Shoes are by no means a 20th Century invention, in fact Japanese geisha'ss
wore 'wooden geta', which were thonged sandals mounted on two blocks of wood,
which gave them height and made them walk with what they called a provocativee
gait'.
In the 15th - 17th centuries shoes were given extra height by a platform sole
called a chopine.
During the time of Louis X1V and Marie Antoinette, in the 17th Century,
Paris, the heel really became a fashion trend but by 1789, Josephine Bonaparte
wore flat shoes and then the most fashionable women wore them as well.
By the mid 19th Century, heels were back in vogue again and in the 20th
Century, heels fluctuated as often as the skirt lengths.
In the 1940's, they were high and wedge-shaped and in the 1950's high and
pointy (my mums favourite). In 1960 there were low kitten heels as well as high
stilettos. The 1970's saw a revival of the 1940's wedge, and the rise of the
platform. The 1980's was linked to the stiletto and in fact the working girls of
the 1980's wore high heels to the boardroom as well as the bedroom.
The stiletto heel came into vogue in the 1950's when a pair of stiletto court
shoes was as essential a part of a woman's wardrobe as her gloves, hat and
handbag, and preferably all matching.
The word stiletto means sharp dagger.
Roger Vivier is the fashion designer credited for making the stiletto heel so
fashionable due to his designs for Christian Dior.
Many osteopaths agree that the shape of your spine have been irrevocably
altered into high heel mode.
