tapering stiletto as we know it today. Thus do these photo-
graphers make their pioneering contribution to the fetishism surrounding such heels.22

We should not be surprised at some overlap between the fetish imagery featured in the DuPret collection and the more general erotic imagery produced during the early years of photography, as amply illustrated in a recently published selection of nudes from the Ewe Scheid Collection, one of the largest and most important collections of erotic photography in the world.23 The greatest over-
lap occurs in those images in which high heels are worn by one or more of the models; it is the heels that take an otherwise typ-
ically mainstream erotic or “saucy” composition and make of it an image falling within the orbit of a fetishist’s appreciation. Indeed, the text in the Taschen selection of nudes from the Ewe Scheid Collection that introduces the section “Saucy scenes” points out that “…works meant to pique erotic fancy resort to the play of the now-hidden, now-revealed, in which shoes, stockings, suspend-
er, scarves and veils, fabrics and fans are indispensable access-
ories”.24 It is not insignificant that shoes head the list. “Erotic post-
cards” is the other section where

the greatest overlap is seen with the DuPret fetish collection.25 High heels also play a rôle in other images in this section, but, while adding a suggestion of fetishism, evoke a style and ambience of more risqué examples of later fashion photography.26

Although high heels have historic-
ally occupied a significant place and in some cases literally enjoy-
ed reverence in the fetish world, until after World War Two they were not the ultra-thin, “killer” stilettos we know today. While extreme heels made the occas-
ional foray into pre-war fashion consciousness with innovative and quirky shoes from some of the early masters of twentieth century Western footwear design – such as André Perugia in 1931 with his fishshaped, stiletto-heeled shoe – it wouldn’t be until the mid 1950s that the stiletto heel as we know it would become an everyday sight, first among the haute couture fashionable, and then across the social spec-
trum. When, exactly, the con-
temporary stiletto heel appeared, and who was responsible, are questions fashion writers and learned fashion historians alike appear to have great difficulty answering without liberal flour-
ishes of ambiguity.

Contention and confusion: who ‘invented’ the stiletto heel?

There is more to stiletto heels than the deliciously dark side of life. As indicated above, the world of high fashion gave birth to the contemporary stiletto heel. New, post-war technology was, from the mid 1950s, able to deliver volume production of high, very thin heels that were strong enough to bear the weight of the person wearing them. Stiletto heels became ever more popular as the 1950s progressed until, with the aid of new marketing strategies that promoted an ethos of consumerism with the development of ready-to-wear lines – “an important democ-
ratization of fashion” according
to one historian27 – they became ubiquitous throughout society, and not just with the fashion
élite and with fetishists.

Exactly when the stiletto heel first appeared, and who was respons-
ible for it, are sources of content-
ion. However, fashion writers and historians usually refer to this contention only obliquely, if at all, in favour of presenting their read-
ers with definitive answers that on deeper analysis are question-
able. Considering what is, in fact, a great deal of uncertainty surr-

ounding its origins, the first rec-
orded instance of the term “stiletto heel” in the public dom-
ain, at least in the English lang-
uage, is very relevant.

see note †

Many commentators would no doubt have reason to reconsider words written in the past had they had access to the know-
ledge presented by the Oxford English Dictionary in mid-2007: revisions for its internet edition, OED Online, established that
the earliest known mention of “stiletto heel” in print, in English, was in 1931. This is as follows: