HISTORY OF HIGH HEELS.

High heels are not a modern invention but there is confusion regarding when they were developed.

Research shows that high heels can be traced back to ancient Egypt. In the middle of the second millennium BC, Egyptians began to frequently use sandals. Retention was obtained generally by the Egyptians by a T or V thong passing through the sole. Egyptian butchers also wore heeled shoes for practical purposes, in order to keep their feet clean of any blood while slaughtering animals. Also, a 12th-century (AD) sculpture from Ramappa Temple (India) shows a lady, highly clad in jewelry, wearing high heels.

"Things started to change when during the European renaissance, the high heel became a status symbol worn by both male and females from the higher social statuses. Catherine de' Medici, a Franco/Italian noblewoman, pioneered the use of heels as a fashion statement. Catherine de Medici is believed to have worn them to impress the French court when she wed the Duke of Orleans, the future king. It is believed to be the first instance when heels were worn however, this reference may be apocryphal, as the

development of heels did not begin to come about until the late 1580s, based on iconographic evidence and extant pieces. Two hundred years later King Louis XIV of France decreed that only nobility could wear heels, and that only members of his specific court could wear red ones.^[1] Seventeenth-century portraits of King Louis XIV depict the various intricate heels worn by the king and they were often decorated with miniature battle scenes.

"During the 16th century, European royalty, such as Catherine de Medici and Mary I of England, started wearing high-heeled shoes to make them look taller or larger than life. By 1580, men wore them, and a person with authority or wealth was often referred to as "well-heeled". Since the French Revolution (1789-1799) the trend wearing high heels was ended to avoid any associating with the old aristocracy and its opulence. Since people wished to avoid the appearance of wealth, heels were largely eliminated from the common market for both men and women and replaced by casual fashion and footwear. From the beginning of the Baroque era, the heel came back to shoes.

"It is sometimes suggested that raised heels were a response to the problem of the rider's foot slipping forward in stirrups while riding. The "rider's heel", approximately 1 ¹⁄₂ inches (3.8 cm) high, appeared in Europe around 1600. The leading edge was canted forward to

help grip the stirrup, and the trailing edge was canted forward to prevent the elongated heel from catching on underbrush or rock while backing up, such as in on-foot combat. These features are evident today in riding boots, notably cowboy boots."High heels  (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-heeled_footwear)