The Eroticism of High Heels

High heels are a fundamental part of the game of seduction, not just a trivial accessory related to sex.

Many men fantasize about a nice pair of legs paired with beautiful, sexy shoes.

They flatter all women equally, make the legs look longer, add height, lift the buttocks, slim the figure, and lend an air of elegance and distinction.

Although they can sometimes be uncomfortable to wear, they accentuate the female figure and make a woman’s gait appear more graceful, thereby enhancing her feminine charm.

Erotic high-heeled shoes first appeared in history 3,500 years before Christ, in Egypt.

They were associated with the upper class or with purity as a way to insulate themselves from dirt.

In Greece, actors wore them as a visual way to distinguish the social class and importance of the characters (the higher the heel, the higher the social class and the greater the importance).

It is in Rome that the topic of footwear takes on an erotic and sexualized connotation: escorts are the ones who wear high heels to stand out on the street. Rome paved the way, and that tradition has continued to this day.

High heels are a symbol of eroticism and sexuality… a must-have fetish item

From the 8th to the 13th centuries, women with small feet were considered the most sensual in China, as that size was associated with the vagina. Not even escorts would go barefoot in public.

Among Chinese women, binding their feet to prevent them from growing—and thus making them appear smaller—was considered highly erotic, a practice aimed at achieving what was known as the “lotus foot.”

 Chopines first appeared in the Middle Ages: the precursors to Jimmy Choos, they were invented in Turkey and quickly spread to Europe, particularly Venice, where they reached ridiculous heights—up to seventy-five centimeters; and just as in Egypt, high heels symbolized social status.

They also made their way to France, where men began wearing them as well, and they became popular among the nobility.

Even upper-class women needed servants to help them walk.

They disappeared for obvious reasons after the revolution, and reappeared in the late 19th century, but this time they were worn almost exclusively by women.

Among the different types of heels, we must mention the stiletto heel, which was introduced in 1940 when Christian Dior redesigned the female silhouette to highlight her most feminine and sophisticated features.

Designers such as Salvatore Ferragamo saw the postwar period as the ideal time to transform the concept and image of women’s erotic shoes, And it was in the mid-1950s that the stiletto heel took shape under the designers’ hands, eventually leading to the countless revolutionary designs and styles we see today.

Heels have gotten higher and higher… and although it sounds like a paradox… and even though they may restrict our movement or become uncomfortable… at the same time, we feel more alluring, more elegant—in a word, “the sensuality of femininity.”

Shoe designers are constantly creating new designs and styles that perfectly suit all tastes and styles.

When we choose a model, we’re expressing a small part of ourselves—it’s like a stamp of our identity because it’s something very personal, just like perfume or our personality.

The message is clear: high heels are the best proof that when it comes to aesthetics and beauty… reason doesn’t usually prevail.

As an erotic garment, stiletto heels are a fetishist’s dream; these sharp heels have exuded sexuality, extravagance, and excess since their inception.

Details such as their texture, scent, color, heel height, and decorative elements drive those who feel this intense attraction wild—sometimes more for the shoe itself than for the person wearing it.

Fetishists—both men and women—own large collections of top-brand shoes, which are considered “jewelry shoes.”

What does psychoanalysis have to say about erotic shoes?

Psychoanalysts consider it a phallic symbol, since the foot penetrates the erotic shoe, which is why they are so attractive. It is also a sign of power, which is why high heels are associated with sadomasochism, where the woman dominates the man with her shoe.

The latest trend in men’s footwear in India is “stilettos” for men in all their varieties, and although there isn’t much confidence in their future—both because of the difficulty of adapting a man’s gait to such thin heels and because they cost between $500 and $5,000—perhaps this is an opportunity to reimagine the image of men in an innovative way. And we shouldn’t let stereotypes scare us.