Just like hats and gloves, heels are part of the royal uniform. Has it always been that way? Our shoe specialist Linda van Deventer will tell you about high-heeled royals.
Linda: “Royals and high heels belong together if you look at the history books. In the past, it was the male royals who wore heels, so that they were literally elevated above the people. Louboutin’s red soles are not new either. Around 1600, all noble men wore red heels. This way everyone could immediately see that they were of nobility. They were still wide heels at that time. Louis XIV (1638-1715) of France even had heels that were 10 centimeters high. With these high heels he wanted to emphasize his leadership, status and wealth.
It was only around the seventeenth century that women started wearing heels, from then on this type of shoe became unisex. Heels for women were soon made narrower, but they were not as narrow as we know them today: the technology and materials to do this were still unknown at the time.
From the eighteenth century onwards, men ignored heeled shoes, except for a few pop stars, transvestites and cowboys. Women started to wear heels more and more. The industrial revolution allowed steel to be used in more and more industries, allowing heels to become higher and more refined. By placing a piece of steel under the foot, the shoe did not sag, even though the heel was high. After the Second World War, pumps became extremely popular throughout the Western world and the heels became higher.
The use of carbon (instead of steel) in the shoe industry allowed the heels to become even higher and thinner. This development was and is not good for the foot, because anyone who walks a lot in high heels is not doing their forefoot any favors: you run a high risk of developing a lump on your foot (hallux valgus). Yet this does not stop the royal ladies from almost always appearing in very high heels. In recent years, the heels among the queens and princesses cannot be high enough. We have been seeing Letizia in lower heels lately (unfortunately due to foot problems). She shows that a slightly lower heel also has absolute royal allure.
Maxima did not wear such high heels in her early years at court.
Her wedding shoes weren’t that high either:
Amalia as a teenager in lower and wider heels:
Beatrix on mid heels:
Catherine usually wears high heels, but has also worn kitten heels regularly in the past:
Marilène is also very open to a kitten. Beautiful look, right?
Victoria proves that a lower block heel is also very stylish:
As far as I’m concerned, there are enough examples to see that a lower heel is at least as elegant as its higher sister. What do you think? Time to hang up the stilettos? Or are you team stiletto?”
About the author: Linda van Deventer is a copywriter and makes shoes and bags as a hobby. Writing about fashion accessories is perfect for her. On ModekoninginMáxima she likes to talk about fashion brands and gives tips about fit and production methods.
