高跟鞋其實一直就不是簡單鞋子的存在。一雙美麗的鞋子是女性足尖綻放的優雅，也是心中夢想的延伸。
電影《穿普拉達的女王》一開始就有對女性高跟鞋的特寫，穿上高跟鞋去上班，彷如上戰場一樣。
圖源：網絡
而擁有第一雙高跟鞋一直都是很多女生認為的成熟標誌。想想自己的第一雙高跟鞋吧——第一次穿上它內心那一刻的悸動，身體隨之自然扭動，儘管磨破了皮，但卻換來了更自信的自己.......
然而你知道嗎——高跟鞋起初就是為男人設計、給男人穿的，是女人從男人手裡把它們搶過來的。
什麼？讓女人魂牽夢縈的高跟鞋，第一個穿它們的居然是男人？？為何早期男性喜歡且會穿高跟鞋？趕快和輕鬆君一起打卡閱讀今日內容吧~
(註：本文英文部分選自經濟學人旗下《1843》雜誌）
Until the 17th century, high heels were mainly worn by men.
17世紀以前，主要是男人在穿高跟鞋
「How do they walk in these things?」 grumbles Jack Lemmon, stumbling in his heels, newly dressed as his alter-ego Josephine, in 「Some Like It Hot」. Like 「jello on springs」, he marvels, when Marilyn Monroe sashays down the station platform. Monroe in high heels is the embodimentof a certain version of femininity – dainty, sexualised and uncomfortable, with limited mobility, and pandering to the male gaze.
「她們穿這些鞋是怎麼走路的？」在電影《熱情似火》中，傑克雷蒙穿著他的新裝束高跟鞋，扮成另一個身份約瑟芬，跌跌撞撞的邊走邊咕隆。就像《泉水上的果凍》(jello on springs)一樣，當瑪麗蓮·夢露(Marilyn Monroe)優雅自如地走過站臺時，他也感到驚嘆不已。穿著高跟鞋的夢露體現了女性的某種氣質——嬌弱、性感、不自在，行動不便，這些正符合男性的眼光。
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stumbling [stmbl] v. 絆腳; 跌跌撞撞地走; 蹣跚而行;embodiment [mbɑdimnt] n. 典型，化身femininity [femnnti] n. 女子氣質; 女氣; 陰柔mobility [moblti] n.流動能力; 移動的能力; 易於行走的能力gaze [ɡez] v./n. 凝視; 注視; 盯著
High heels were, in fact, originally designed for men – and had an immenselypractical purpose. Soldiers on horseback wore them in tenth-century Persia, according to Elizabeth Semmelhack of the Bata Shoe Museum in Toronto. The heel helped keep them stable as they stood up in their stirrups and took aim at enemies with bows and arrows (cowboy boots still use heels in this way).
事實上，高跟鞋最初是為男性設計的，並有著非常實用的目的。多倫多巴塔鞋業博物館的伊莉莎白·塞梅爾哈克說，在十世紀的波斯，馬背上的士兵穿著高跟鞋，使得從馬鐙上站起來對敵人射箭時能保持穩定(牛仔靴的後跟仍是這樣)。
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immensely [mensli] adv. 極端地; 非常; 極大地horseback [hrsbk] n. 馬背; adj. 騎著馬的adv. 在馬背上stirrups [strps] n. 馬鐙
aim at enemies 瞄準敵人
Over time, heels appeared on the shoes of male aristocratsacross Europe. Yet from the mid-17th century, heels became associated with supposedly 「feminine」 qualities such as frivolity, and so became women’s wear.
隨著時間的推移，歐洲男性貴族的鞋子上也出現了後跟。然而從17世紀中期開始，高跟鞋與輕佻等所謂的「女性」特徵聯繫在一起，因此成為了女裝。
Until the mid-20th century heels were chunky, clunky things. After the second world war, techniques and materials used in aircraft engineering were applied to shoes, creating the stiletto. The spindly heel requires a thin metal shank, strong enough to bear the wearer’s weight yet flexible enough to allow the shoe to move.
20世紀中期以前，鞋跟都是粗壯笨重的東西。二戰以後，航空工程中使用的技術和材料被應用到鞋子上，創造了高跟鞋。細跟需要足夠結實的細金屬杆，來承受住穿者的重量，更要足夠靈活，使得鞋子能夠移動。
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clunky things [klki'θz]笨重的東西applied to [plad tu] 施加到.....stiletto[stleto] n. 細高跟女鞋; 細高跟; 短劍; 匕首
spindly [spndli] adj. 長而纖弱的; 細長而瘦弱的
Shoemakers and wearers have searched doggedlyfor a heel that is both high and comfortable. They aim to mitigate the angle created by a high heel, which forces the few square centimetres of the ball of your foot to bear the entire weight of your body. Joan Oloff, a podiatrist-turned-shoe-designer, makes footwear lined with memory foam to absorb the shock of each painful step. The sole is crafted to support the arch of the foot and distribute the wearer’s weight more equally.
製鞋廠和穿鞋者堅持不懈的尋找即高又舒適的鞋跟。高跟鞋迫使腳掌那幾平方釐米的地方支撐著整個身體的重量，而他們的目的就是為了減輕高跟鞋產生的角度。喬安·羅洛夫(Joan Oloff)曾是一位足病醫生，而現在是一名鞋子設計師，她在鞋子裡墊上記憶泡沫，以吸收每一步疼痛帶來的衝擊。精心設計的鞋底支持著足弓並使穿鞋者的重量分布的更均勻。
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doggedly[dɡdl]
adv.固執地，頑強地
mitigate[mtɡet]
v. 減輕; 緩和
crafted [krftd]
v. (尤指用手工) 精心製作
distribute[dstrbjut]
v. 分發; 分配; 使散開; 使分布; 分散
Antonia Saint Dunbar, an entrepreneur, makes shoes with a heel cup and strips inside to stop the foot slipping around and getting blisters. Sandra Gault has developed an app to create 3D images of your feet, which can be used to create perfectly fitting shoes. And growing numbers of companies make shoes with adjustableheels: two inches for the boardroom, four for the nightclub, none for the schlep home.
企業家安東尼婭·聖鄧巴（Antonia Saint Dunbar）製作的鞋帶有鞋跟杯，且裡面有條紋，以防止腳滑倒和起水泡。桑德拉·高爾特(Sandra Gault)開發了一款可以為腳製作3D圖像應用程式，用它可以製作出非常合適的鞋子。越來越多的公司生產可調節鞋跟的鞋子:會議室裡鞋跟為2英寸，夜總會裡鞋跟為4英寸，在家裡則沒有鞋跟。
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adjustable[dstbl]
adj. 可調整的; 可調節的
schlep [lep]
v.去，趕往; 搬，抬，拖，拉(重物)
n. 笨蛋
But the wisest are stepping down altogether: in 2016, for the first time, more British women bought trainers than heels.
但最聰明的人都走下了這個舞臺:2016年，購買運動鞋的英國女性人數第一次超過了高跟鞋。