High heels, like diamonds, are a girly girl's best friend. There are an endless number of brands that create the beauties from affordable websites all the way to expensive designers. While slipping a pair on, have you ever thought about just how far the shoes have come in design? Have you ever thought about where such a beautiful thing originated? The answer for many is most likely no, even though the history is an interesting thing to read upon. Fun fact, high heels weren't only worn by women way back in the day.
Throughout the years, research has shown that high heels can be traced all the way back to Ancient Egypt. Around the middle of the second millennium BC, Egyptians began to frequently uses sandals. However, Egyptian butchers would often wear heeled shoes in an attempt to keep their feet clean of any blood while slaughtering animals.
Later on during the European renaissance, the high heel became a symbol of status that was worn by both males and females. It was common for people belonging to a wealthier class to be seen wearing high heels. In time, Catherine de Medici, a Franco/Italian noblewoman, pioneered the use of heels as a fashion statement. Supposedly, Catherine de Medici wore her high heels as a means of impressing the French court when she wed the Duke of Orleans, the future king, though this theory is said to be apocryphal.
Two hundred years later, King Louis XIV of France decreed that only nobility could wear heels. Seventeenth century portraits of King Louis XIV depict the various intricate heels worn by the king and they were often decorated with miniature battle scenes. It is beyond crazy to believe that men once owned what is now a women's fashion trend.
During the 16th century, royalty such as Catherine de Medici and Mary I of England began to wear high heeled shoes to make them look taller or larger than life. By 1580, men wore them on a consistent and common basis. From then on, a person with authority or wealth was often referred to as "well-heeled" (how funny). However, during the period of time that the French Revolution took place, high heels were a trend that was ended in an attempt to avoid any association with the old aristocracy. Since people had wished to avoid appearing wealthy, heels were taken off the market for all sexes and replaced with more commonplace footwear. From the beginning of the Baroque era, the high heel returned as a simple shoe to be worn by whomever pleased.
As you can see, there's more to the history of high heels than you might've thought.
