Don't know about "round heeled" referring to excessive walking-- I've heard it was because a woman of easy virtue was easily pushed over, meaning she had round heels instead of square ones which would tend to keep her from tipping over.
-----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Ruth Anne Baumgartner Sent: Sunday, November 26, 2006 2:08 PM To: Historical Costume Subject: Re: [h-cost] "Walking Art," at the Italian Cultural Institute Sounds interesting! But the article's comment "The kings of France adopted high heels, as did the aristocracy, which explains why poor people who couldn't afford them were said to be "down at their heels." sounds fishy to me. My understanding (gleaned where? the mists of time make source uncertain) was that people "down at the heel" walked their heels into nothing--and couldn't afford new shoes (or heels). So, Yes to poverty but No to an inability to afford high-heeled shoes to begin with.... "Round-heeled" reported a similar phenomenon but due to excessive walking on the job--i.e., street-walker. This is a similar "understanding" of mine.... Any corrections (or support) from people less dependent on fuzzy memories would be welcome! --Ruth Anne Baumgartner scholar gypsy and amateur costumer On Nov 26, 2006, at 4:42 PM, lisa wrote: > An article appeared in my local paper about this exhibit. > http://tinyurl.com/ye4spw or http://www.honoluluadvertiser.com/apps/ > pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061126/LIFE08/611260320/1076 > > Has anyone seen the exhibit and if so, how was it? > > lisa > > _______________________________________________ > h-costume mailing list > [email protected] > http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume _______________________________________________ h-costume mailing list [email protected] http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume _______________________________________________ h-costume mailing list [email protected] http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume
