Museum in Toronto and author of Heights
of Fashion, a History of the Elevated Shoe,
says that: “Across Europe, upper-class men
embraced the heel and they used it for both
its original purpose, horseback riding, and
as an accessory of status.” King
Louis XIV even went so far as to decree that
only those in his inner circle could sport
the same red heels he did. Semmelhack
goes on to say that the rage of that period
in parts of Europe was for women to assert
their equality by dressing and acting like
men.
”You had women cutting their hair,
adding epaulettes to their outfits. They
would smoke pipes, they would wear hats
that were very masculine. And this is why
women adopted the heel — it was in an effort
to masculinise their outfits.”
The interview also chronicles the male
departure from these excessively