Conclusion

What I have found, is that high heel shoes have definitely changed A LOT from when they were first invented through till now. However, even though they have changed a lot, I've also found that they have been around for a very long time. Overall i found this enquiry very interesting, and i learned a lot more than i thought i would about high heeled shoes.

Bibliography

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-heeled_footwear

http://www.randomhistory.com/1-50/036heels.html

http://users.powernet.co.uk/wingett/History1.htm

Intro

The high heeled shoe was first invented in 3500 BC; they were used to show the class of someone I .e. lower class people would walk around on bare feet whereas higher class people would wear high heeled shoes.

High heels were used in Ancient Egypt, Greece, Rome, Turkey, Italy and China. Not long after, the trend of high heeled shoes spread to Europe, and then through to France.

Middle Ages

In the middle ages, people would wear ‘Pattens’ which we think is what lead onto the high heeled shoes we were nowadays. ‘Pattens’ would be used to keep your shoes clean. You would attach them to the bottom of your shoe when walking in the rain or through mud, and they would keep your shoe high up and well out of the way of dirt.

Ancient Egypt

In Ancient Egypt, lower class people would walk around barefoot, and upper class people would wear shoes which made them higher than everyone else (What we now call high heels) These shoes were leather pieces held together by string . Both males and females would wear high heels, and so would butchers’, this was so they didn’t walk in the blood of the animals in there shop.

Ancient Greece & Rome

In Ancient Greece and Rome, they wore platform sandals; these were called ‘kothorni, but were re-named ‘buskins’ in the Renaissance. These shoes were made of cork soles or high wood, and were worn very much by actors, who would use them to show the audience different characters.

Turkey

In the 1400’s shoes called ‘Chopines’ were invented in Turkey. These shoes ranged from 7 inches to nearly 30 inches in height, these were worn by women. Since these shoes were so tall, women wearing them would usually walk with canes or servants.