Behind the Trend: High Heels

CEBU, Philippines - While the manliest of men - let's say, a burly chain-smoking whisky-chugging lumberjack named Manny Man-eilow - would cringe at the idea of wearing high heels, historical records tell us that shoes with elevated heels are not "modern inventions" made only for women.

As a type of footwear designed to raise its wearer's heels, elevated footwear was worn without any gender bias in the past, even preferred for the practical benefits they afforded their wearers with.

From the horsemen of ancient Persia and Mongolia to the butchers of ancient Egypt, men and women wore high heeled shoes for different reasons and purposes - more than just too look good or trendy.

For the butchers of ancient Egypt, it made walking around the abattoir convenient, as it kept their clothes clean from blood and offal stains on the floor. For the riders of Persia and Mongolia, the extended heels of high heeled footwear made riding on horseback easier, since their feet wouldn't easily slip from stirrups.

In fashion circles, France's Catherine de Medici is often attributed to be the "inventor" of high heels, setting a trend in the mid-1500s. Her wedding with the Duke of Orleans (who later became the King of France) is often brought up in this regard, as she wore shoes with two-inch heels as a means of making up for her short height during the ceremony.

Her heels proved to be a huge success back then, so much so that by the year 1580, high heels for men and women became a status symbol synonymous with authority, power and wealth; paving the way for high heels' entry into the world's fashion-sensitive consciousness.

In time, advances in commerce, industry and technology, and shifts in social norms, have defined high heeled shoes as footwear for women. But prior to that, different cultures wore (and some still wear) high heeled shoes without any gender-biased labels - footwear items like the patten, the geta and the rider's boots. (FREEMAN)