Who knew heels had such an interesting backstory!
High heels...one of the most iconic accessories in the fashion world.
Sometimes tricky to walk in, a nice pair of heels has been the staple footwear of a nice evening on the town for women for centuries now.
So who would've thought that before the 17th century they were exclusively worn by men? Well bizarrely they were, reports curiosity.com.
You probably have questions.
Of course like most nice things back in the day, heels were only affordable for the rich upper classes, so when we say 'men' wore high heels it was just a select wealthy group.
So how did heels become a must have fashion accessory for well-to-do lads? Would you believe it all started when a group of horse-riding Persian diplomats came strolling into town one day.
Starting their journey in Moscow and ending in Lisbon, the diplomats certainly turned heads wherever they went especially when it came to their footwear...you guessed it, heels.
At the time these were specially designed heels to fit into the stirrups on their horses, so more of practical thing rather than a fashion statement - But the Europeans liked what they saw.
And by the mid 1600s Persian fashion culture (modern day Iran) had taken off like a wildfire in Europe, and with it...high heels for men.
The famous Louis XIV in France (1643–1715), was particularly a big fan of the footwear. It's documented that he would get around in towering heels as high as four inches (10 centimeters).
So when did the switch happen?
So why isn't there lads heading out in six-inch heels in 2019?
Well, things started changing shortly after the shoes grew popular in Europe. It was about that time when European women started standing up for equality and essentially began dressing like men, which included the heels.
According to Bata Shoe Museum curator Elizabeth Semmelhack, "You had women cutting their hair, adding epaulettes to their outfits. They would smoke pipes, they would wear hats that were very masculine. And this is why women adopted the heel — it was in an effort to masculinise their outfits."
Eventually, there were two different types of heels for a while, thick ones for men and thin ones for ladies. What's more, the shoes eventually stopped being reserved for those with heavy pockets and begun to become affordable for the lower classes, heels for all!
Then sometime about the start of the 1800s high heels mysteriously disappeared from men's fashion all together. It's known as "The Great Male Renunciation," and it also saw lads stop wearing vibrant colours in favour of your standard grey and black numbers.
So there you go, the weird history of high heels. The question now is...will high heels make their way back into men's fashion circles?! We'll have to wait and see.
