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Consider the history of the extreme point, for instance. Long before the modern sleekness, during the European Middle Ages, the poulaine — or cracowe, depending on the region — stretched sometimes to an astonishing twenty-four inches beyond the wearer's actual toes. A true test of balance, and perhaps, patience. These elaborate extensions often needed to be tied to the shin, a peculiar accessory to prevent tripping over one's own footwear. Sumptuary laws frequently dictated the permissible length based on one's social standing, a silent, pointed commentary on hierarchy. Fashion, then, a grand, awkward gesture.
It wasn't always a matter of height or elegance, this lifting of the heel. An odd journey, from necessity to pure display. The earliest known heels, surprisingly, did not grace the feet of fashionistas but of Persian cavalry in the 9th century. Their purpose: practical, designed to hook into stirrups, providing stability for archery from horseback. A functional innovation, far removed from the later courts of Europe where Louis XIV's famed red heels became a potent symbol of power, indicating who was permitted to walk on the king's grounds. Such a transformation, from battlefield utility to a royal declaration.
And then, the quiet revolution of the zipper, a comparatively recent innovation, still carries a whisper of its early mechanical stiffness. Gideon Sundback's "separable fastener," patented in 1913, initially found its primary applications in military and flight suits, a marvel of precise engineering. Its gradual adoption into footwear took time; the simple act of drawing two rows of teeth together, once considered clunky, a mechanical intrusion, slowly became an expectation of convenience. The precise, almost invisible slide of metal teeth, offering an instant enclosure, a sudden, almost magical, release. A modern answer to laces, buttons, and buckles, but with its own subtle, satisfying click.
* Medieval poulaines sometimes extended two feet past the wearer's toes, necessitating ties to the shin for walking.
* High heels originated with 9th-century Persian cavalry for functional stability in stirrups, not for aesthetic height.
* The zipper, patented in 1913, was initially seen as a purely utilitarian fastening for military gear, only slowly finding acceptance and elegance in footwear.
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