What does Alexis Bledel, Nicole Richie, Sarah Jessica Parker, Lake Bell, Diane Kruger, Victoria Beckham, Rihanna & Rachel Bilson have in common?
Well, here’s a hint – let’s play Finding Waldo down below:
Answer: the heels with the red sole. The sexy heels with vamping peek-a-boo’s red soles.
Let’s thank the guy who created these. Meet the French designer Christian Louboutin.
You’re probably asking how does this relate to men’s fashion, well we gotta thank the guy who first wore the red heels and probably inspired Mr. Louboutin with his signature red soles collection. Let’s time travel for that – so vroOom. Meet the powder puff guy with the most extravagant fashion of the 17th Century – King Louis XIV of France also known as the Sun King. Go ahead, check him out – stare at his portrait for a moment. Hey, would you look at that – he’s wearing red heels! Pretty masculine guy, eh?
He tried being more masculine by wearing the heels to help him out on his less than average height of just being 5 foot 4 inches. (Oh, you poor short boy). Back then, high heels played a significant role in wealth & status for both men & women, so being this Short King and all, he wore heels up to 5 inches to sculpt his stature to appear more aristocratic, refined, delicate, elegant and desirable. (Art history people say hello to the beginning of the Rococo era.) Rebekah Roy of Stylist Stuff stated, “King Louis XIV of France passed a law stipulating that only those who were granted access to his court were allowed to wear red colored heels.” in her article of The Height of Men and the Fendi Heel. So why the color red? It was a rare vibrant color that was “a precious commodity precious commodity in 17th-century France; the dye was made from a small beetle, the cochineal found only on the Mexican cactus.”
And as you can see, even still today the red heels signify wealth & status – since only the hottest celebrities can afford Christian Louboutin. But if you desperately want to incorporate the significance of red on your footwear, get Rustoleum red spray paint and spray them on.). Or seek these: no, not boot-legged Christian Louboutin, but Oh Deer! Shoes with the price approx. $40 – $60 instead of $400+.
(Personal favorite is this number right here. Hello Jamocha – too bad you don’t have my size. You would have made my Halloween outfit as King Louis XIV perfectly amazing). So, with all this art history lesson – let’s just thank the man who inspired & influenced women’s fashion in heels, along wore some for himself – King Louis XIV of France.
Raid & Create.
Jessica 
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