We will never know the identity of the shoe’s inventor; it is lost deep within the recordless past. The earliest depiction of shoes comes from an ancient Egyptian tomb dated at about 4000 BC. The wall carvings of the tomb shows figures wearing sandals held together by leather straps.

It would be several thousand years before what many would regard as the most important development in foot wear since their inception, the invention of the high heel. About 200 BC Roman tragic actors, short ones presumably, began wearing shoes comparable to modern platform heels. The thespians increased their height by adding wooden or cork risers to the bottoms of their sandals.
We will never know the identity of the shoe’s inventor; it is lost deep within the recordless past. The earliest depiction of shoes comes from an ancient Egyptian tomb dated at about 4000 BC. The wall carvings of the tomb shows figures wearing sandals held together by leather straps.

It would be several thousand years before what many would regard as the most important development in foot wear since their inception, the invention of the high heel. About 200 BC Roman tragic actors, short ones presumably, began wearing shoes comparable to modern platform heels. The thespians increased their height by adding wooden or cork risers to the bottoms of their sandals.

Apart from their usefulness to actors (incidentally, modern short actors Humphrey Bogart and Tom Cruise have been accused of wearing high heel shoes in order to stand tall next to leading ladies) the early history of high heels is one of practicality. In the ancient world butchers wore them to stand above the gore of their profession and early cavalrymen wore them to prevent their feet from sliding out of stirrups.

Somewhat surprisingly to the modern observer the high heel shoe was almost entirely the province of men in Europe until after the Middle Ages. Things changed dramatically when the teenage Catherine de Medici married the king of France and brought the high heel shoe to the home of fashion. Before there was Prada, Rossi, or Dolce & Gabbana there was Medici.

Catherine was short and wore the shoes herself to improve her regal bearing. She also brought with her a flock of beautiful ladies in waiting whose charms she used as a tool to gather secrets and wield persuasive power over the men at court. Not surprisingly one weapon in their arsenal of charms was the high heeled shoe. This also marks the first occasion when a shoe had a heel that was higher than the toe, so in this sense Catherine invented the heel.

When a fashion trend found favor with the queen of France it found favor with every one else as well. Mary Tudor, another short queen brought the high heel to England and it caught on there as well. By the end of the following century upper class European women were wearing heels so high that they required the use of canes to prevent them from falling over. Believe it or not, some even wore a style of shoe called the chopines that heels as high as 24 inches. That’s right, two-foot tall platforms.

Since the 19th century, with a few exceptions, the high heel shoe has been worn almost entirely by women. Although they are rarely referred to as such cowboy boots and Cuban heel boots are both high-heeled shoes worn by men. This does not include the revival in popularity of platform shoes for men and women both during the 1970s.

Of course fashions come and go and the high heel is no exception. During the early part of the 20th century women tended to shun the heel as they reveled in their newly gained freedom from social restrictions. However, some ideas simply can’t be kept down. The 1950s saw the invention of the stiletto heel and they were back with a vengeance and the arches have not fallen since.

The appeal of the high heel shoe as a fashionable apparel accessory has been carefully and scientifically analyzed and it pretty much boils down to sexual appeal. The foot when perched on a slant elongates the calf and accentuates their appearance. The change high heels cause to a woman’s posture pushes her bust forward and arches her back. The shoes change the stride of a woman’s walk causing her hips sway and attract attention to them.

These features explain their continued popularity despite some fairly serious drawbacks. These include damage to a woman’s feet and possibly her spine as well from prolonged use. They render most women unable to run and by shortening her stride make even normal walking a much greater exertion thus tiring her more quickly.

However, many woman and men as well are completely willing to suffer in the name of stylishness. The popular television series “Sex in the City” made a pop phenomena of the high heeled shoe and a household name of the Manolo Blahnik shoe design house.

It certainly isn’t necessary to point out that millions of pairs of high heeled shoes sell every day across the country and globe. Shoe wholesalers offers hundreds of new styles every year, from the tame to the sensual, from the business woman’s power shoe to the daintiest of evening accesories. A poll conducted by a shoe manufacturer trade association said the average woman owns five pairs. There maybe a little Imelda Marcos in most women.

Art Micklewraith is a freelance writer and regular contributor to Top Ten Wholesale. he can be reached at Content and Solutions or by email at artmicklewraith@gmail.com.