Mondo Knows Facts
High heels were originally designed for male cavalry riders
Tenth-century Persian soldiers wore raised heels to lock boots into stirrups
High heels were originally designed in tenth-century Persia for male cavalry riders. Raised heels locked soldiers' feet securely into stirrups while standing up to shoot arrows from horseback. European aristocrats later adopted elevated heels as status symbols during the seventeenth century.
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Tags: footwear, fashion, history
High heels were originally designed for male cavalry riders: the short answers
- Where does this come from, and can I check it?
- Tenth-century Persian soldiers wore raised heels to lock boots into stirrups. The figure is taken from Encyclopaedia Britannica, which is linked in full on this page. Every fact on Mondo Knows names its source rather than repeating an unsourced claim.
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