Walking on high heels

A stiletto instead of a diamond ring? Of course she said “Yes”, especially when the proposal was made by Mr. Big to Carrie in “Sex and The City” and the stiletto, signature blue with a jewel-buckle on the toe, is signed Manolo Blanhik. This may be (besides Cinderella’s crystal shoes) the most famous stiletto shoe in the fashion history. You guess it right: this month we are going to talk about shoes. Stilettos, to be more precise. About their power of seduction, about the love for the perfect Jimmys, or Manolos or Louboutins. It’s the Love Month, after all, isn’t it?! 

Hollywood in heels

For years now, stilettos are synonym with “femme fatale”. And of course the movie stars and socialites did their magic on establishing the definition. The fascination has started with Marylin Monroe and her big collection of stiletto pumps: the four-inch Ferragamo stilettos (more than 40 pairs were in the diva’s closet) worn by the blonde in 1950 allowed her to exercise her famously seductive walk. Thousands of wannabe Hollywood stars followed her steps and the simple, yet very sexy pair of shoes, with a high heel and pointed toe, became a trademark for seduction, elegance and luxury. 

The ‘60s and ‘70s were marked by Helmut Newton photographies – sex, power, nudes and… stilettos. (He even captured the disturbing complexities of the high heel in “Shoe”, a picture taken in Monte Carlo in 1983 – look for it!)

On the same page, we can see Alfred Hitchcock’s fetishistic focus on high heels throughout his murder mysteries, from his early silent films in London to his Hollywood classics like “Vertigo” (1958) and “The Birds” (1963), where Tippi Hedren (a former fashion model) demonstrates the exquisite artifice of high-heel wearing. 

Then were the ‘80s (we’ll skip the hippie bohemian era for a second, forgive us!). And, along with them, the season of a power suit, therefore the heel was a sexed-up accessory for the formidable working woman. But the stiletto had a resurgence in the 1990s and early 2000s thanks to its starring role on “Sex and the City”: Carrie trips, struts and dances in stilettos throughout the show’s 94 episodes (which ran from 1998 until 2004), heightening the appeal of the shoe again for mainstream audiences.

Of course, we can never forget about the Andy from “The Devil Wears Prada” (2006) who hurried around New York City in stilettos looking for the Harry Potter manuscript. Or Amanda Seyfried running in high heels on the entire movie “In Time” (2011). Or the killer stiletto (literally) used by Charlize Theron in “Atomic Blonde” (2017). And, of course, nor the iconic “Barbie” movie from last year – with a wardrobe now spanning 64 years worth of fashion, Barbie has been closely associated with the stiletto mule since her inception.

A little bit of history… 

“I don’t know who invented the stiletto shoe, but surely all women, all over the world, owe him thanks” said once Marilyn Monroe.

Well, history says that the stilettos existed before modern times (maybe not in the form of sexy items) and were worn by queens and courtesans. But photographic evidence has appeared around the 1940s, when one such pair of shoes was photographed on the feet of lead singer Mistinguett – the shoes were created by the designer André Perugia – the designer that, along with Roger Vivier and Salvatore Ferragamo have been credited with inventing the stiletto.

The fact is that: in the 1950s, the designer Roger Vivier introduced the stiletto heel (quite associated with cabaret shows and not-so-decent behavior) in his creations. He used metal structures inside the case to provide more stability – therefore, he was able to achieve a thinner heel than that resulting from previously used materials (wood or other light materials). The creations of Roger Vivier were rapidly embraced by the time fashion and we saw them in the collections for Christian Dior from 1953 to 1963, true works of art with embroidery and fine applications. And obviously with thin, fine heels. In 1952, the Italian Salvatore Ferragamo designed a high heel shoe, in which the arch of the foot was lined with the same leather as the upper, limiting the sole to the front and heel. The shoe was strong, yet flexible, like a glove: so there is when the name of “glove arch” appeared.

Carolina Herrera spring summer 2025

Some years after… stiletto shoes get this very name – women start referring to them as just “stilettos” and the tips of the shoes became sharper, and the base smaller. A new version of the stiletto heel appera into the spotlight in 1974, when Manolo Blahnik created the new heel known as the “nail heel”. And that was that. Blahnik became one of the most well-known and beloved shoe designers of all time. The Spanish designer was one of the favorites of the editor-in-chief of Vogue magazine of that time, Diana Vreeland, and his extremely thin “needle/nail” heel shoes became famous, heavily promoted in the pages of the magazine, but also in the statements of celebrities such as Madonna (who described them as the ultimate weapon of seduction, better than sex), Sarah Jessica Parker or Kate Middleton. 

The stiletto heel came back in force in the 2000s, when this type of shoe is adopted on a wider scale, from women who wanted to be elegant at cocktails or corporate ladies who added an extra touch of style to classic cuts, or even by teenage girls who used them in streetstyle combos, with jeans and oversized sweaters. 

Michael Kors spring/summer 2025

What is, after all, a definition for a classic stiletto?

Shoes categorized into stiletto category have, usually… a thin heel, high and pointed towards the tip. They were named after the stiletto dagger (the name first appeared in 1930). The height of the heels varies from 2,5 centimeters to 25 centimeters. Sometimes the portion of the shoe that ends up resting on the ground is even less than a centimeter. Typically, a thin metal rod was inserted into the heel to support the structure of the shoe, which was then replaced with other materials. Stilettos with a heel less than 5 centimeters are called kitten heels. 

Today… the stiletto remains a staple on the catwalk and a signature for designers like Jimmy Choo, Oscar de la Renta and Christian Louboutin – who added red soles to his stilettos in 1993, now a defining detail for the brand. Let’s remember the 12-inch-high Armadillo boot from Alexander McQueen’s 2010 collection (photographed outside the runway on Lady Gaga and Daphne Guinness), the Chanel two-coloured high heels shoes, the Valentino Rockstud studded heels (in 2010), the Dolce & Gabbana lace stilettos and the logo high heel at YSL (in 2017).

Prada spring/summer 2025

This season (the spring/summer 2025, to be exact)… is full of different kind of shoes and heels. From flat ballerinas to sneakers, from weird constructions to the most simple stilettos. Well, yes, even the fashion world is trying to reinvent the wheel with every season, the stilettos are still here – we saw them on Michael Kors catwalk, at Prada or Carolina Herrera. Or, in the peep-toe versions (from front-slit pumps with slight, sophisticated perversions to kitten-heeled boots that show more than just a peek of pedicure) at Tory Burch, Miu Miu or Acne Studios. 

As for Romanian designers… there are a lot of shoes brands #madeinRomania. And we are happy to see them thriving. You can choose the black and simple version (Ginissima or Anna Cori), the statement heels (as seen at Musette or Mihai Albu models), the simple neutral and soft nuances (as in Marelbo or Alura pairs), the bold red or fuchsia models (as in Mihaela Glăvan or Coca Zaboloteanu collections), the party ones (Laura Olaru fringed shoes or Veronese silver pair). You can choose to have a personal touch (as in graphic Guban version or AE Shoes models) or you can opt for kitten heels and some cute prints (as in Smiling Shoes animal print version or Diane Marie polka-dotted one). 

(From left to right, up to down – Mihai Albu, Guban, Anna Cori, Veronese, Laura Olaru, Alura, Coca Zaboloteanu, Musette, AE Shoes, Marelbo, Diane Marie, Ginissima, Mihaela Glăvan, Smiling Shoes) 

Instead of the conclusion… “A pair of shoes has more to offer than just wear. There is an element of seduction in them. A woman can be sexy, charming and ingenious. That’s why women are happy to wear painful shoes. It’s something sexual, because the arching of the shoe represents exactly the position of the woman’s foot when she has an orgasm”, said once the famous designer Christian Louboutin.

Photo: pixabay.com, outnow.ch, Facebook pages of the brands.