A stiletto heel (AmE: spike heel) is a long, thin heel found on some boots and shoes, usually for women. Phonology North American English regional phonology In many ways compared to English English, North American English is conservative in its Phonology. A heel is the projection at the back of a Shoe which rests below the heel bone. A boot is a type of Shoe that covers at least the Foot and the Ankle and sometimes extends up to the Knee or even the Hip. A shoe is an item of Footwear. Shoes may vary from a simple Flip-flop to a complex Boot. It is named after the stiletto dagger, the phrase being first recorded in the early 1930s. A stiletto is a short Knife or Dagger, with a long slender blade of various designs A dagger (from Vulgar Latin: 'daca' - a Dacian Knife) is a typically double-edged blade used for Stabbing or thrusting ^[1] Stiletto heels may vary in length from 2. 54 centimetres (1 inch) up 20. A centimetre ( American spelling: centimeter, symbol cm) is a unit of Length in the Metric system, equal to one hundredth Inches redirects here To see the Les Savy Fav album see Inches. 32 cm (8 inches), and are sometimes defined as having a diameter at the ground of less than 1 cm (half an inch). Such heels shorter than 5 cm are called kitten heels. A kitten heel is a short slender heel, usually from 35 centimeters (1

Contents 1 History 2 Image 3 Disadvantages 4 See also 5 References

History

High heel shoes were worn by men and women courtiers. A centimetre ( American spelling: centimeter, symbol cm) is a unit of Length in the Metric system, equal to one hundredth A courtier is a person who attends the court of a Monarch or other powerful person. The design of the Stiletto heel originally came from the late Kristin S. Wagner but would not become popular until the late 1950s. The stiletto heel came with the advent of technology using a supporting metal shaft within the heel, instead of wood or other, weaker materials that require a wide heel. This revival of the opulent heel style can be attributed to the designer Roger Vivier and such designs became very popular in the 1950s. Roger Vivier was a French Fashion designer born in 1913 who specialized in Shoes. The 1950s Decade refers to the years of 1950 to 1959 inclusive

As time went on, stiletto heels became known more for their erotic nature than for their ability to create height. Stiletto heels are a common fetish item. Sexual fetishism, or erotic fetishism, is the Sexual attraction to materials and objects not conventionally viewed as being sexual in nature As a fashion item, their popularity was changing over time. After an initial wave of popularity in the 1950s they reached their most refined shape in the early 1960s, when the toes of the shoes which bore them became as slender and elongated as the stiletto heels themselves. The 1950s Decade refers to the years of 1950 to 1959 inclusive The 1960s decade refers to the years from the beginning of 1960 to the end of 1969 As a result of the overall sharpness of outline, it was customary for women to refer to the whole shoe as a "stiletto", not just the heel. Although they officially faded from the scene after the Beatle era began, their popularity continued at street level, and many women stubbornly refused to give them up even after they could no longer readily find them in shops. A version of the stiletto heel was reintroduced as soon as 1974 by Manolo Blahnik, who dubbed his "new" heel the Needle. Manolo Blahnik CBE (born 27 November 1942 in Santa Cruz de La Palma, Canary Islands) is a Spanish Fashion designer Similar heels were stocked at the big Biba store in London, by Russell and Bromley and by smaller boutiques. Old stocks of unworn pointed-toe stilettos, and contemporary efforts to replicate them (ironically, lacking anything like the true stiletto heel because of changes in the way heels were by then being mass-produced) were sold in street fashion markets and became popular with Punks, and with other fashion tribes of the late 1970s until supplies dwindled in the early 1980s. The 1980s was the decade spanning from January 1 1980 to December 31 1989. Subsequently, rounder-toe shoes with slightly thicker (sometimes cone-shaped) semi-stiletto heels, often very high in an attempt to appear more slender (the best example of this being the shoes sold in London by Derber), were frequently worn at the office with wide-shouldered power suits. The style survived through much of the 1980s but almost completely disappeared during the 1990s, when professional and college-age women took to wearing shoes with thick, block heels. The 1980s was the decade spanning from January 1 1980 to December 31 1989. The 1990s collectively refers to the years between and including 1990 and 1999 However, the slender stiletto heel staged a major comeback after 2000, when young women adopted the style for dressing up office wear or adding a feminine touch to casual wear like jeans. 2000 ( MM) was a Leap year that started on Saturday of the Common Era, in accordance with the Gregorian calendar.

Stiletto heels are particularly associated with the image of the femme fatale. A femme fatale (plural femmes fatales) is an alluring and seductive woman whose charms ensnare her lovers in bonds of irresistible desire often leading them into They are often considered to be a seductive item of clothing, and often feature in popular culture.

Image

Stiletto heels are often used in trampling fetishism where in the event that a dominant partner would trample on a submissive partner with the intention of hurting him/her for a sexual pleasure received by both the dominant and the submissive.

Stilettos create the optical illusion of a longer, slimmer leg, a smaller foot and a greater overall height. They also alter the wearer's posture and gait, flexing the calf muscles and making the bust and buttocks more prominent.

Disadvantages

Stiletto heels transmit a large amount of force in a small area, and are therefore often strengthened by a metal rod, and a metal or hard plastic tip. The great pressure transmitted through such a heel (greater than that exerted by an elephant standing on one foot^[2]) can cause damage to carpets and floors. Pressure (symbol 'p' is the force per unit Area applied to an object in a direction perpendicular to the surface Elephants ( family: Elephantidae) are large land Mammals of the order Proboscidea. A carpet is any loom-woven felted textile or grass floor covering A floor is the walking surface of a room or vehicle Floors vary from simple dirt in a cave to many-layered surfaces using modern technology The heel will also sink into lawns, making high heels impractical for outdoor wear. A lawn is an area of recreational or amenity land planted with grass, and sometimes Clover and other plants which are maintained at a low even height

Stiletto heels can also render some wearers less stable than in wider high heels due to small diameter of heel at the ground and their daily wear can cause leg, hip and back problems.

See also

• Ballet boot
• High heels
• Kinky boots
• Shoe fetishism

References

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