What's in a name? Stiletto

A stiletto heel is a long, thin, high heel found on some boots and shoes, usually for women. It is named after the stiletto dagger, the phrase being first recorded in the early 1930s. Stiletto heels may vary in length from 2.5 cm (1 inch) to 25 cm (10 inches) or more if a platform sole is used, and are sometimes defined as having a diameter at the ground of less than 1 cm (slightly less than half an inch). Stiletto-style heels 5 cm or shorter are called kitten heels. Not all high slim heels merit the description stiletto. The extremely slender original Italian-style stiletto heels of the late 1950s and very early 1960s were no more than 5mm in diameter for much of their length, although the heel sometimes flared out a little at the top-piece (tip). After their demise in the mid-late 1960s, such slender heels were difficult to find until recently due to changes in the way heels were mass-produced.

A real stiletto heel has a stem of solid steel or alloy. The more usual method of mass-producing high shoe heels, i.e. moulded plastic with an internal metal tube for reinforcement, does not achieve the true stiletto shape.

 History

Relatively, thin high heels were certainly around in the late 19th century, as numerous fetish drawings attest. Firm photographic evidence exists in the form of photographs of Parisian singer Mistinguett from the 1940s. These shoes were designed by Andre Perugia, who began designing shoes in 1906. It seems unlikely that he invented the stiletto, but he is probably the first firmly documented designer of the high, slim heel. The word stiletto is derived from stylus, meaning a pin or stalk. Its usage in footwear first appeared in print in the New Statesman magazine in 1959: "She came ...forward, her walk made lopsided by the absence of one heel of the stilettos".



High heel shoes were worn by men and women courtiers. The design of the stiletto heel originally came from the late Kristin S. Wagner but would not become popular until the late 1950s. The stiletto heel came with the advent of technology using a supporting metal shaft or stem embedded into the heel, instead of wood or other, weaker materials that required a wide heel. This revival of the opulent heel style can be attributed to the designer, Roger Vivier and such designs became very popular in the 1950s.




As time went on, stiletto heels became known more for their erotic nature than for their ability to make height. Stiletto heels are a common fetish item. As a fashion item, their popularity was changing over time. After an initial wave of popularity in the 1950s, they reached their most refined shape in the early 1960s, when the toes of the shoes which bore them became as slender and elongated as the stiletto heels themselves. As a result of the overall sharpness of outline, it was customary for women to refer to the whole shoe as a "stiletto", not just the heel, via synecdoche (pars pro toto). Although they officially faded from the scene after the Beatle era began, their popularity continued at street level, and women stubbornly refused to give them up even after they could no longer readily find them in the mainstream shops. A version of the stiletto heel was reintroduced as soon as 1974 by Manolo Blahnik, who dubbed his "new" heel the Needle. Similar heels were stocked at the big Biba store in London, by Russell and Bromley and by smaller boutiques. Old, unsold stocks of pointed-toe stilettos, and contemporary efforts to replicate them (lacking the true stiletto heel because of changes in the way heels were by then being mass-produced) were sold in street fashion markets and became popular with punks, and with other fashion "tribes" of the late 1970s until supplies of the inspirational original styles dwindled in the early 1980s. Subsequently, round-toe shoes with slightly thicker (sometimes cone-shaped) semi-stiletto heels, often very high in an attempt to convey slenderness (the best example of this being the shoes sold in London by Derber), were frequently worn at the office with wide-shouldered power suits. The style survived through much of the 1980s but almost completely disappeared during the 1990s, when professional and college-age women took to wearing shoes with thick, block heels. However, the slender stiletto heel staged a major comeback after 2000, when young women adopted the style for dressing up office wear or adding a feminine touch to casual wear, like jeans.

Stiletto heels are particularly associated with the image of the femme fatale. They are often considered to be a seductive item of clothing, and often feature in popular culture.
 
Stilettos have a unique way of combining beauty with that sexy outlook. They will most definitely work wonders with you if you are a person who has style and taste. Men will always drool at a woman clad in stilettos, but do not blame them. Stilettos are sexy and it is no longer a secret that they arouse a man and play with his libido. A moderate heel worn with a stylish body hugging dress can make you look astonishingly beautiful. These shoes enhance your figure more and make it more pronounced and that is why stilettos are sexy. They are such unique shoes that dot every woman's wardrobe. Stilettos always bring out the best in a woman. They give a lady style and class.

Apart from the added beauty and elegance, stilettos add value to your sex life. They are able to tone the leg muscles and more importantly they exercise the pleasure muscles. The pelvic floor muscles which enhance sexual pleasure and a subsequent orgasm are thoroughly exercised while walking on stilettos. Stilettos are sexy shoes which can make your sex life turn around. Your sex life will surely and definitely take a turn around and become more fulfilling. Well toned pelvic floor muscles are an asset every woman would like to posses. The muscles respond very sharply during sex. They help you achieve unprecedented sexual pleasures by having powerful orgasms that leave you gasping and breathless. Stilettos worn regularly over a given period of time, will help you achieve the required benefits. Have faith that stilettos are sexy and start putting them on today.

For those who take daily exercises to work out the pelvic muscles, worry no more. Stilettos will do such fine exercises for you that you will never regret investing in them. While you might forget to follow your regime of a daily exercise of your pelvic muscles, you do not need to remember anything with stilettos. That is the reason why stilettos are sexy. They enhance your sexuality and go ahead to improve your sex life. Stilettos do not need a special time to be allocated in order not to miss the exercise. You just slip them on and continue with your normal activities as these magic shoes work wonders with your body.

Stilettos are sexy as well as exciting and fun. They make you look flamboyant in your gait while at the same time enabling you to have a walking style that makes heads turn. Stilettos give you that much sought after tightness during sex. They are a cure against vaginal laxity. It is that tightness that makes you so popular with your man when it comes to sex. Your ratings in bed receive top honors courtesy to stilettos. If you are a regular user of stilettos you might wonder what is this fuss all about. Vaginal laxity is as a result of the relaxation of the pelvic muscles which gets many women unawares. Vaginal tightness that offers a tight grip during sex offers more pleasure during sex for both partners.

Ladies go get yourselves a pair of stilettos or more....