High heels (also stiletto heels or heeled shoes) are shoes that have a high heel. The term only refers to the heel height and is independent of other characteristics such as the shaft cut (sandal, pump), the shaft height (low shoe, boot), the material or the heel shape (stiletto heel, block heel). The origins of the heeled shoe are not fully understood. Their predecessors are considered to be platform shoes worn by women and men, for example in the form of chopines. The oldest known shoes with heels are shoes worn by equestrian peoples for sure-footedness in the stirrups.
During the Baroque period, heeled shoes became symbols of power for men and women who did not have to perform physical labor. In the course of the French Revolution and the spreading Enlightenment ideals of equality, heels became smaller again or took the form of wedge heels until they disappeared completely around 1810 and later reappeared separated by gender. They have a strong figure-accentuating influence on movement and posture.