Persian Riding Shoes, early 1600s, Bata Shoe Museum
Choptines 1600 AD, Italian, leather, silk, wood, The MET
Portraiture of Louis XIV, by Hyacinthe Rigaud, 1701
It was really interesting to me to write about the history of high heels, which surprisingly involved with all kinds of power, social hierarchy, gender balance and economic capital…… It is fascinating to me to know that what we think make women look and feel confident have such different intention of its invention.
A brief introduction about what I have learnt during my research: high heels were firstly made for horsing riding, as it stabilize the soldiers. It then moved to women who had the same social status as the soldiers, courtesans. The courtesans adopted Chopine, a kind of high platform shoes which provide them a towering view to find potential costumers easier. Upper class male and female then started to wear higher high heels to show off their wealth and social class.
The peak of the direct relationship between high heels and power was when the French King Louis XIV announced that only the member of his court could wear high heels. Wearing high heels or not became something connected to law and legal system.
