The Well-Heeled Shoe

'High heels were invented by a woman who had been kissed on the forehead.' - Christopher Morley

I, too, have a shoe calendar this year. And the above was the quote for  January 13-14. It struck me as odd for a couple of reasons.

We've talked about the history of the platform sandal in this blog before (remember chopines?). And we've looked at the red heeled men of Louis XIV's court. What struck me as particularly vexing about this quote is that 'high heels' as we think of them today were really first worn by men. And what's more, whoever invented them was much more likely to have been a man. Shoe making, like almost all of the occupations related to dress-including corset making-was a strictly regulated and guild profession exclusive of women.

The Height of Fashion

According to shoe scholars, the invention of the high heel happened sometime around the late middle of the 16th century. The popularity of the chopine as a fashion statement for the privileged might have been the impetus for its invention. It certainly would have provided a more workable solution for towering over one's inferiors.

Too expensive for those with a small income and absolutely impractical for hard labor of any sort, these new heels were for upper-class use only. For upper class men, in particular, they proved useful. The higher heels helped to aid gentlemen in keeping their seat while on horseback. By the late 1590s, both monied men and women throughout the European continent were sporting high-heeled shoes.

Making a Fashion Statement

Even today, we find more men associated with the construction of women's footwear. Even though there's really a woman behind the Jimmy Choo name these days, the company's namesake was a male artisan from China. And you can't forget Manolo. This week I was oggling some very, very high heels by Pedro Garcia at Fred Segals.

Ultimately, I guess Mr. Morley's quote doesn't sting my fashion heart. The idea that a woman could empower herself to be kissed the way she wanted to be kissed by inventing a fashion accessory is not such a bad one...