Men in Heels

Feminists hate them and podiatrists warn you about them. But who would have thought that the much-maligned heeled footwear was instrumental to the victory of the Persian Empire against the fierce Ottoman army?  It all started when Shah Abbas, a Persian king of the Safavids Dynasty apparently had a gut-full of arrogance from its western neighbour who had taken some of their territories under the reign of his weak predecessors. To make his statement even more evident, the Shah cut a Turkish official’s beard and sent it to the Ottoman’s leader as a sign of defiance. And we all know how those men love their beards, right? Needless to say, such gesture aggravated the already strained relationship of the then powerful empires.

The Persian riding heels made from horse-hide

Expecting retaliation, the Shah consulted with his generals to plan military strategies and to ensure victory over the Turkish army this time around. The Shah had everything covered; his horsemen were made to wear footwear with heels during battles. Now, I’m no authority with horse riding. The last time I was on the back of the horse was when I was in Tagaytay a few years back. And you know those horse operators are so good in selling the ‘cowboy experience’ to unsuspecting tourist like me. But anyway, going back to my point. The horsemen wore heels not for fashion statement; the choice of footwear had practical application. The heels were worn to prevent their foot from sliding through the stirrup hence, giving them secure stance and precision while shooting arrows at their enemies. The use of heels during battles may have been a success that the Persian cavalry of 15,000 consequently claimed a decisive victory against the Turkish army in 1605 and the eventual return of their territories. The fateful battle became known in the Ottoman military history as “The War Against Heeled Horsemen”. True story.

These shoes are made for ruling

The victory associated with men wearing heels reverberated around Europe. For one, the nobility of France under Louis XIV took the footwear elevation on board and made the heels de rigueur to men of influence. So while the farmers toil the land and impossible tax rates were imposed on them, there was dandy Louis sashaying on his 4-inch heels with his mates from the Second Estate. He wore impractical footwear and probably had an amusing gait, but no one cared, he was the king! Last person who laughed saw his head rolled in a woven basket. But of course we knew that men of short stature like Louis, who stood at 5ft 4in, wore the heels to puff-up their physical authority in the same way Marie Antoinette puffed her famous beehive hairdo. The only difference is that Marie did her bouffant while telling the people of France to ‘let them eat cakes’.  

But Louis was married to a different woman, an equally forceful Francoise d’Aubigne. So as not to appear that Francoise wore the pants (or culottes) in their relationship, Louis asked his shoemaker to decorate his heels with scenes that depicted famous battles to make him a little bit, eherm, masculine. And while the shoemaker was busy with  heel decorating, Louis suggested that the heels would also look good if painted in red. From then on, red heeled footwear became a symbol of high status in Europe. Four hundred years later, Christian Louboutin, a French shoe designer, made red sole as his trademark signature, an attributed link to Louis, no doubt. Every year, thousands of women fork out big money to put their dainty feet inside his decadent skyscraper heels. But then, that’s another story.