Can anyone please tell me who invented the high heel for women??
Raised heels are stated to have been a response to the problem of the rider’s foot slipping forward in stirrups while riding. The “rider’s heel,” approximately 1-1/2″ high, appeared around 1500. The leading edge was canted forward to help grip the stirrup, and the trailing edge was canted forward to prevent the elongated heel from catching on underbrush or rock while backing up, such as in on-foot combat. These features are evident today in riding boots, notably cowboy boots. The simple riding heel gave way to a more stylized heel over its first three decades. Beginning with the French, heel heights among men crept up, often becoming higher and thinner, until they were no longer useful while riding, but were relegated to “court-only” wear. By the late 1600s men’s heels were commonly between three and four inches in height. In 1533, the diminutive wife of the Duke of Orleans, Catherine de’ Medici, commissioned a cobbler to fashion her a pair of heels, both for fashion, and to increase h
