High heel shoes for women have been made from all kinds of materials throughout history. In the early years, leather and cowhide was preferred. As civilizations advanced, leather and silk were introduced, while cork and wood were utilized as cheap resources during times of war. After the World Wars and the increase in production of steel, the actual heel part of the shoe was actually a piece of steel wrapped in some other kind of material. This has allowed designers to make high heels even taller and skinnier without them snapping.
Types of high heel shoes for women
Stacked heel – usually layers of leather 5 mm thick stacked together and trimmed to match the shape of the heel. These are commonly known as block heels.
Continental heel – 7.5 mm, with the upper part of the chest of the heel spreading towards the center of the shoe.
Setback heel – similar to the continental heel, but the surface of the back of the heel is straight, forming a right angle.
Cuban heel – similar to the continental heel, but not curved, generally medium height
Pantaloon heel – "similar to pantaloon pants: the top lift part of the heel is spread out as it extends to the bottom part of the heel, and the waistline of the heel is curves inward naturally."
Angle heel – "the surface of the base of the heel is straight until reaching the waistline, and it looks like the shape of the Korean letter ¬"
Pinet heel – straight and skinny
Cromwell shoe – based on Oliver Cromwell with heel up to 170 mm (6.5 in) heel.
Bar Style – had jewelry or other decorative aspects to go along with flapper culture.
New Look in 1947 – a slim/elegant heel, newly discovered by putting steel in the heel. This enabled the heel to be ultra skinny without snapping.
Annabelle – 7 cm platform heel]
Stiletto – Tall, skinny heel; first mentioned in a newspaper in September 1953.
Wedgies - These were popularized by Salvatore Ferragamo, who introduced this in the italian market in the late 1930s
