The popularity of high-heels does, in fact, have some regal origin, having been worn early on by many members of the french Valois Dynasty in the 1500s. This first began when the 'not too tall' Catherine de Medici, wife of King Henry the II, designed herself a pair, perhaps to better compete with the King's favorite and significantly taller mistress, Diane de Poitiers. Men and women in her court later adopted similar styles.
Cowboy boots are a prime example of men's high heels, which continue to be popular (in some crowds) today, though for very different reasons than originally intended. Cowboy boots were originally designed to allow cattle ranchers/cowboys to ride saddled horses for long periods, planting their boots into the stirrups. Now cowboy boots are more of a fashion statement and most who wear them are not riding horses for long periods of time, if any. However, that part of the design: the heel, remains largely unmodified despite, perhaps, some lack of ease in walking in them.
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When purchasing your own cowboy or cowgirl boots, look for good arch support, something might still fit your feet well after a long day's walking...or get a pair largely for style and wear them only on special occasions when you'll be sitting a lot. The giant online shoe retailer, Zappos, does give you some survey results regarding arch support and whether the shoe felt "true to width". This could all be very useful data although it's worth noting that the percents are, like all online polls, entirely dependent on who bothered to not only view the item online but vote. Here is one pair of "westerns" that caught our eye for their classic rugged good looks.
The Ariat Heritage Western R-toe.
-Zoë Magdelena
5 comments:
Nice post and lets not forget that Catherine was Italian...she not only brought "high" style but also new dance styles, En Pointe to be precise.
So, did the old girl have something against comfort? I mean high heels will sure send you to the foot doctor and if that didn't do it then she has to make people stand on their toes? :-)
- Glad to be in the 20th century.
Dude, it's the 21st century.
Doh!
I knew that...really.
They may hurt your feet and be impossible to run in but high heels are some of the sexiest shoes! I wear them all the time. And hey, those spiked heels could double as weapons when you're in a tough spot. Self-Defense Hiya, Hiya! ;-)
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