As trending fashions change and popular styles evolve, the well-loved and always glamorous high heel has stood the test of time and remained a footwear staple for designers, celebrities and consumers.
From Marilyn Monroe in dramatic 1953 pumps and Audrey Hepburn in 1963 kitten heels to Halle Berry in 2000 strappy pink heeled sandals and Billy Porter in 2023 platforms, the traditional silhouette has gone through, and will continue to go through, distinguishable transformations as style cues progress and new aesthetics emerge. A 2021 report from FN commented on this very phenomenon with evidence to suggest high heels were regaining popularity post-pandemic due to major shifts in consumer buying habits. This is just one of the several ways in which the silhouette has held up over time.
Ahead, FN has compiled a selection of images that reflect how high heels, the way they are styled and those who style them have evolved over the past 10 decades.
-
High Heels Through the Years
Image Credit: Getty Images Marion Davies wearing closed-toe heels with slender ankle straps in 1920.
-
High Heels Through the Years
Image Credit: Rex Shutterstock An ad from 1924 displays heels with an elongated toe and intricate detailing.
-
High Heels Through the Years
Image Credit: Rex Shutterstock Nancy Carroll poses in a pair of satin high heels with bow detailing on the straps and an elongated toe in 1928.
-
High Heels Through the Years
Image Credit: Getty Images A woman examines reptile skin shoes at the London Shoe and Leather Fair in October 1931.
-
High Heels Through the Years
Image Credit: Rex Shutterstock Jean Harlow poses in the 1930s, wearing black pumps with a curved heel and closed toe.
-
High Heels Through the Years
Image Credit: Rex Shutterstock Ginger Rogers poses in the 1940s in red high heels with a thin strap at the ankle.
-
High Heels Through the Years
Image Credit: Rex Shutterstock A 1947 ad from Lotus shoes displays slingback sandals with a strap at the ankle.
-
High Heels Through the Years
Image Credit: Getty Images Barbara Stanwyck wore a satin evening dress with matching high heels in 1948.
-
High Heels Through the Years
Image Credit: Rex Shutterstock Veronica Lake poses in slingback pumps on a chunky heel in 1948.
-
High Heels Through the Years
Image Credit: Rex Shutterstock Marilyn Monroe wears dramatic high heels with detailing at the ankle straps in a poster from “How to Marry a Millionaire” in 1953.
-
High Heels Through the Years
Image Credit: Getty Images Judy Garland wears timeless black pumps at the airport i 1955.
-
High Heels Through the Years
Image Credit: Rex Shutterstock A 1956 ad for Goodyear shoes shows a slinky heel on a pointy toed pump.
-
High Heels Through the Years
Image Credit: Getty Images Dorothy Dandridge is seen wearing black peep-toe mules in 1956.
-
High Heels Through the Years
Image Credit: Rex Shutterstock Joan Collins wears white pumps with a thin heel in 1957.
-
High Heels Through the Years
Image Credit: Rex/Shutterstock In 1959, French actress Brigitte Bardot wears sandals in character from the motion picture “Voulez-Vous Danser Avec Moi.”
-
High Heels Through the Years
Image Credit: Getty Images Lena Horne wears ivory almond-toe stilettos during a reception at the Savoy Hotel in London in 1959.
-
High Heels Through the Years
Image Credit: Rex Shutterstock Audrey Hepburn poses in a little black dress and kitten heels, in her “Breakfast at Tiffany’s” costume, in 1961.
-
High Heels Through the Years
Image Credit: Rex Shutterstock A 1963 ad for the “American campus girl pump” features a black patent leather kitten heel.
-
High Heels Through the Years
Image Credit: Getty Images Jane Fonda wears a checkered skirt suit with stiletto boots in London circa 1965.
-
High Heels Through the Years
Image Credit: Getty Images Helen Mirren wearing chunky black heels featuring three straps while waiting with her luggage at Heathrow airport in 1969.
-
High Heels Through the Years
Image Credit: Getty Images Barbra Streisand dons knee-high leather boots with chunky heels at the Dorchester Hotel in London in January 1969.
-
High Heels Through the Years
Image Credit: Getty Images Tina Turner performs in strappy metallic platform high-heel sandals in 1972.
-
High Heels Through the Years
Image Credit: Rex Shutterstock Bette Midler wears a velvet skirt and floral top with statement platform sandals in 1972.
-
High Heels Through the Years
Image Credit: Rex Shutterstock At the 1973 British Footwear Show, a platform shoe with detailing at the toe was shown.
-
High Heels Through the Years
Image Credit: Ron Frehm/Shutterstock Singer Diana Ross hits a high note in a sheer bodysuit and stiletto heels at a 1983 concert.
-
High Heels Through the Years
Image Credit: Rex Shutterstock Margaret Thatcher wears low black heels with sparkly detailing in 1984.
-
High Heels Through the Years
Image Credit: Rex Shutterstock Princess Diana wears all red, with low pumps, outside London’s Japanese embassy in 1986. She was a major fashion inspiration for women through the 1980s and 1990s.
-
High Heels Through the Years
Image Credit: Rex Shutterstock Princess Diana in 1997 wearing powder blue slingback kitten heels with a matching dress and clutch.
-
High Heels Through the Years
Image Credit: Rex Shutterstock The “Princess Shoe,” modeled after a style worn by Princess Diana.
-
High Heels Through the Years
Image Credit: Getty Images Halle Berry wears strappy pink satin high-heel sandals at the 2000 MTV Movie Awards.
-
High Heels Through the Years
Image Credit: Rex Shutterstock Seen on “Friends” in the early aughts, Jennifer Aniston (L) wears boots with an exaggerated pointy toe and Christina Applegate sports knee-high black boots with an ultrahigh heel.
-
High Heels Through the Years
Image Credit: Rex Shutterstock Christina Aguilera wears lace-up sandals in 2002.
-
High Heels Through the Years
Image Credit: Jim Smeal/BEI/Shutterstock Naomi Campbell in heeled sandals at the MTV VMAs in 2004.
-
High Heels Through the Years
Image Credit: Rex Shutterstock Beyoncé wears silver pumps with a rounded toe and studded detailing at a 2008 red carpet appearance.
-
High Heels Through the Years
Image Credit: Rex Shutterstock Stilettos and ankle booties are two major 2010s trends, modelled here by Rihanna at a 2012 appearance.
-
High Heels Through the Years
Image Credit: REX Shutterstock. Lady Gaga in Pleaser heels at the 2016 Met Gala.
-
High Heels Through the Years
Image Credit: Rex Shutterstock Hailey Baldwin steps out in 2017 in a current trend: thigh-high boots, with a high heel.
-
High Heels Through the Years
Image Credit: GC Images In 2018, Zendaya is seen wearing a pair of printed Christian Louboutin pumps in New York City.
-
High Heels Through the Years
Image Credit: NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Michelle Obama was interviewed on “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon” in 2018 wearing a pair of strappy black stiletto heels.
-
High Heels Through the Years
Image Credit: Tim Rooke/Shutterstock Meghan Markle in a Victoria Beckham dress with Manolo Blahnik pumps at the Endeavor Awards, March 5, 2020.
-
High Heels Through the Years
Image Credit: NBCUniversal/NBCU Photo Bank via Kim Kardashian poses during the 2021 People’s Choice Awards in a pair of boots seamlessly attached to her black bodysuit.
-
High Heels Through the Years
Image Credit: Getty Images Timothée Chalamet attends the photocall for “Bones And All” in 2022 wearing a pair of black patent leather heeled Gucci boots.
-
High Heels Through the Years
Image Credit: Getty Images Anne Hathaway is seen arriving at the Valentino haute couture fall 2022 show in a pair of bright pink platform heels.
-
High Heels Through the Years
Image Credit: GC Images In 2022, Bella Hadid is seen in the streets of Paris wearing a pair of Gucci Horsebit loafer heels with knee-high socks.
-
High Heels Through the Years
Image Credit: Getty Images Billy Porter poses on the 2023 Golden Globes red carpet in a sparkling pair of platform Jimmy Choo heels.
-
High Heels Through the Years
Image Credit: Getty Images Emma Chamberlain attends the 2023 Costume Institute Benefit celebrating “Karl Lagerfeld: A Line of Beauty” at the Metropolitan Museum of Art wearing a pair of baby blue satin Miu Miu heels.
-
High Heels Through the Years
Image Credit: Getty Images for MTV Taylor Swift backstage during the 2023 MTV Video Music Awards in a pair of bedazzled silver platform heels.
-
High Heels Through the Years
Image Credit: WireImage Tracee Ellis Ross shows off her Chanel heels adorned with white flowers at the 2024 Governors Awards.
-
High Heels Through the Years
Image Credit: Getty Images Billie Eilish attends the 2024 Golden Globe Awards in a pair of thrifted Mary jane heels.
