19th c. Dress Shoes19th c. ShoesDetail of 19th c. Dress and Shoes

In addition to the new post-Revolutionary fashions, which called up notions of republican Rome, the introduction of the heelless shoes gave physical form to the notions of equality that were paramount to the new Republic, in word if not entirely in deed. The heel of the previous century (often referred to as the “Louis heel” in deference to the king) was lowered to a point bordering on non-existent, ensuring that everyone was truly on the same level (Lee 1999). Once a sign of high status and “aristocratic standing”, the heel (or lack thereof) continued to lend the immaterial values of society material expression by physically calling up the republican ideal of equality.