A brief synopsis of men and women wearing pants and heels.

[Histiletto]

Since during World War 1, women became familiar with wearing trousers/pants as they took on the factory jobs to support the men they replaced so the men could be soldiers in the war efforts. It took about 40 years of women expressing and wearing the pants they wanted before society, as a whole, approved women wearing the pants men wore. However, before this approval happened, there were some socialites who disapproved of men and women wearing the same styled items. So these socialites forced the fashion industry to restyle, refabricate, and/or florally applique pants to rationalize and try to convince people that men and women weren't wearing the same items, even though both versions of pants covered the same areas and continue to have the same functioning purposes, with and/or without pockets. 

High heels also originated as footwear for European men as early as the late 1500's. Before this, Persian horse riding soldiers wore footwear with blocks designed and attached under the heels of their feet to better utilize and secure the stirrup supports as they rode and fought. The European men wanted to portray the  look of bold maleness that the heeled footwear offered so they began to have the heeled footwear made for them too, even though most men didn't ride any horses. The look of heels also intrigued the desires of women who started wearing the heels men wore. This activity caused the homophobic socialites to oppose women wearing the heels of men, but the activities continued. Frustrated, these socialites began doing anything they could come up with to stop women from wearing the heels of men. An idea to restyle the heels for women to use only was initiated, but since heels were still considered men's footwear, men liked the sleeker designs and started wearing them also. This angered the socialites so much that they vowed and continued to pursue any possibilities to down play and get rid of high heels. With the reasons for the French Revolution and the Enlightenment Movement, the stage was prepared to cause the wearing of high heels to be socially banished and distained. Then the Industrial Revolution also helped to change the social atmosphere to the point men were forced to give up their high heels because of the revised and biased social perspectives of what real men and women are. 

For about 3 centuries, these social perspectives have been preached and programmed into the attitudes people are led to understand. The idea of men wearing heels has become so skewed that the ventures of men wanting to wear heels are seen as wanting to be and/or to look like women, even though for men it is really about men having the natural taste and desire to wear (high) heels, the same way they desired to wear the Persian footwear back in the 1500's.

Edited October 1, 2021 by Histiletto

[Henri1942]

Very well written history of HIGH HEELS.  Thank You.

Henri

[Chorlini]

Were heels actually being worn by men in general before the French Revolution or just the nobility? Which seems to be far more likely as there were rules in class society as to what you were allowed to wear. Also I don't think men have a natural taste or desire to wear heels. It started out as cavalry wear, and we don't have much cavalry left in the world, then as a way for noble toffs to set themselves apart from the common folk. Today, for most men wearing heels is a sexual fetish and sexual fetishization involving objects of the opposite sex depends on what objects the opposite sex actually wears. I'm sure that in the 17th and 18th century there was probably a sexual fetish of men regarding female wigs or those giant hooped skirts. Try still finding those. Similarly, if the trends regarding high heel wearing by women continue in a few decades they will be gone completely, and so will men's sexual fetishes regarding them. Of course, maybe the high heel as a fetish item might soldier on, just like the corset did.

Also, fun fact: By law women in Iran are forced to wear pants and trousers. You gotta wear trousers with a coat and a scarf covering their hair. No skirts allowed.

[Jkrenzer]

22 hours ago, Histiletto said:

 

Thanks for those few here who did not already know all this.

Short answer, heels are for anyone who wants to wear them according to history. 

[Cali]

But most people need a history lesson.

[Twilight]

In short, it comes from 10th century Iran, where horseback-riders used it to better secure their legs in the stirrup. And as with many other things from the Middle East, it quickly spread to Europe where people wore them to signify their higher-class status (since you know, if you wear high heels, you likely have a horse and owning horsies is costly, both in terms of time and money - it kinda still is). Later on in the medieval period, women living in cities also adopted them (with platforms) in order to lift themselves out of the dirty and trash-filled streets (they were unusually dirty since public space maintanance wasn't something people thought about a lot and roads weren't paved and so when it was raining, everything became super muddy). Up to around the mid-17th century high heels worn by the two genders looked mostly identical, but then it slowly started to change - men wore thick blocky heels while women wore longer, thin ones (which became one of the symbols of feminism after the Age of Enlightement). They went out of fashion in the early 19th century, but came back in 1860, shortly after the sewing machine was first invented.

During the first half of the 20th century, many countries started to prioritize materials for use in the two World Wars, which led to a shortage of silk, rubber and leather. It was around this time when the "pin-up girl"-posters became popular among men and on them, women were almost always pictured with thin high heels, which led to an increase in the strength of relationship between high heels and female sexuality. Post-war, the western fashion (including women wearing high heels) started to spread globally thanks to increased international communication with films and pictures. High heels also symbolized professionalism for many women while thick-heeled boots became associated with militarism and masculinity. The stiletto was invented in 1950, though it wasn't all that popular until the new millenium and throughout the second half of the 20th century women mostly wore shoes with blocky heels. The 21st century so far has gave us a large spectrum of styles and designs but it also started to introduce a dilemma for women since it's a part of the dress code in many professional settings while posing a threat to the wearer's long-term health.

Edited October 2, 2021 by Twilight