On the louboutins: how the legendary red sole appeared
After the scandalous song of the Leningrad group, even those girls who are far from Van Gogh exhibitions and other cultural events began to dream about shoes from Christian Louboutin. A funny motif was on everyone's tongue, and millions of netizens watched the life video. But do you know how the red sole of those louboutins appeared?
(8 photos in total)
Christian Louboutin shoes.
Heels were not invented to be worn by women. This statement mercilessly destroys established stereotypes, because what other element of a woman's wardrobe can compare with shoes in beauty and sexuality? However, it is worth leafing through books about the history of European fashion: Louis XIV, known as the "sun King", became the trendsetter. It was he who in the XVII century issued a decree according to which shoes with red soles could only be worn by the king's courtiers. Thus, shoes became a special privilege, a marker that distinguished people of noble origin.
The aristocrats of the XVII century massively changed into high-heeled shoes, but faced a problem: these shoes were completely unsuitable for daily wear.
Cavalry shoes in Persia, XVII century.
It turns out that Louis borrowed the design from... the Persian army. Surprised? Such shoes were indeed used in the Middle East for cavalry uniforms. Standing in the stirrup on the heel, it was easier to keep balance, to get a bow and arrow during a fight. Shah Abbas I tried his best to strengthen relations with Western Europe at the end of the XVI century, it was he who assembled the largest cavalry regiment in the world, and he also sent the first diplomatic mission from Persia to Europe in 1599.
Portrait of Louis XIV, 1701, Hyacinth Rigaud.
The Persian "novelty" was to the taste of the European aristocracy, and in order to emphasize its importance even more, the heels began to be made a little higher. Walking down the street in such shoes was almost impossible, shoes were not designed to be worn on broken roads. However, few people cared about this: aristocratic outfits have always been famous for pretentiousness and pomposity with minimal functionality. And important people did not walk through the streets on foot, so they could afford to flaunt shoes on the palace parquet.
Men's shoes at the court of Louis XIV.
A ball at the court of Louis XIV.
Ludovic himself fell in love with heels because they made him visually taller. With a height of only 1.63 m, he wore 10-centimeter heels that modern fashionistas would envy. So the king looked more convincing, posing for paintings with battle scenes. The sole was always exceptionally red, because shoes were perceived as part of military uniforms. Soon such shoes became famous throughout Europe — for example, in 1661, Charles II sported such shoes during his coronation in England.
A man's shoe.
Interestingly, women adopted heels as part of men's attire. The first attempts to walk in such shoes arose simultaneously with experiments on wearing short men's haircuts and men's hats. Priorities changed only at the end of the XVII century, then the heel becomes thinner on women's shoes, and men gradually abandon it altogether. According to fashion historians, men chose functionality, while women remained faithful to the "conquered" heels.
The red sole is borrowed from the army environment.