Sneakers or heels?

Sneakers trace back to the 1830s when the Liverpool Rubber Company produced plimsolls with rubber soles. Charles Goodyear's vulcanization patent in 1839 made rubber durable, and US Rubber created Keds in 1916, the first mass-marketed sneaker. Converse All Stars, designed by Chuck Taylor in 1917, dominated basketball for decades. Adidas was founded by Adi Dassler in Germany in 1949; his brother Rudolf launched Puma. Nike, started as Blue Ribbon Sports in 1964 by Phil Knight and Bill Bowerman, introduced the Air technology in 1979 and signed Michael Jordan in 1984, launching the Air Jordan I, which kicked off the global sneakerhead culture. The resale market hit $10 billion in 2023, with rare pairs like the Nike Air Mag (Back to the Future) selling for $200,000+ on StockX and Sotheby's.

High heels date back to 10th-century Persia, where horseback warriors used them to secure their feet in stirrups while shooting arrows. By the 1500s, heels appeared in European court fashion: King Louis XIV of France (reigned 1643 to 1715) made red-soled heels a status symbol exclusive to nobility, an aesthetic Christian Louboutin revived in 1993. Stilettos, named after the Italian dagger, were popularized in the 1950s by designers like Roger Vivier and Salvatore Ferragamo. Marilyn Monroe famously said: 'Give a girl the right shoes, and she can conquer the world.' Heels alter posture by tilting the pelvis forward, lengthening leg appearance, and engaging calf muscles. Sex and the City made Manolo Blahnik a household name. Today, heels remain a fixture on Oscars red carpets, weddings, and corporate fashion.