Shoes that increase a person's height have been known since Ancient Greece, where the actors on stage for these purposes wore cothurns - wooden or cork sandals with thick soles. In medieval Europe, whose streets were buried in mud and sewage, stilted shoes were invented, which are wooden soles with leather belts. They were worn on top of everyday shoes and were called clogs, and in the East, similar shoes, kabkab, were worn in the bath so as not to burn their feet on the hot floor. In Venice, starting from the 15th century, women of different classes put on very large platforms, sometimes more than 20 centimeters high - zoccoli (hooves). The oldest finds of heels as separate from the sole parts that support the heel, archaeologists date back to the 14th century. It was the time of the nobility's passion for hunting and horseback riding. To prevent shoes from slipping in the stirrup, shoemakers introduced new technology- began to thicken the sole under the heel, and then invented the heel. Later, another military innovation influenced the spread of shoes with a heel: the increase in the importance of the infantry as a branch of service. Infantrymen for long trips needed high-quality boots, so the craftsmen switched to the production of shoes with thick soles, with comfortable heels. In Russia, the first heels also appeared in the 14th century. As archaeological excavations show, they were carved from solid pieces of wood and put into the boot under the sole. From above, the entire structure was sheathed in leather. In the 16th century, a stacked heel appeared, consisting of many layers of leather, fastened with a metal bracket and lined with a horseshoe. It was extremely difficult to walk in shoes with such heels, because the arch support had not yet been invented, as well as the details that fixed the foot, such as the shoe tongue. Yes, and then they sewed without distinction between the right and left legs. There is a version that the Russian word "heel" is borrowed from the Turkic language, where it meant "heel". Heeled shoes for a long time worn only by men, women joined it later, already in the 17th century. Having mastered the heels, the ladies replaced their practical functions with purely aesthetic ones: in such shoes, the woman’s back seemed more straight, and her posture seemed majestic, although it was difficult to physically hold it, because the height of the heels sometimes reached 20 centimeters, and the toes of the shoes literally rested on the ground. The heels of boots and shoes were dyed depending on the fashion in different colors: blue, green, black. Of particular importance was the red color, which in Europe served as a hallmark of the aristocracy. In the 17th century, the heels of boots began to be painted black, the red color of the heels was preserved only on shoes (“Mr. red heel” - this was the name of the French dandies of the time of Louis XIV). Before the fall of the monarchy in France at the end of the 18th century, shoes with red heels were worn only by the French nobility at the court of the king. The history of heels was constantly supplemented by new inventions. Yes, in early XVIII centuries created the "French" heel, or "pigeon's paw". Concave inward, it created an optical illusion, visually reducing the distance between the toe of the shoe and the heel. In the 20th century, the stiletto heel was invented. Who exactly came up with it is unknown, but we know the name of the person who first nailed a metal heel on it. It was the shoemaker Salvatore Ferragamo. The Shoe Museum in Florence is named after him.

Who Invented Heels?

Everyone knows what a heel is. Both women and men. But modern men are not given to understand what it is like to put on shoes and walk all day, in order to finally relax in the evening and put on slippers with relief. It is now a high heel that helps a woman to attract attention not only by the beauty of slender legs, but also by the soft, seductive gait that such shoes give. And before...

According to one version, heels were the prerogative of men!

Heeled shoes and men

The history of the appearance of the heel, according to one version, leads to Persia. The local warriors were famous for their ability to stay firmly in the saddle and shoot on the go with a bow. And why? Because, thanks to the heel, it was possible to take a comfortable and solid position without fear of falling off the horse.

Persian diplomats, having arrived in Western Europe in 1599, amazed the aristocrats with their invention, and the fashion for high heels swept the upper classes. From that moment it was considered wild to go out "in the light" on a flat sole.

The small (1.63 m) King of France Louis XIV wore shoes exclusively with heels and always red. At the same time, he issued an order that everyone can and should have high heels, but in no case red shades. That's how all the male nobles put on shoes with heels.

Heeled shoes for women

A little later, women began to borrow fashion from men and discovered high heels. At first it was a kind of challenge, a hint at gender equality, the rise of a woman in a society of men. And only then, after a while, women discovered for themselves all the benefits that a high heel gives.

Having mastered shoes that were not very comfortable at first, women immediately turned practice into aesthetics. They noticed that thanks to the heel, the back becomes even, the posture is majestic, the gait is proud and seductive. And, of course, they began to use their discovery to the maximum.

During the Renaissance, the “elevation” of the body reached incredible proportions - women wore sandals on a platform made of cork or wood, and the heel reached 60 cm in height. It is difficult to imagine how you can not only dance in such shoes, but even keep your balance. But beauty is worth the sacrifice...

Thanks to the French Revolution, women still lost their heels. Napoleon Bonaparte sent “in exile” everything that interfered with dancing, and the ladies of the court changed their shoes into light slippers made of silk with leather soles. Much later, high heels came back into fashion, never to go anywhere else.

The most common versions of the appearance of high heels

In fact, none of the historians can say for sure who is the discoverer and creator of shoes with heels. Some believe that artists invented high heels to visually increase their height and be visible on stage. Others are sure that Japan and China are the ancestor of such shoes, they say, in this way women tried not only to become taller, but also to slow down the growth of the foot. There is a version that due to the lack of roads and a large number dirt spoiled expensive clothing, therefore, they came up with a kind of elevation above the ground ...

Be that as it may, high heels have firmly entered modern life, transforming, changing and improving. Variety of shoe models, heel shape, instep and appearance no longer surprises anyone, but leaves room for the imaginations of designers and manufacturers of branded and runway shoes. Today latest shoes is such for no more than 10 weeks, and then new high-heeled shoes, boots, sandals and even sneakers appear even more stylish, beautiful, unusual and original, although not always comfortable.

They say fashion is cyclical. And, apparently, this is true. But I really don’t want to see men rushing to work in shoes with heels ...

Today in the wardrobe of every girl there are many pairs of shoes with heels, but hardly any of us thought about who invented heels, when and why. Meanwhile, this element of footwear has roots going back to Ancient Greece. And the one who invented high heel shoes did not do it for the sake of beauty. The fact is that it was difficult for the ancient Greeks, who attended theatrical performances, to see the actors on the stage, which is why the latter wore cothurns - sandals made of cork with a thick sole, compacted at the heels. Medieval Europe could not do without heels for other reasons. High heels were a guarantee that the feet would not be smeared with sewage, which poured directly onto the streets of cities. And the inhabitants of the East wore shoes with heels in the bath, which helped to avoid burns on the hot floor.

Today, the heel performs a decorative function. The revolution took place in the 17th century, when Italian craftsmen offered ladies shoes with heels, which to this day adorn women's legs. But to figure out who invented the stiletto heel is not so simple. This passion of many women was invented in the mid-sixties of the last century. However, a trio of famous fashion designers claim authorship. The first is Roger Vivier. In 1953, in shoes with incredibly narrow and high heels, created by Vivier, Queen Elizabeth II attended the coronation ceremony. The second contender is Salvatore Ferragamo. In the same year, the famous shoemaker suggested that the girls wear shoes, the heel height of which reached an incredible 10 centimeters at that time. And the heel itself was made of wood. Raymond Massaro is considered the third contender for the role of the father-discoverer of the hairpin. In stiletto heels in 1960, the legendary took the stage. It is embarrassing that the difference in the output of Elizabeth II and Marlene Dietrich is seven years, but the maestro himself claimed that he created the hairpin much earlier. Be that as it may, all the women of the world are grateful to these talented men for a luxurious gift - high-heeled shoes!

If someone thinks that heels were invented in order to complicate the life of a woman, this is not at all the case. Heels have a long and rather strange history that goes back to antiquity.

And this story has everything: religious rites, and ladies of easy virtue, and a decadent monarch, and desperate fashionistas. And by the way, the first high heels were not intended for ladies at all, the first fashionistas were men. But first things first...

Every woman is familiar with the fact that when you walk all day in heels (and this is considered mandatory for receptions, business meetings and just “going out”), then in the evening your toes cramp. But why do people subject themselves to such torture. Usually the answer is that it is associated with a combination of power, status, beauty and gender. Heels were never worn because someone wanted to feel more comfortable. They were (and continue to be) worn to look taller, more elegant, sexier, tower over rivals, be the most outstanding person on stage and dominate everyone in general.

Ancient Times: Heels for Actors

The idea of ​​high heels or platform shoes is actually very ancient. One of the first such shoes in history appeared (at least there is evidence of it) among actors in ancient Greece. He was known as "koturny". These were flat sandals with wooden or cork soles up to 10 centimeters thick. However, they were not necessarily worn on stage, the cothurni were in fact a symbol of the social class of various characters in Greek drama and comedy. The higher the heel, the more "meaningful" the character was considered.

There is also evidence that the ancient Egyptians used heels, although not every day. Like the Greeks, they used high platform shoes for a specific purpose. Frescoes dating from about 3500 BC show that similar shoes were worn in religious ceremonies. However, today no one knows why they did it.

Medieval Persia: the trend takes root

One of the most compelling theories about how high heels took over the world comes from shoe expert and academic Elizabeth Semmelhak, curator of the Dad Shoe Museum in Canada. She believes that the source fashion trend became Persian riding shoes.

In Persian art, you can repeatedly see that many aristocrats of the medieval Persian empire wore high-heeled riding shoes in order to better "cling" to the stirrups. According to Semmelhak, European royalty took notice when the Persian monarch, Shah Abbas, came to visit Europe in the 1500s. So diplomacy contributed to the spread of fashion, when Europeans saw the beautiful heels worn by the shah and his entourage, and decided to adopt a fashionable novelty.

1400s: heels for women

The idea that the heel is actually something associated with women has been brewing for a very long time. In fact, one of the first places where such an idea was adopted en masse was Venice in the 1400s. But these were not heels that anyone would want to wear today. Chopins, as they were called, were stunningly high, slightly sloping shoes with a platform tapering to the bottom up to ... 60 cm high. They were originally designed to prevent ladies from soiling their outfits with the mud that plentifully covered the streets. As a result, they turned into decorative "accessories".

Interestingly, chopins were not actually a European invention. In Japan, they had existed for centuries under different names, but they were essentially designed to do the same thing: to prevent expensive kimonos from getting dirty on the dirty ground. Geisha apprentices, known as maiko, wore shoes called "okobo", the soles of which were made of massive wooden blocks and decently "lifted" the wearer off the ground. The sole in this case could be up to 18 cm high.

Chopins were eventually outlawed in France by different reasons. One reason was that they were most often worn by prostitutes who used unusual shoes to attract attention. Another reason was that chopins were blamed for a whole slew of problems, from traffic accidents to frequent falls (probably) and miscarriages (slightly less likely). They were also universally ridiculed by all and sundry, including Shakespeare.

Renaissance: transitional period

The idea of ​​a low sole and high heel shoe for women seems to have come from a rather spectacular social event: royal wedding. When Catherine de' Medici married the Duke of Orléans in 1533, the 14-year-old bride wore high heels to look a bit taller "like an adult". They weren't chopins, but something more or less like modern high heels. So high heels burst into women's fashion.

At this time, "androgynous" fashion was also a general trend. In the 1630s, European women dressed like men, smoked pipes, and tended to act like young boys. And men's heels fit perfectly into this women's fashion.

Baroque period: heels of male aristocrats

The Persian shoes that European royal courtiers saw thanks to Shah Abbas were definitely meant only for men. And it is not surprising that it was the kings and courtiers who adopted this fashion.

The real icon of fashion and the "patron" of heels was the French king Louis XIV, otherwise known as the "sun king". Louis XIV loved everything dazzling and it was he who made the decadent palace of Versailles his residence. Shoes with high heels (about 4 cm) liked the king, since his height was 162 cm. Louis XIV even developed " trademark red heels and ordered all male members of his court to paint their heels the same color.

Victorian Era: Ladies Only (and Strawberries)

The popularity of high heels fell off a lot after the French Revolution, when people didn't want to have anything to do with aristocrats (or be anything like them). In the New World, Puritans in Massachusetts banned high heels, believing they made you look too seductive and were also tools for sorcery.

In fact, the Victorians did indeed rediscover the heel. The focus was on lifting; the curved instep was meant to show off a woman's femininity and sophistication, and the tiny heels were the pinnacle of sophistication. It was also during this time that erotic photography emerged, with heels playing a strong role in its early years. Some of the first nude photographs of women were in high heels, and this was a feature of most "French postcards" (as sexy photographs of ladies were called at the time).

Gradually women's heels began to acquire more and more erotic significance. In his book Fashion and Fetishism, David Kunzl notes that some French authors in the 18th century began to speak of the "delicate curve and heel" as sexual attributes. It was at this point that men stopped wearing heels, and they became purely women's shoes.

World War II: the first "hairpin"

It is thanks to erotic images that high heels have become a popular, fetishized object. In particular, this happened during the Second World War, when men throughout Europe carried photographs of girls in heels.

In 1954, the first stiletto heel was invented by Roger Vivier for the collection fashion clothes Christian Dior. Thanks to Hollywood, he immediately began to be perceived as a sex symbol.

Modern heel

Heels experienced a new surge in fashion in 2015, when at the Cannes Film Festival, women on the red carpet were required to wear only high-heeled shoes. And designers continue to tirelessly invent new models of high-heeled shoes.

Heeled shoes are a wardrobe essential. modern woman. Heels visually lengthen the legs, make the walk more graceful and sexy. However, this element first appeared on men's shoes and was intended for quite practical purposes.

The appearance of the prototype of modern heels belongs to the era of the late Middle Ages. European riders nailed special patches to their shoes to help them keep their feet in the stirrup. This invention was to the taste of the townspeople, since the streets of medieval cities were literally buried in mud and sewage. Men and women wore special stilted shoes, consisting of high wooden soles with leather straps. In the circles of merchants and the nobility, the so-called chopine, which is a kind of platform sandals, became widespread. These shoes were made of wood or cork and had a heel from 15 to 60 centimeters high.


Over time, even royal people began to wear high-heeled shoes. It is believed that this fashion was introduced by the famous Madame Pompadour. The favorite of the French king Louis XVI was very short, and heels helped her to "rise" in the eyes of the courtiers.

The twentieth century was a time of revolutionary changes in the heel and women's shoes generally. The first shoes with sharp and thin heels were sewn in the workshops of the Italian Salvatore Ferragamo in the early 50s. Their stiletto heel contained a steel rod, which is why these shoes were called "stiletto".


A couple of years later, this invention appeared in the collection of the French fashion designer Roger Vivier and many other famous designers. There is a story that Viviers in 1953 made a unique sample of sandals with a thin high heel, decorated with precious stones. They were intended for the coronation of the English queen. Many wealthy clients ordered similar shoes for themselves, thereby providing incredible popularity to the stiletto heel.

To achieve true world fame, stilettos had to become the central figure of a big scandal. This story took place in 1960 in France. The government issued a decree that forbade ladies to visit the country's national museums in high-heeled shoes dangerous for carpets and parquet. After this incident, heels gained a truly world-wide fame.