[Interface Fall 07]: Value Fictions 1

Assignment: Research an object’s cultural & technical history.
Subject of choice : high heel

“When women ask me about heels, I say, try a pair on. If you don’t see the magic, stick to Reeboks.”- Manolo Blahnik

image: Andy Warhol’s Shoes

In order to understand how the high heel has been used, and how it has evolved, one must ask the question: what was its purpose? In my research, I have found that there were six different eras in which the heel evolved and changed, alongside history. I started from the 15th century and ended with a conclusion of where I think the 21st century will lead us.

Era 1- Heels as protection, 15th & 16th century
Many believe the heel evolved from the chopine, a shoe with a platform heel that ranged anywhere from 15-30 inches. This heel was used for purposes of protection from mud, dirt and soil on ones feet and dress for Chinese and Italian upper classes. The Turks also used chopines to prevent their feet from getting dirty or touching the ground after bathing.

The chopines were almost impossible to walk with and at every given moment the wearer would have two servants, one at each side, assisting them in walking. This was obviously, aside from protection, a status symbol as well. One must be wealthy enough to even afford two servants on each side. Clearly it had to be cut down. And so…the heel, as we know it today, emerged.

image:15th century Venetian chopine

“Shoes have, historically, delineated clear class distinctions…Chopines, popular in sixteenth-century Venice, boasted platform columns as high as thirty inches. Incapable of walking without assistance, wearers were supported by two servants, one on each side. Lowering the sole in front transformed chopines into high heels…” from Footnotes: On Shoes

Era 2-Heels to give height-16th century
In the late 16th century, the heel was dropped and cut. Many members of the bourgeoisie began using them to enhance their height. They, essentially, wanted their presence to match their stature. Catherine de Medici, a petite woman, was said to have invented the heel in 1533 to wear for her wedding, followed by Louis XIV who also used the heel for the same purposes of increasing his size.

image: Louis XIV…in heels!

Era 3-Heels for conceit, 17th & 18th century
The 17th & 18th century was then compelled by fashions of Louis XIV, and royalties such as Marie Antoinette and Madame de
Pampadour followed. The purpose of the shoe had now changed as solely a symbol of conceit and fashion frugality. It was actually Louis XIV that banned heels from the middle and lower classes, and turned it into an exquisite fashion. The idea was that the high class were to remind high above the ground while lower and middle classes wore flats, symbolizing their social hierarchies. What’s most interesting about this era is that men, as well as women, are embracing this fashion craze. Below a poem describes how vain, expensive, and how much of a status symbol the heel, or the pump, is becoming.

image: 18th century shoe

Monsieur A-la-Mode

A pair of smart pumps made up of grained leather;
So thin he can’t venture to tread on a feather;
His buckles like diamonds must glitter and shine;
Should they cost fifty pounds they wou’d not be too fine

from Shoes: A Lexicon of Style

Era 4-Heels are en masse for everyone, and for moral, 19th-early 20th century
In the 1830’s, factories were built, which made the production of the shoe a faster and more affordable accessory. Technology has made the heel, and the shoe for everyone. It has broken the heels ongoing class boundaries. From hereon, shoes will always be mass-produced, and inexpensive. This is a monumental moment…everyone is wearing them, and the heel is, as it was in the late 16th century, a chunky and square wooden heel. The heels is constrained; much shorter and less chic as it was before. But this is also due to the fact that this is the time of WWII and materials such as silks and other fabrics are almost impossible to obtain almost worldwide. Though many tall and pointed heels are around, these will, again, only be found amongst the higher classes. Much like today, craftsmanship and good textiles still come with a heavy price.

At the same time, Queen Victoria’s reign is influencing the 19th century. After all, the era is named after her. If there was one adjective to describe this era, it would be: civility. She is teaching her followers, and citizens, en masse, the principles and morals of a civilized society. She proposes men and women cover their feet, to prevent from showing barbarian-like qualities.

image: Victorian boots, chunky heels, for the masses.

“The chunkiness of the 1940s shoe was also due to limited technology, which meant that the verticality of its heel was contsrained.” from Stiletto

Era 5-Heels are for women, for going out, and for celebrating femininity, 20th century- present
The war is over. Men and women are celebrating. The stiletto is born! In 1950, Italian shoemakers entince their audience by selling the heel as a sensual element to women’s clothing. Of course, different styles emerge, but the ideal and most defining heel of that era, that manages to obtain the symbol for all, IS the stiletto. It is at this time that the heel solely belongs to women, aside from the very seldom cowboy boots seen on men. We are using the heel to enhance our womanly curves. It is a very empowering moment for females.

But also in the early 20th century, women are beginning to wear heels as if to say that their place belongs outside the domestic space. Women have worked outside in the workforce and they have proven that they can survive “outside” now that the war is over. The heel is their way of stepping out and onto new grounds.

This heel, the stiletto, is a moment of celebration. We are women, we are confident in our bodies, we are being heard when we walk, and we are going out.

image: Stiletto Run in Moscow.

“Invented in the 1950s by Italian shoemakers, the spindle-heeled stiletto was assertively modern, releasing women from the utilitarian fashions of the wartime 1940s and launching them into a modern era of fashionable consumption.” from Stiletto

image: Álmodovar’s Tacones Lejanos

Era 6- Heels are painless, the”no heel” heel, 21st century

But there are problems we are beginning to see with heels. They cause us pain! And many feminists, while at the beginning, were using the heel as a sign of feminist power, have seen the heel as a means of subordination. We are, in fact, LOSING our feminine respects in wearing the heel.

So, designers and inventors are coming up with concepts. Some that maintain the heel’s mass appeal by incorporating its sensual side, but making a practical and painless heel. Others are beginning to hear their feminist sisters’ cries. Questions are emerging: How can we develop the “no heel” heel? Meaning a shoe that gives all the aesthetics and appeal of the heel, but without the pain and degradation?

United Nude is a company dedicated mostly to design, but have also incorporated a science to the fitting and comfort of the heel.

image:United Nude’s Eames heel

As you can see, this still maintains the aesthetic of the heel, and even is a bit more design-friendly, but it is managing to escape the heel’s placement in its general uncomfortable position, making the idea of the high heel less painful.

Wearables at this time are also coming up with plausible solutions. The click Sneak, for example, is a sneaker that has a sound device attached to the heel. Everytime a woman’s heel touches the floor, the sounds of the clicking of the heel emerge. The idea is to still let women walk with pride, without losing their balance most importantly, but also without the pain.

image: clickSneack

Culturally, where it is found
The high heel has emerged in several artistic mediums that were shown throughout the essay:

-in literature; as in the poem, Monsieur-a-la-Mode
-in art; as seen in the portrait/painting of Louis XIV to serve as a symbol of his stature and in Warhol’s Shoes, a product of his take on items that are part of the American consumerist identity. Even today’s form of modern art, wearables, such as Click Sneack, use the heel as a cultural context.
-in mediums such as movies, television, the media, etc.; Álmodovar’s Tacones Lejanos, or High Heels, used the heel as a symbol of sensuality but also that of patriotism. Several female icons today use their heels as a means to allure the mainstream audience.
-in our hobbies, sports, interests; The Stiletto Run!

WORKS CITED

Research

-Benstock, Shari and Suzanne Ferriss, ed. Footnotes: On Shoes. New Jersey: Rutgers University Press, 1994, p. 5.
-Cox, Caroline. Stiletto. New York: Harper Design, 2004, pgs.7,18.
-Danesi, Marcel. Of Cigarretes, High Heels, and Other Interesting Things: An Introduction to Semiotics. New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1999, p. 13.
-“History of High Heels” 8 September 2007 <http://users.powernet.co.uk/wingett/History1.htm>
-Steele, Valerie. Shoes: A Lexicon of Style. New York: Rizzoli International Publications Inc., 1999, p.64.

Images

-“18th century shoe” gtj.org.uk. 11 September 2007. <http://www.gtj.org.uk/storage/Components/322/32249_1.JPG/>
-“Click Sneacks.” http://5050ltd.com 11 September 2007. <http://www.5050ltd.com/images/click_sneaks.gif>
-“Eames”. United Nude. 10 September 2007. <http://www.unitednude.com/main/main.html>
-“Stiletto Run” Unbossed. 11 September 2007. <http://www.unbossed.com/media/1/20060310-PL10030611.jpg/>
-“Photo of 15c chopine held at the Civiche Raccolte di Arte Applicata (Milano)”. http://www.chass.utoronto.ca/~ebernhar/. 10 September 2007. <http://www.chass.utoronto.ca/~ebernhar/images/whitechop.JPG/>
-“Shoes, 1980”. Art.com. 10 September 2007. <http://imagesource.art.com:80/images/-/Andy-Warhol/Shoes-1980-Print-C11736644.jpeg>
-”Tacones Lejanos” Posterspoint.com.11 September 2007. <http://www.posterspoint.com/laminas/cine/CINE126.jpg/>
-The Guardian: the blog art & architecture. 10 September 2007.<http://tours.iufm.fr/ressources/ucfr/arts/copiearthistorie/louisxiv.JPG>

-”Victorian Era Boots” corsetsandcrinolines. 11 September 2007. <http://www.corsetsandcrionlines.com/timlinepix/1910/whitebuttonbotts.jpg/>