by Madame de
Pompadour,Louis
XV's mistress. (They are also
sometimes called "Pompadour
heels".)
Since the French
Revolution (1789-1799) the
trend wearing high heels was
ended to avoid any associating
with the old aristocracy and it's
opulence. Since people wished
to avoid the appearance of
wealth, heels were largely
eliminated from the common
market for both men and
women and replace by casual
fashion and shoe wear. From
the beginning of the Baroque
the heel came back to shoes.
Woman's shoe with a Louis
heel, 1760–1765
Although high-heeled shoes or
boots have more often been
worn by women, in various
times and places they have
been standard features of men's
footwear too, either for
practical reasons or as
fashionable items.
Mongolian horsemen were
among the first to use heels as
means to keep their feet from
sliding out of their stirrups. It is
also well known that
Egyptian butchers wore high
heels so they would not step
directly in offal Pharaohs and
nobles in Ancient Egypt would
wear high heels to show power
and for ceremonial purposes.
Actors playing tragic roles
in ancient Greek drama wore
the buskin, a boot with a
platform sole, designed to give
them greater height over other
actors.
The Romans, both men and
women, wore cothurns, or
sandals with platform heels;
these were intended to lift the
wearers above mud and
garbage in the streets. Geta,
which are based on a similar
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