4. Looking Down on the Masses

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Beyond being fashionable, high heels sometimes have more practical uses. Take King Louis the XIV of France, for example. The king was rather short in stature and wore high-heeled shoes to elevate himself a bit. Much like today, celebrities often set fashion trends and the same was true for Louis XIV. Before long, every self-respecting aristocrat was wearing high heels, prompting the king to increase the height of his own heels to as much as five inches. The king soon grew tired of the one upmanship and decided to simply ban any heels higher than his own. Problem solved.