The Origins of Women's Shoes

[Nostradamus]

I've been thinking about this lately and I can't figure it out: when did women's shoes become separate from men's shoes? Are spike heels sexy because of some innate quality, or because society says they are? Why don't men wear heels?

[Natasha (candygirl)]

I'm not a shoe expert, but if you look at say 18th century fashion, the men and women were wearing shoes with small heels. I don't know if that was due to practicality, as in trying to keep their nice clothes out of the mud, or an actual fashion.

If you want the ultra-feminist viewpoint, those sexy shoes are a way to imprison women - they are literally hobbled. Alias and Buffy aside, how fast can you run away when you're wearing three inch heels? Pretty good argument if you look at Chinese footbinding (although I must add that if the feet were bound properly, the women could walk and run just as quickly as women with unbound feet - unfortunately, the feet were often bound incorrectly causing infection or excrutiating pain).

[Nostradamus]

From an evolutionary standpoint, high heels could be an extension of secondary sexual characteristics. If we go with the premise that men are attracted to shapely legs because they unconsciously perceive them as a sign of fertility, then clothing that highlights legs would be a kind of mating display, I think.

Then again, some of the connotations that apply to heels have nothing to do with reproduction, which may be a case of society folding in on itself and creating "meaning" where there was none to begin with.

I'm still puzzled as to how shoes, and indeed clothing in general, ever came to be specialized into separate catagories for men, women, and children. Granted, there are some obvious size trends but there are also plenty of exceptions to them, so why not make the same styles available for every size and shape of person? I'm not saying that there aren't good (or bad) reasons behind these differences, I'm just not sure what those reasons are...

[starbug]

Maybe it's because high heels make your legs look longer - they make your thighs appear more toned, hike up your arse etc.

These are attractive qualities in a woman, although not particularly in a man, who is traditionally supposed to be bigger, more muscular and generally less sylph-like. I don't know really, it's just an idea And I hate gender stereotyping.

I hate high heels, and don't wear them unless absolutely necessary...

[lance]

Don't know much on this subject,

except that the wife hates them, so no high heels. That's fine by me. Seems to me though that those suckers have to hurt when you use them.

Best,

Lance Man

[GaryEA]

Honestly, women have my undying respect for being able to walk in anything that resembes a heeled shoe.

I have enough trouble walking in sneakers, much less boots or <gulp> tuxedo shoes, but a woman can breeze by me like she's floating on air while wearing three inch heels (five if she's from Lodi ).

Okay... yeah. That was wrong. No reason to pick on Lodi.

Gary
(six if she's from Union County... )

[SanDeE*]

I may have mentioned this in another post somewhere, but for my eighth grade graduation dance in spring '97 I wore a black crushed velvet dress (VERY similar to Angela's red one in a few eps) and combat boots. I know, perhaps not the most attractive combo, right? But it worked at the time. Grunge was in and all. Here's my point: I didn't know what to wear on my feet, really. I was 14. It was a dance, so I was going to dress up. I didn't want to wear flats, because little girls and old ladies wear flats. I wanted to wear heels, but I felt like I wasn't ready or it wasn't appropriate for a 14 year old. So what do I wear? I said screw it, I'll wear my combat boots. I had my hair dyed this really light orangey-blondish with my natural red peaking through. It looked great! My mom still pulls the pictures out. She did for my high school graduation.

[fnordboy]

(five if she's from Lodi ).

Okay... yeah. That was wrong. No reason to pick on Lodi.

Gary
(six if she's from Union County... )

ROFLMAO

Ditto on the respect factor. Maybe it is just society's influence on me, but some women just look amazing in heels. You have to have the right legs for them. It must take a lot of skill though.

[GaryEA]

Combat boots and a dress. Ah, I miss those days of grunge...

It must take a lot of skill though.

Indeed*!

Guys, think about it; A pair of shoes... with small stilts on them. Not centered, but under your heel. Not very user-friendly, right?

Gravity naturally pulls you forward and, hello!, down, but your skillful legs (no comments please) force you to stay upright, which cannot be easy after eight hours at work, or two hours at the Cadillac Bar in Hoboken.

And from what I understand, these shoes aren't exactly shaped correctly. Women are wearing shoes that are in the shape of a triangle, while standing down and into them.

So... height (stilts) + shape (triangle) + gravity (hello!) - skill = something that's almost borders on masochism.

Good looking masochism, but ow.

Gary

(* = skill optional in Lodi. Oh, there I go again... )

[Natasha (candygirl)]

One way to appreciate what terrible stress high heels are on the feet (especially the ankles) is to watch someone walking away from you (no, look lower...lower...there you go). When I lived in the corporate world, sometimes we would sit at the food court and watch people walking by, which is how I noticed the little jiggle that the heel of the shoe does as a woman puts her weight down. Now with the chunky heels, it's not as obvious - the thicker heel provides a lot more stability, but shoes, like everything else in fashion, are part of a cycle - it's only a matter of time before the chunky heels disappear and we are stuck with the spiky heels again, much to the consternation of women's feet!