After it was a symbol of high social status... why did men stop wearing high-heeled shoes?

Dubai, United Arab Emirates - Male models appeared in high-heeled shoes at Fashion Week in the French capital, Paris, from classic shoes and boots on the Vivienne Westwood catwalk, to the thick moccasins worn by rapper and actor Jaden Smith as a guest during the Louis Vuitton fashion show. Although it may seem like a progressive step, it was all the rage at one time. Women's association with high heels goes back to the 17th century, when they became a staple in the wardrobes of the wealthy for their ability to make feet appear smaller and more elegant.

But before that, these shoes were only for men, and were a symbol of masculinity and high social status. By the 1970s and 1980s, rock music had normalized high heels on stage, but some men who wanted to increase their height did so secretly, using insoles hidden (sometimes unsuccessfully) inside their dress shoes.

Today, exceptions on the red carpet and runway are often seen as breaking gender norms, whether it's designer Rick Owens' "Kiss" clear heels, actor Jared Leto's penchant for disco-inspired white-and-gold stilettos, or musician Prince's hand-embellished booties. However, restrictions remain, and when actor Billy Porter released a collection of unisex heels with Jimmy Choo in 2021, he caused a stir in a still very small market of brands offering shoes in wide sizes.

However, in a world where height is still viewed as an attractive quality, leading some men to exaggerate their height on dating apps or, in more extreme cases, undergo painful leg-lengthening surgery, the question arises: Why isn't it more acceptable for everyone to wear high heels? Elizabeth Smilhak, chief curator of the Bata Shoe Museum in Toronto, which houses the largest collection of shoes in the world, dating back 4,500 years, pointed out that the Age of Enlightenment in the 17th and 18th centuries brought about a radical shift in ideas about the values ​​of humanity.

During this period, philosophers found commonalities between men of different social and economic classes, but the gender gap widened, as men were defined as active and women were considered adornments. “These deeply ingrained gender concepts are still felt today,” Smilhak said in a phone call with Ofoq News.

Importing the High Heel Smelhack's research traces the origins of the high heel to West Asia in the 10th century, although it may be even earlier, where it was designed to help knights secure their feet in the stirrups while riding. From the beginning, heels indicated social status, but it took centuries for them to reach Europe through trade with Persia in the 16th century.

“The concept of the heel was closely linked to ideas of chivalry, to masculinity in the European mentality, and so it ended up being translated into Western shoes,” Smilhak explained. In the 17th century, wealthy European men wore two types of heels, a stacked leather heel (as in practical riding boots) and a leather-covered heel (for the more luxurious court fashions).

Eventually, the latter type migrated into women's fashion, where we see them today in stilettos and short heels, while stacked leather heels remain popular in cowboy boots and dress shoes. At the time, a higher heel signified a higher social status for men, being impractical for long walks or manual labor.

One of the most famous depictions of men's high-heeled shoes is the official portrait of King Louis The red heels, known as "Les talons rouges" in French, were such a symbol of royal status that the king restricted them to a select group of nobles, according to the J. Paul Getty Museum, which holds the painting.

Other works from that era show noble women wearing wide skirts that concealed their shoes, while men deliberately extended their legs to highlight their luxurious shoes, which were the focus of attention. (Centuries later, French designer Christian Louboutin achieved a similar effect by marketing his red-lacquered slippers as a symbol of luxury.) Drawing Gender Boundaries Researcher Elizabeth Smelhak notes that despite the current association between height and masculinity, the height given by heels was not the reason for their popularity at the time.

There was no link between height and masculinity yet, but women were the only ones wearing heels because of “a new standard of female beauty, namely the small size of the foot.” “High heels became a tool in women's fashion to lift the larger part of the foot up and hide it under the skirt, making the foot appear as small as possible, and the position of the heel allowed women to leave very small footprints behind,” Smelhack added.

Once leather-covered shoes fell out of men's fashion, they never made a comeback. By the end of the 18th century, Western men's fashion had undergone a radical and rational reshaping, as men moved away from bright colors, luxurious fabrics, and excessive cuts and embellishments, a turning point later described by the British psychologist John Carl Vogel as "the great male abandonment."

As men switched to more practical and less extravagant clothing, the heels of their shoes also remained reasonable, unlike women, whose heel height carried complex social and political connotations with every half inch added or subtracted. “When high heels are completely feminized, they become a symbol of female rebellion,” Semmelhack said.

Men also face double standards, as despite the positive attributes associated with being tall, the average height of a man around the world is less than 170 centimetres. Some world leaders and public figures have maintained this illusion with shoe lifts, foot platforms, and even carefully selecting shorter audiences, going to great lengths to gain more height.

Semmelhak noted that high heels may be a more elegant solution, but this stereotype still exists, although many heel styles that are considered bold for men are not feminine at all. She emphasized: “People talk about it as dramatically changing a man’s identity.

But is it really so, or is it just a restoration of historical men's fashions from the past?