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    High heels

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    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
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    62 views11 pages

    Origins of High Heels

    Uploaded by

    Gina Mihaela
    High heels

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Flag for inappropriate content
    of 11

    COLEGIUL ECONOMIC BUZAU

    Profesor: Elena Andrei Elev: Vasile Andreea -Catalina

    -2018-
    Ancient Egypt Dating back to 3500
    B.C., early depictions of high heels
    could be seen on ancient Egyptian
    murals. These murals would depict
    Egyptian nobilities wearing heels to
    set them apart from the lower class,
    who would normally go barefoot.
    Heeled shoes were worn by both
    men and women, and most
    commonly for ceremonial purposes.
    However, high heels also served a
    practical purpose for Egyptian
    butchers who wore them in order to
    walk over the bloodied bodies of
    animal carcasses.
    Middle Ages During the
    Middle Ages, both men and
    women would wear “pattens”,
    which were wooden soles,
    attached to their shoes in
    order to keep their fragile and
    expensive footwear out of the
    mud and street debris.
    “Chopines”, or platform
    shoes, emerged during the
    1400s in Turkey and became
    popular throughout Europe
    until mid-1600s
    Rising up to about 30
    inches above
    ground, women who
    wore them required
    the use of canes or
    servants to assist
    them in walking.
    "Chopines" had
    the same practical
    use as pattens did,
    but was exclusively
    for women. This
    marked a point
    where heels were
    turning into an
    aesthetic object,
    instead of the earlier
    practical use.
    The Venetians established the
    Chopines as a prestigious
    representation of wealth and
    nobility, predominantly
    embellished with gold laces,
    embroidery and decorative
    leatherwork. However, the
    restrictions these heels created
    for women caused many to
    believe that these heels were
    invented by husbands who
    hoped the restricting movement
    required would make
    illegitimate affairs difficult.
    Women’s rights issues
    surfaced here as high
    heels were beginning to
    become associated with
    male domination and
    female restriction.
    Historians contemplate
    the use of heeled shoes
    as a shackle rather than
    for aesthetic purposes,
    evident within Chinese
    concubines and Turkish
    odalisques who wore
    heels, in order to prevent
    them from fleeing the
    harem.
    In the 1500s, shoes were made into two pieces, a movable upper
    piece attached to a fixed, stable sole. This new invention combined the
    heel to become part of the actual shoe rather than an attachable sole.
    The invention of heeled riding boots increased the mass popularity of
    heels within both male and female fashion. These “rider’s heel”, which
    ranged from 1 to 1 and a half inches, prevented riders from slipping off
    their stirrups. These simple heels soon evolved into more stylized
    heels that became thinner and higher during mid 1500s when
    Catherine de Medici made them more fashionable and functional.
    1533 saw the first women's
    heel designed to lengthen the
    legs. The invention of high
    heels as a fashion statement
    could be accredited to the
    rather petite Catherine de
    Medici who was engaged to
    the Duke of Orleans at the
    age of 14. The Duke, who
    later became the King of
    France, was quite tall in
    contrast to de Medici’s small
    stature. She felt insecure in
    comparison to the Duke’s
    favorite mistress, Diane de
    Poitiers, who was relatively
    tall.
    Fashionable heels were
    popular for both sexes by
    1590, and a person who had
    authority or wealth was often
    referred to as "well-heeled".

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