When did women start wearing high heels and why?
One of the first to wear high heels was the Italian noblewoman Catherine de Medici (related to the popes of the same name) in the 16th century, presumably to make her taller. A side effect was to make her buttocks more prominent and desirable. Tom Ruut, Garran, ACT So they can crash through the glass ceiling. Jen Lynch, Camperdown When women started working outside the home and therefore became well-healed. Steve Barrett, Glenbrook High heels were first noted in a tomb in Egypt from around 1000 BC, and were possibly a sign of social status. Later, ancient Greek theatres mounted actors on platform shoes, with differing heights indicating a character’s social status. They soon became associated with sex. Courtiers from Japan, China, Turkey and Old Rome were all thus attired, possibly to make escape more difficult. In the 19th century, the idea was imported to the USA following the popularity of Paris prostitutes who wore them. The modern European fashion of the high heel stems from the I
