Guide Note

Stilettos are a type of high-heel shoe with long, thin heels that resemble spikes.

Fast Facts

1. Named after the stiletto dagger
2. 1955: Roger Vivier invented the heel for Christian Dior
3. 1974: Manolo Blahnik reinvents the stiletto and names it a "needle"
4. 2003: Sarah Jessica Parker in Sex and the City sees a pair of pink Christian Louboutin stilettos through a shop window and exclaims "Hello, lover!"

Roger Vivier produced the modern day stiletto heel for the fashion house Christian Dior in the 1950s. He created the heel by encasing a a thin metal rod with wood or plastic. Stiletto heels vary in length from 1 inch to 8 inches but are typically in the 4 inch range and are defined by having a narrow diameter of a half inch when touching the ground.

The stiletto is often associated with seduction, femme fatales, and fetishism. Shoe designers such as Manolo Blahnik, Jimmy Choo, and Christian Louboutin have given the stiletto a fresh and new high fashion life in recent years and their designs have been featured on celebrities and made popular on the HBO series Sex and the City.

The design of the stiletto heel puts tremendous pressure on the toes and heels and can cause leg, hip and back problems. But the optical illusion of height, slim muscular legs, and an enhanced female gait, make the stiletto a favored accessory in many women's closets.