高跟鞋的歷史 最初竟然是給男人穿的!

High heels have become a going out necessity for many women (especially those of us on the shorter side), but did you know they were originally designed for men?

高跟鞋已經成爲女性出門必備的東西了（尤其是那些對身高不太滿意的女性來說），但是你知道高跟鞋最開始是專門給男人穿的嗎？

And it may come as a surprise to learn that they weren't even designed for walking in.

還有一件事可能也會讓你驚訝--高跟鞋最開始並不是讓人穿着走路的！

Heels were originally designed as riding shoes, worn by men in the near east for centuries.

高跟鞋最開始是給男人騎馬用的，這一習俗在近東地區流行了好幾個世紀。

And women only started wearing them to look more androgynous.

而女性最初穿高跟鞋的目的只是爲了看起來更中性。

According to the Bata Shoe Museum in Toronto, which currently has an exhibition on men's shoes, heels were first worn by Persian horsemen in order to help them secure their stance in stirrups.

據多倫多的巴塔鞋類博物館（該博物館目前正在舉辦一場男性鞋展）表示，第一次穿高跟鞋的是波斯騎兵，目的是爲了箍住馬鐙。

At the end of the 16th century, Persian culture sparked a number of new fashion trends across Europe – including the heel, which was seen as virile and masculine.

16世紀末，波斯文化引發了歐洲許多新的流行趨勢--其中就包括了高跟鞋，當時人們認爲高跟鞋能體現男人陽剛氣概。

In the 17th century, heels were particularly popular with the slightly height-challenged French king, Louis XIV. At just 5'4″, heels gave him an edge.

17世紀的時候，法國國王路易十四特別喜歡高跟鞋--他的身高有點問題，只有5英尺4英寸，因此高跟鞋讓他有了優勢。

The heels and soles of his shoes were always red – dyed with an expensive pigment that signified wealth and status.

路易十四高跟鞋的後跟和鞋底總是紅色的--他用這種昂貴的顏料來顯示自己的財富和地位。

Around the 1630s, women started cutting their hair, smoking pipes and wearing heels to adopt fashionable masculine styles.

17世紀30年代左右，婦女爲了趕上當時這一男性化的風格，開始留短髮、抽菸鬥、穿高跟鞋。

Heels were more or less unisex until the end of the 17th century, when men's heels became lower and more robust – and women's became more slender.

在17世紀末之前，高跟鞋不分男女，但是在此之後，男人的鞋跟開始變得又矮又粗，女人的鞋跟則變得又高又細。

With the Enlightenment, around the beginning of the 18th century, came more of a focus on practicality rather than status in men's fashion. By 1740, heels were seen as foolish – and men had stopped wearing them.

在大約18世紀初的時候，啓蒙運動引導人們更多關注鞋子的實用性，而不是男人的時尚。等到1740年，高跟鞋已經被認爲是愚蠢的東西了--男人們已經不再穿高跟鞋了。

And after the French revolution, 50 years later, women stopped wearing them too.

而法國大革命50年之後，女人們也不穿高跟鞋了。

It was only in the mid-19th century that they came back into fashion – and were featured in erotic photographs of women taken by French pornographers. Some reckon this is why heels are now considered so sexy.

直到19世紀中期，高跟鞋才重新回到了時尚界--當時法國色情作品作者將高跟鞋作爲女性色情圖片中的道具。有些人認爲，這就是爲什麼現在高跟鞋被認爲如此性感的原因。