually decorated with elaborate artwork depicting scenes in battle!
And to make sure they stayed exclusive, in the 1670s, Louis decreed only his fellow nobles could wear red heels.
Thus, the members of his court at Versailles made it a point to show off their status by wearing red high heels, just as their king did.
The fashion caught on elsewhere, of course, with fellow monarch Charles II of England also wearing a pair, despite him being far taller than Louis, at 185cm.
Rise, women, rise
If Louis XIV was getting all the men in his court to strut about in high heels, why is it that women are the ones left wearing them today?
In the 18th century, women’s fashion began to incorporate elements from men’s fashion. Hair began to be cut shorter and hats with large plumes, similar to military headwear, began to appear in women’s wardrobes.
Around this time, the heel began to undergo changes, depending on the gender of the wearer. Men’s heels were lower, squarer while women’s became thinner and curvier.
The Age of Enlightenment also spread the sexist idea that all men were equal and rational beings, while women were emotional, sentimental creatures.
Thus, men started to stay away from “frivolous” high heels, while women retained the shoes for the time being.
High heels fell out of fashion for a time in France when the French Revolution came around in 1789.
Anyone who wished to keep their head would wisely not wear anything associated with the nobility, such as high heels.
Return of the heels
Heels would eventually made a return to people’s wardrobes, courtesy of a popular cultural icon.
In the US, cowboys wore heeled boots for the same reason those medieval Persians did – to make riding horses easier.
Cowboys became popular symbols of rugged masculinity, with cowboy boots, heels and all, carrying the same connotations.
The 20th century saw heels being a normal part of dress shoes, with the additional height being seen as desirable and manly.
And finally, the latter half of the 20th century saw figures such as Elton John and KISS wearing prominent high heels onstage, possibly as an act of counter-culture and reclamation.
Despite the supposed prestige one gets from looking taller, the fear of looking “girly” stops most men from wearing high heels today.
Whether this continues to be the case in the future is a mystery, but as one might note, fashion is a cycle…
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