It is fashion and beautiful to wear high heels

Cone, wedges, prism, kitten or puppy, whatever the style, high heels are a classic feature of female fashion. As we struggle along battling foot pain, risking falls and dodging grates and soft grass, do we ever cease to consider the history of these most iconic pieces of footwear?

The origin of high heels is contentious, though many think they originated in ancient Egypt, where the wearing of any shoes was a sign of power and wealth. The initially precursors to what we now call stilettos had been found in an Egyptian tomb, dated to around 1000BC.

Legend has it high heels were introduced to European aristocracy in the 16th Century by Catherine de Medici in Paris. Betrothed to the Duke of Orleans, who would later turn into the king of France, the diminutive 15 year old Catherine donned slippers with two-inch heels to enhance her stature and command respect.

By 1850, males had got in on the act, too, with nobleman and the "well-heeled" in England and France slipping into heels in some cases as much as 5 inches high. It was a past time fraught with danger for Frenchman, nevertheless as those found wearing heels higher than those worn by the King could obtain themselves thrown in jail...or worse.

Thankfully, men's heels faded into obscurity during the French revolution as ideals of equality took over from traditions of aristocracy and privileged. Along with the demise of men's heels, those for girls also disappeared. Not everyone was content with this certainly, the Queen of France Marie Antoinette reputedly went to the guillotine wearing two-inch high heels.

Heels regained popularity in the late 1800s and into the 20th century. Rising hemlines in the 1920,s encouraged decorative footwear with a high heel, thus the introduction of the Louis heel into western culture. The post war era saw a revival of fashion in the west, led in component by French fashion icon Christian Dior. The sexy shoe, having a tapered heel, became known as the stiletto.

High heels - supposed to give the impression of longer, far more slender legs - had been critic by feminists in the 1960s as a type of oppression, even so considerably of that concern was forgotten through the disco age of the subsequent decade where even stars like john Travolta got in on the act, wearing platforms in Saturday Night Fever.