Twentieth century high heels...

In the early twentieth century, women became the majority demander of high heeled shoes. They started demanding more confortable, flat-soled shoes. That is until the roaring twenties, where higher hemlines encouraged higher footwear. The depressin in the 1930s influenced Western

shoe fashion as heels became lower and wider.

Hollywood however gave the new heel an elegant look. In the 1940s, luxury items were in short supply due to World war 2 and high heels tended to stay moderately high and thick.

The revival of western high fashion in the post-war 1950s was led by a French designer, Christian Dior and shoe designer Roger Vivier. Together they developed the stiletoes. Stileto actually means a small dagger with a slender blade in Italian. They were first mentioned in the London's daily telegram on September 10th 1953. The exaggerated slender heel and narrowing of the toe gave a woman sheer height and a strong character look. They were often banned from public building as they caused physical damage to floors.

However, feminists moved to get rid of the stileto as it was thought to be man's way of crippling the woman when in the need to run away from male violence.




info sources: http://www.randomhistory.com/1-50/036heels.html

High heels through the middle ages...

During the middle ages, high heels became more of a fashion statement although they started out being worn for practical reasons. Both men and women would wear wooden soles or 'pattens'. Pattens would attach to fragile and expensive shoes so as to keep them protected from the street 'debris' and mud in the outdoors.

A different high platform shoe was created in Turkey in the 1400s and were popular throughout Europe until the 1600s. They were known as 'Chopines.' These heels were HIGH! They were so high that women had to use canes or servants to help them move about! They were as tall as seven to eight or even thirty inches high!!!!! These shoes were exclusively worn only by women. They were overshoes and usually were designed with cork or wood stacked at the heel.


Chopines.

Chopines were also worn by the women in Venice, Italy. They wore them as a symbol of wealth and social status.
People coming to tour Venice would think these shoes looked ridiculous and hilarious. Tourists would find these shoes humorous and mock them.

info sources: http://www.randomhistory.com/1-50/036heels.html

The purposes of the high heel back then...

high heeled shoes were worn for different reasons. The Egyptians wore them to show their status and the butchers wore them to help walk above the dirt of the dead animals.
But in ancient Rome, high heels were worn by prostitutes so they could be readily identified as the sex trade was not illegal.
'kothorni' were platform sandals later known as 'buskins' (in the Renaissance)  that had high wood and cork soles. These high footwear came from ancient Greece and Rome and were popular amongst actors for the purposes of creating different heights on stage as to portray a characters status in society, i.e the higher the heel the more important they were.

As we learn more and more about the geography of high heeled footwear we get a clear indication of the different uses of them and the difference in the uses in different countries and cities. They were used for practical reasons and also for status reasons.

info sources: http://www.randomhistory.com/1-50/036heels.html

where did high heels come from?

The matter of where high heels came from and who invented them is very controversial. Some people argue that Leonardo De Vinci invented them while others say they came from Hellenic times. However the high heel originated from Egypt.

Although most Egyptians walked barefoot, we know that as early as 3500 BC, an early version of high heels were worn by the higher class Egyptians. Not only did the higher class women wear this footwear but so did the higher class men! This is footwear is thought to be only worn by the upper class Egyptians for important ceremonies or traditions.

 Now these 'high heels' were nothing like todays high heels!
They are thought to be pieces of leather held together with lacing that was often arranged to look like the symbol of 'Ankh', which represented life.

Not only upper class men and women wore high heels on special occasions but the Egyptian butchers also wore a type of high shoe that would allow them to walk above the blood and dirt of the dead animals. 

info sources: http://www.randomhistory.com/1-50/036heels.html

 Hello,
my name is Sarah Cannon and I want to share with you the geography of high heels!