High Heels

Roger Vivier, designer Christian Dior’s shoemaker, invented stilettos in the 1950s

They are straight, boots, squares, compensated, thin or needles. Heels are proof that you have to suffer to be beautiful. Torture accessories for many women, they are indispensable everyday objects. Since their invention, they have explored genres, ages and usages. Adulated then denigrated, they triumphed to return to the center of dressings and the daily life of many women.

Leur vocation est de garder les robes des courtisanes propres, en ne les laissant pas traîner par terre. Inconfortables, ils vont peu à peu disparaître jusqu’au milieu du XIXe siècle. C’est à cette époque que les dames de la bourgeoisie portent à nouveau ces souliers d’une hauteur devenue raisonnable. À la fin du XIXème siècle, les talons prennent leur dimension sensuelle. Portés plus hauts par les danseuses, ils deviennent un symbole de désir.
Their vocation is to keep the robes of the courtesans clean, not leaving them lying on the ground. Uncomfortable, they gradually disappeared until the middle of the 19th century. It was at this time that the ladies of the bourgeoisie again wore these shoes of a height that had become reasonable. At the end of the 19th century, the heels took on their sensual dimension. Worn higher by the dancers, they became a symbol of desire.

Heels are the symbol of the early 20th century. They accompany great social changes for women. If they compete with men professionally and politically, they continue to wear heels to maintain their femininity and assert their difference. With the advent of cinema in the 1930s, heels are more fashionable than ever. Women imitate great actresses by wearing these pumps. During World War II, they put them on at night to dance and forget their worries.

Finally, the 1950s marked a turning point in the history of women’s fashion: stilettos were invented! Roger Vivier, the designer’s shoemaker Christian Dior, uses the wooden manufacturing principle, but inserts a metal rod in the middle to make the heels more resistant, but also lighter than those made of steel.  « These shoes finish the silhouette with a pencil stroke » says the creator…

The high heel is today at the heart of many debates. Object of fetishism or object of power? Accessory of seduction or domination? Worn to please and arouse desire, it also allows women to establish their social status. Originally mixed, the heels were finally imposed on women throughout history, social codes and fashion.