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Why do women (and men, of course) love high heels? Because they look fab — in and of themselves, as little pieces of fashionable art — and because of what they do to the female leg, elongating it in a beguiling line of sensuality. Heels have been part of the feminine plumage for a long time. Carefully dressing oneself, down to one’s toes, is a pleasure and form of self expression. Heels also signify power and sex appeal. Heels get you noticed. When you wear heels, you strut your stuff, literally and figuratively. Heels also express status and social standing. The fave shoe du jour is (still) the iconic Louboutin with its red leather sole. Yes, "sammy red-bottoms" are tres chic and very well made (warranting their steep price tag), but what you get in return is an aura of perceived wealth and fashion know-how. They elevate, so to speak. Plus, that red really is just awfully sexy. Of course, there’s a whole world beyond #Loubes. Towering stiletto, vampy pump or demure kitten heel; not to forget platforms, wedges and stacked heels. But just imagine that once upon a long, long time ago heels were a necessity, allowing peeps to cross the muck of Medieval streets — which brings us to our question. Where exactly did high heels come from and how were they invented? How did it happen that the human foot was fitted with an object that elevates the heel uncomfortably higher than the toes, frequently at the cost of pain and even unsavory musculoskeletal imbalances such as “clawing of the toes?” How did such a thing get invented? A concrete date signifying the invention of high heels is hard to pinpoint. One can find them depicted in ancient Egyptian murals from 3500 BC. In ancient Egypt, butchers, not belles, wore them to traipse over bloody carcasses. But they were also donned by the nobility to tower over their barefoot minions. In ancient Rome and Greece, too, platforms indicated belonging to a higher social class. In 1533, Catherine de Medici chose heels for her union with the Duke of Orleans, because she didn’t want to be a shrinking violet in the shadow of his very tall mistress. Circa 50 years later, both sexes in high society rocked heels to show off their superior social standing.
