12 Things About High Heels

1. Research shows that high heels can be traced back to ancient Egypt. In the middle of the second millennium BC, Egyptians began to frequently use sandals. Retention was obtained generally by the Egyptians by a T or V thong passing through the sole. Egyptian butchers also wore heeled shoes for practical purposes, that is, in order to keep their feet clean of any blood while slaughtering animals. 
2. Things started to change when during the European renaissance, the high heel became a status symbol worn by both male and females from the higher social statuses.
3. Catherine de Medici a Franco/Italian noblewomen pioneered the use of heels as a fashion statement. Catherine de Medici is believed to have worn them to impress the French court when she wed the Duke of Orleans, the future king. It is believed to be the first instance when heels were worn however, this reference may be apocryphal, as the development of heels did not begin to come about until the late 1580s, based on iconographic evidence and extant pieces. Two hundred years later King Louis XIV of France decreed that only nobility could wear heels, and that only members of his specific court could wear red ones. Seventeenth-century portraits of King Louis XIV depict the various intricate heels worn by the king and they were often decorated with miniature battle scenes.
4. In terms of design, high heels can be seen with plain construction or with embellishment. Depending on the design concept, embellishment materials include leather, wood, metal chain, plastic appliqués, lace, and others. The majority of embellishments are for aesthetic purposes. The rest are for functional support.
5. High heels have caused significant controversy in the medical field lately, with many podiatrists seeing patients whose severe foot problems have been caused almost exclusively by high-heel wear.
6. Cuban heels were first widely popularized by Beatle boots (variant of the Chelsea boot), as worn by the English rock group the Beatles during their introduction to the United States.
7. Mongolian horsemen were among the first to use heels as means to keep their feet from sliding out of their stirrups. Actors playing tragic roles in ancient Greek drama wore the buskin, a boot with a platform sole, designed to give them greater height over other actors.
8. American cowboy boots, first developed in the 19th century and still popular today in some parts of the United States, have high underslung heels to keep a rider's foot from sliding through the stirrup. High-heeled platform shoes were a widely popular form of men's footwear during the 1970s.
9. High-heeled shoes slant the foot forward and down while bending the toes up. The more the feet are forced into this position, the more it may cause the gastrocnemius muscle (part of the calf muscle) to shorten. This may cause problems when the wearer chooses lower heels or flat-soled shoes. When the foot slants forward, a much greater weight is transferred to the ball of the foot and the toes, increasing the likelihood of damage to the underlying soft tissue that supports the foot. In many shoes, style dictates function, either compressing the toes or forcing them together, possibly resulting in blisters, corns, hammer toes, bunions (hallux valgus), Morton's neuroma, plantar fasciitis and many other medical conditions, most of which are permanent and require surgery to alleviate the pain.
10. Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III signed the department order on Friday, 25 August 2017, following a call from a labor union against the dress code that puts at risk the occupational safety of working women.
11. Philippines is the first country in Asia to ban the mandatory wearing of high heels in the workplace.
12. Types of heels found on high-heeled footwear include: 
1. Cone - A round heel that is broad where it meets the sole of the shoe and noticeably narrower at the point of contact with the ground. It is closed on the front back and sides. 
2. Kitten - A short, slim heel with maximum height under 2 inches (5 cm) and diameter of no more than 0.4 inch (1 cm) at the point of contact with the ground. 
3. Prism - Three flat sides that form a triangle at the point of contact with the ground. 
4. Puppy - Thick square block heel with approximately 2 inches (5 cm) length in all dimensions. 
5. Spool or Louis - Broad where it meets the sole and at the point of contact with the ground; noticeably narrower at the midpoint between the two. 
6. Stiletto - A tall, slim heel with minimum height of 2 inches (5 cm) and diameter of no more than 0.4 inch (1 cm) at the point of contact with the ground. 
7. Wedge - Occupies the entire space under the arch and heel portions of the foot. 
8. Viennese - The heel is longer than the shoe itself and is impossible to walk on, only found on fetish shoes, just for sitting or lying down.

References:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IEuwQjTyGuI
http://www.philstar.com/metro/2017/08/27/1733024/philippines-first-asia-ban-high-heels-group
http://www.sunstar.com.ph/manila/local-news/2017/08/25/high-heels-out-female-workers-560432
http://www.sunstar.com.ph/manila/local-news/2017/08/25/high-heels-out-female-workers-560432
http://www.chinapost.com.tw/asia/philippines/2017/08/25/500120/philippines-bans.htm
http://cnnphilippines.com/news/2017/08/25/DOLE-Female-employees-not-required-to-wear-high-heels-to-work.html
https://www.rappler.com/nation/179996-women-not-required-wear-high-heels-dole
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-heeled_footwear