Supported by two handmaids, they tottered through the Venetian calli on twenty-inch wedges, bearers of the most absolute and transgressive elegance in the Most Serene Republic of the 1500s, the honoured courtesans, the first to wear platform shoes before Salvatore Ferragamo invented cork soles, before the dishevelled flower children and freaks of the Sixties and Seventies, before the models who march down the catwalks of half the world so as not to trip up.
The history of shoes with wedges or high heels and platforms of astronomical height goes far back, but is not continuous, quite the opposite of the normal heel which has not fallen into oblivion from the 1700s until today, apart from a few cases in the 19th Century.
Ladies love to wear high heels and are proud of it; gentlemen had to abandon them at the time of the French Revolution, and some regret it to this day. One thing is clear: never until the last years of our decade have we seen heels of such dizzy and shameless heights offered to women for every hour of the day.
Shoes can now be combat boots, half-heeled classics, flat ballerina slippers or bare-sole flip-flops, but only a pale memory of all these examples of probity will remain for posterity, because for history the lead player will be another.
There’s no doubt that fashion, the fashion which finds it hard to hold on to its capital F, obliges women to learn to move at altitudes which never drop below four and three-quarter inches. Fashionable walking has become a problem, running a pipe-dream, dancing an undertaking: women must practically stand still and sway at the knees, moving one foot at a time, preferably slithering around the floor. And if all this seems absurd, it is by no means perceived as such: quite the contrary, one must learn to walk nonchalantly on shoes as high as five, six or even nine inches, and this, obviously, involves attending deportment classes, learning carriage with heels, and in Italy there are trainers in Rome and Milan for this new speciality.
We have to admit that models of these towering shoes are stunning, glittering with strass or with extravagant studs, created in exotic leathers which are unrecognisable under the layers of workmanship which cover the reptile’s scales, from boa to eel, from frog to the most luxurious crocodile. And then the stains and animal stripes to honour the savannah or the jungle style, echoing the bestiary of Tarzan films, the Tarzan exhibited at the Musée du Quai Branly in Paris last summer; and then borders of mink or feathers or even velvet, a very opulent velvet, like that of the cunning courtesans who, apart from having themselves supported, demanded a drop in level between heel and sole of a very meagre measure – only two inches at the most.
High heels, phallic symbols in the psychology of attire, are the lead players, the true monuments of otherness, carved like the capitals of pillars or the mythological figures of bowsprits, modelled on daggers, stilettos, tails, pyramids, witches; multi-faceted, decorated with bezels like a jewel, but above all always accompanied by a plateau in plain sight or, as this year’s fashion dictates, hidden and folded into the vamp.
What is hiding behind this harmless folly of sculptured shoes? And what if this fashion were neither harmless nor even a folly?
There are various models, ranging from the classical low-cut pumps to imitation slave-girl sandals with laces and strings, to models with vaguely S&M belts and buckles. Many have a high instep like boots, and tend to support the ankles which, ever more exposed to the danger of sprains and wrenches, pass on the risk they narrowly escape to what lies above them: knees, pelvis and spinal column.
Numberless studies and authoritative advice confirm that this fashion is not harmless: the foot is subjected to exceptional stresses, the knee joint suffers badly from the extreme tension, but the worst damage is borne by the spinal column, and faulty carriage lurks in wait. We’ll consult the specialists in just a moment, but first let’s see why this fashion has reasonable grounds.
It’s a proven fact that in the most taxing periods of history women have been held in check by a number of very different systems; the most obvious was certainly the corset, a garment that has been glimpsed again in recent collections together with the bodice. But it was the height of shoes, making every feminine step unstable, which was the preferred expedient following the “liberation from the corset” which gathered pace in the second decade of the last century. On the one hand was liberation, on the other destabilisation, and thus women have since paid for every hiccup in their demand for independence with a step into peril.
Women trip and fall, models risk on every catwalk, and that hint of domination over bodies raises its head again, domination which had seemed dead and buried, but which was evidently proceeding towards what we find today in the shop windows and magazines. In short, we were waylaid, and the trap was and remains a false step.
We set out to learn more about the errors which spring from vanity from a probable companion in heels and thus in fortune, and call the physiotherapist Elena Margiacchi Del Rosso, who expertly describes the problems which an excess of altitude can cause. “The tendency for very high heels is fascinating, you have to admit, but wearing heels often can cause a shortening of the triceps of the calf and deformity and pain in the front part of the foot.” So our feet are at risk... “You have to remember that the whole weight of the body is concentrated on that zone.” So what does that imply for the posture? “Plenty: the next step is an alteration in posture, for example the centre of gravity shifts forwards.” We begin to suspect a permanent loss of balance, and in fact she continues undaunted: “In the long term they can bring on muscular tension.”
We press on: “”What kind of muscular tension?”
“For example in other areas like the back or the neck.”
Devastated, we cry, “Serious tension?”
“Unpleasant, very unpleasant.”
We think of those magnificent creations eyeing us from the shop windows. “So there’s no hope?”
Her tone becomes more affable and suggests commitment: “The ideal would be to wear them just for short periods and practice stretching the rear leg muscles. Otherwise the answer is to choose heels that aren’t too high so that the body weight is more evenly distributed...” In other words, if you want to wear them you’ll have to earn it with gym, sweat and hard work.
We start having doubts, and make it clear we’re addressing the woman in her: “Apart from your professional views, what do you think of this trend?”
“As far as I’m concerned, I really like high heels, four inches at the most, but I only wear them very rarely. They’re not dizzy heights, but I’ll do it for an evening, preferably when there’s not much walking to do and you can sit down a lot.” Once we’re clear of the hypothetical, her voice takes on the professional and measured tone again. “It’s a strategy I would recommend to everyone. For other occasions, moderate heels and comfortable soles.”
Dr Guglielmo La Rocca, general practice in Florence, comes at it in a roundabout way: “Researchers studying the history of footwear consider the shoes worn by Roman infantry were the best – well ventilated, close fitting, with a protective sole of an inch, two inches at the most...”
Timidly, we suggest: “But Doctor, we can’t go around dressed like legionnaires...” His glance becomes dangerously direct and he looks to his daily experience for his reply. “High heels? As long as the women are young they can be a pleasure, but the problems come up when they’re around 45 or 50, then they come with deformed feet. High heels change the whole dynamics of the foot, and the bone deformity that started out as functional becomes organic and irreversible...”
“What does that mean?”
“Walking becomes painful, very painful.”
“So the Roman infantry sandals are better?”
“Better than two-inch heels.”
Suddenly the tables are turned and he is interviewing us: “Why do you think women let themselves be conditioned like this?” It’s a good question, but it’s not so easy to answer. To get over the embarrassment, we tell him if we find out anything else we’ll let him have a preview of the interview.
Now it’s the turn of a prophet of neurosurgery, a long sought-after consultation with Professor Roberto Mastrostefano, a neurosurgery and orthopaedic specialist in charge of the Neurosurgical Operational Unit at Avezzano hospital in the district of L’Aquila-Avezzano-Sulmona.
He doesn’t want to discuss either fashion or conditioning; he starts out in an ironic vein: “An article about high heels ... how delightful ... Wearing high heels – and by very high I mean heels over three inches – will certainly lead to an incorrect posture and excessive stress on the joints in the ankle, the knee and the hip. But this stress only rarely leads to permanent damage of these joints, because, wearing these heels is luckily almost always limited to a few hours per day.” We shiver at the thought of girls and ladies who “unluckily” walk on these fashionable accessories with little or no time limit and thus at high risk.
We keep our counsel and leave the impression that using them is only an exception, while he carries on with no inkling of our limitless and pitiless vanity: “As far as the biomechanics of the spinal column are concerned, and the same goes for osteopathic or ligamentary pathologies, they’re generally not altered or worsened by wearing high heels, for the very same reasons.”
We press ahead: “Look, professor, this fad is widespread. Wearing very high heels is common even with ladies of a certain age...” His reply is pragmatic: “Wearing high heels is only dangerous for elderly people when it leads to injuries suffered in falls caused by stumbling.” Our thoughts drift to the statuesque models who have suffered many falls during recent fashion shows, people we can’t exactly call elderly.
We don’t dare to go into this, and move on: “Tell us what happens if they wear them all the time.”
“Symptoms caused by wearing high heels, if seen at all and even then only rarely, are caused by wearing them often and for extended periods, and generally affect the tendons and muscles of the lower limbs, not the joints, so they are easy to cure.”
We exaggerate: “So no high heels?”
“Not at all. Women usually have a greater depression of the sole of the foot than men, so wearing heels is usually advisable and helpful because it provides the necessary support which is missing in footwear without heels, which can lead to lasting pain from the strain of flat or twisted feet.” We enjoy imagining ballerina slippers and the like as torture stocks, but he leaves us no room for satisfaction: “Obviously we need a standard measure which could vary between one and a half and two and a half inches.”
We think of thousands of women condemned to wearing half heels, and look for an honourable solution: “And so...?”
“We could say that the ideal size for everyday wear is what I just said, while on more rare occasions like ceremonies or parties, whenever you need to follow the dictates of fashion and/or feminine vanity, you could wear heels up to a maximum of three inches. Obviously for not more than a day, because heels any higher than that are of no use for making legs look more beautiful or for increasing one’s height, and would be counter-productive for the damage they cause to the muscles and tendons of the lower limbs.”
So the bottom line is that wearing high heels brings a risk factor, we need to slave away in the gym, and to top it all it doesn’t increase our height...
Fashion victims of high heels, we try for a shameless haggle: “Professor, let’s say three inches for daily wear and three and a half for parties?”
“No, let’s say a maximum of three and only for one day...”
“Three and a half for special occasions?”
“Three for exceptions.”
We guess he’s right. These days you need a strong back to live in peace.