Introduction; Chapter 1: Fancy Footwork; Designers break away from wedge heels and utilitarian wartime fashions to create the first tapered heel. The stiletto is born and spells sophistication, elegance, glamour, and couture. Vivier, Dior, Perugia, Jourdan, Gina. Chapter 2: Hollywood Heels; Wild style. The popularity of the Italian stiletto and associated La Dolce Vita lifestyle. Hollywood starlets make the stiletto their own. The stiletto becomes sexy, trashy, and develops associations with bad girls and danger. Ferragamo, Gina Lollobrigida, La Dolce Vita, Marilyn Monroe. Chapter 3: Spikes and Lashes; Stilettos and fetishism. The pleasure-pain equation, the heel as weapon. Female power and female submission. Punk. The language of fetishism becomes socially acceptable with 1980s power dressing. Fetish artists Eric Stanton and Allen Jones, Terry de Havilland, Vivienne Westwood. Chapter 4: Balancing Act; Feminine, sexy, successful - the stiletto and the glamour of femininity are embraced by strong, independent women. Stilettos by big name designers become must-have luxury items, and the badge of celebrity status. Madonna, Sex and the City, Jimmy Choo, Manolo Blahnik, Christian Louboutin. Bibliography; Index; Acknowledgments
