The Height of Men and the Fendi Heel

We make fun of men who wear lifts in their shoes - I think in general life is difficult for the shorter man. King Louis XIV was only 5 foot 4 inches but some of his shoes were 6 inches high.During the seventeenth century, high heels signified the wealth and privilege of men and women. King Louis XIV of France passed a law stipulating that only those who were granted access to his court were allowed to wear red coloured heels. Red heels still signify wealth & privilege - how many of us can really afford Christian Louboutin's?And why red heels? Red was a rare luxury as it was a precious commodity in 17th-century France; the dye was made from a small beetle, the cochineal found only on the Mexican cactus. (Synthetic dyes weren't invented until the 1800's).Since the late 1700s, men's shoes have had primarily low heels. There have been many boots for men that have a heel: there is the the cowboy boot and the Beatle boot. Also the Cuban heel has become somewhat acceptable for men and are not considered effeminate (but they're not truly part of the main stream). At the end of last season we saw more fashion forward shoes for men: the Manolo Blahnik’s open toe - slingback.So far I haven't seen anyone wearing them but I hope some fabulous man does. I envision the wearer sitting at a posh cafe, everything white with canvas umbrellas and a perfect view of the ocean...Anyway this season Fendi has created a beautiful men's shoes with very low wedge.I don't think the man who wears this shoe is interested in being taller or concerned about stature. It's for a man who has attitude, a strong sense of personal style and perhaps a bit of humour.