The history of shoes from 4000 B.C. to the modern day! Look at how high heels evolved into stiletto shoes and how footwear has become a major part of everyday fashion.

The History of High Heel Shoes!

Approx 4000 B.C. – In ancient Egyptian murals were one of the first depictions of shoes, which were only flexible pieces of leather held in place with lacings.

Approx 200 B.C. – Roman actors wore platform sandals called ‘kothorni’, with high wood or cork soles.

Approx 1000 A.D. – The father of the bride at Saxon weddings customarily presents the groom with one the brides shoes, symbolizing ‘giving away his daughter’. The bride’s shoe finally thrown to the bridesmaids; the one who catches the shoe is said to marry next.

Special wooden soles called ‘patterns’ which were attached to the bottom of fragile, expensive shoes. Made for wearing indoors so they could be kept out of the mud and damp when converted to outdoor use. Patters were elevated in the heels and under the ball of the foot so the wearer could walk more easily by rocking forward on them, these shapes clearly foretold high heels

1154 – 1189 – The knights of Richards the Lionheart began to wear ‘sollerets’, the downward curving pointed shoes kept the knights feet slipping out of the stirrups.

1215 – A law was passed in Paris, France which banned university professors from wearing shoes with long pointed toes.

1215- 1832 - Shoe toes became a symbol of rank, they slowly grew longer and pointers over the two centuries culminating about 1382 with spiky-towed ‘cracowe’. Kings, princes to show their status wore toes up to 30 inches long.

1386 – Knights fighting in the Battle of Sempach in Switzerland were forced to cut the toes of their shoes off, before they could advance on foot.

1400 - ‘Chopines’ originated in Turkey, these were miniature stilts (platforms) that were flat on the bottom and made from cork and covered with leather or fabric. The wearer would slip her feet into the open-backed slippers called ‘mules’ or ‘straps’ similar to sandals. ‘Chopines’ were typically 7-8 inches (18-20cm) tall, but extreme examples showed they could reach up to 18 inches (46cm) tall. The shoes kept the ladies skirts out of the mud, assuming the lady could walk at all.

Approx 1500 – Shoes began to be made in two pieces, with a flexible upper attached to a heavier stiffer sole. This lead to the introduction of the heel, initially devised as a better way of keeping the rider’s foot in the stirrup, to stop the foot slipping forward. The leading edge was cantered forward to help grip the stirrup, and the trailing edge was cantered forward to prevent the elongated heel from catching on underbrush or rock while backing up, such as in on-foot combat. The features are evident in today’s riding or cowboy boots. Men started to wear healed boots as a fashion item.

1509 - 1547 – Henery VIII of England fore wide-toed shoes, sometimes 12 inches across, which had to be stuffed to keep them on his feet.

1533 – Italian bride Catherine d’Medici, married at the age of 14 to the Duke of Orleans (who became France’s King Henry II). Catherine being short, wore two-inch heels, brought from Florence to Paris, to give her additional height. Fashioned on ‘chopines’ but adapted so that the heel was higher than the toe, with a bend in the middle of the foot, unlike platforms. This style set the fashion for ladies in the French court. The style also made the ladies feet look smaller and the arch of the foot higher, both signs of a noble birth! The high heel may have been invented by Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519). People who could not afford the ‘high heels’ were said to be ‘down at their heels’.

1553 – 1558 – Mary Tudor ‘Bloody Mary’, also short, wore heels as high as possible. From this period until the early 19th century it was in fashion for both sexes, men and women to wear high heels.

Mid – 1500’s – An extreme shoe called ‘chopines’, popular among women in Italy, Spain and France had pedestals/platforms of wood or cork as tall as 24 inches. A Venetian lady wearing ‘chopines’ often needed two servants to help her in and out of a gondola or servants or a gentleman and walking stick simply to balance, ‘chopines’ were designed to elevate Venetian women, literally above floodwaters and garbage. Sometimes so restrictive the women were forced to stay at home.

1600's – Men’s heels rose to 4 inches and although useful while riding they were more fashionable court attire.

1628 – Pilgrims arrive in the Massachusetts Bay Colony, America passed a law prohibiting ‘excess in bootes’.

1660 – French shoemaker Nicholas Lestage was exceptional at his trade that some accused him of sorcery, Nicholas became shoemaker to Louis XIV (1638-1715). The heels of Louis’s shoes were as tall as 5 inches (12.7cm), some decorated with miniature battle scenes and victories, some with curved heels and some with red dye symbolizing nobility. High ‘Louis’ or French heels also became fashionable for women. Other ‘heel wearers’ used their shoes to show wealth and have their servants break them in.

1700’s – The term ‘well heeled’ become synonymous with opulent wealth, meaning, having enough money to buy nice very nice shoes.

1745 – Madame de Pompadour, a tiny footed favourite of Louis XV, popularizes high, narrow ‘Pompadour’ heels. Ladies tape their feet to reduce their apparent size, this lead to women feinting in court.

1789 (French Revolution) – A revolution in footwear where many shoe styles vanished in the name of democracy. The red heels of nobility disappeared completely, with showy buckles and rosettes were replaced by ribbon or cord ties. Flat shoes or very low heeled shoes became known as ‘pumps’ and replaced the arrogance of high heels.

1793 – Marie Antoinette ascends the scaffold to be executed wearing two-inch heels. In the wake of the French revolution heels became lower than at any time in the 18th century.

1794 – Quincy reed of weymouth, opens America’s first retail shoe store in Boston (133 Broad Street), initially arriving in Boston selling chickens, with shoes packed in saddle bags. His best shoes were sold for $2, with the shoes made in the West India for $1.25. Around this period a British inventor Marc Isambard Brunel (1769-1849) makes machines for cutting soles and riveting them to uppers.

Early 1800’s – Flat shoes and Grecian-style sandals became popular.

1818 – Left and right feet lasts were used for making shoes and shoes were sold in pairs. The pairs of shoes were termed ‘crookeds’ as opposed to ‘old fashioned straights’. Before this shoe soles were identical and called ‘straights’ and made with a single mould called a last, the left shoe was identical to the right shoe in every way apart from decoration. The shoes were sold signally and not as a pair!

The high heel part of the show was originally made from cork or wood and were upto 6 inches (15cm) high. The French called them ‘chaussures a port’ or ‘bridge shoes’, because of the open arch or ‘chaussures a cric’, meaning clicking shoes for their sound. Usually the heels men’s shoes were a heaver larger shape. The extreme heights of narrow heels were popular among gentlemen as well as ladies. Eighteenth century Englishmen who wore 6 inch (15cm) high heels usually worked with canes to be able to walk at all.

Approx 1865 – The ‘sneaker’ or plimsoll, a canvas-topped, rubber-soled shoe is invented for badminton and tennis. Ladies heel heights vary but stay below two inches during the rest of the century.

1888 – The first high heel factory opens in the United States. Making it unnecessary for women to import their shoes from Pairs.

1904 – The ladies ‘pump’ or court shoe, a British invention reaches America. Shoe stores begin to stock shoes with a range of widths.

1920’s – As hemlines rose, feet were suddenly on display and shoes needed to be beautiful as they were practical.

Approx 1955 – High 'comma' heel or ‘stiletto’ heel were invented in Italy by Roger Viver for Dior, these became a fashion rage, named for the narrow bladed knives, with heels 4 inches (10cm) narrowing to pin points. Very pointed toes came into Vogue for both sexes. Steel was more available after World War II, which made the stiletto possible and affordable as a growth in consumer spending meant luxuries could now be purchased.

The thin metal rod was seated in the broader part of the heel encased in wood or plastic, which was attached to the shoe, with a plastic tip attached to metal end. The plastic tip often wore away or fell off causing floors to be gouged and carpets to be ripped. Some office buildings provided over-shoes for women o wear over their stiletto heels, preventing damage.

1960’s – Stiletto heels were attached to ‘wet look’ boots that enhanced the effects of mini skirts.

Late 1960’s - Lower heels became more fashionable into the early seventies. The Beatles popularised the Cuban heel for men’s boots ‘Winklepicker’, which saw the reintroduction of heels for men. John Travolta wore the Cuban heel in Saturday Night Fever in the early seventies.

1970’s – The return of the platform shoe with David Bowie, Elton John and Mud rocked the stage with platform boots.

1980’s – Athletic shoes diversify and gain popularity. Some women begin wearing them to work or commuting.

1990’s – Stiletto shoes became back in fashion, popularised by fashion magazines. The shape of heel also changed from stiletto 50’s, 80’s and post 2000, block in the 70’s to tapered in the 90’s

1993 – Platforms made a short revival when Naomi Campbell walked the runway in Vivienne Westwood platforms and fell.

1995 – The internet became popular in many peoples homes, women could now shop and see what was availiable from around the world, not just the high street.

2006 – Doir Homme by Hedi Slimane feature a 3.5 inch heel for men.

Today designers use a variety of materials, shapes and decoration to embellish high heels to make the ideal shoe to satisfy women’s desires.