High heels were made for men. Persian horsemen used them to grip their stirrups, and after Shah Abbas’s embassy to Europe in 1599 aristocrats copied the style.

1599 · 1673 · apart: 74 years

Louis XIV allowed red heels only at court.

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The event

• Abbas I rebuilds Isfahanc. 1598 · Isfahan. Shah Abbas I moved the Safavid capital to Isfahan and surrounded the vast Naqsh-e Jahan Square with palaces, mosques and a bazaar. The city became one of the world's most splendid — 'Isfahan is half the world', Persians said.

16th century · 17th century

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