Stilettos...

Stiletto is a long, narrow-bladed dagger. This dagger is designed as a stabbing weapon, rather than for cutting, since its long narrow shape allows it to penetrate deeply in a point. The stiletto began to gain fame during the Renaissance when it was popular as a tool against heavily armored knights. The thin blade could easily pass through most chain mail, or find its way through tiny gaps in a knight's armor.

The word stiletto may sometimes be used in American English to refer to a switchblade, and is the origin of the term stiletto heel for a very thin, pointed heel on footwear. Stiletto may also be used specifically for a knife exhibiting the same triangular cross-section and hollow grind as a small sword however: A stiletto heel (spiked heel) is a long, thin heel found on some boots and shoes, usually for women. It is named after the stiletto dagger, the phrase being first recorded in the early 1950s. Stiletto heels may vary in length from only a few centimeters up to 18 cm (7 inches), and are sometimes defined as having a diameter at the ground of less than 1 cm.

Stiletto heels were invented in Italy and became very popular in the 1950s. And popularity did not stem only from women, as men wore stiletto heels just as often. At first, the heel was looked at as another way to make someone look taller while adding certain panache to his or her style. It was very common for men of social stature to wear this type of shoe with their formal outfits. Stiletto heels are very appealing. As time went on, stiletto heels became known more for their erotic nature than for their ability to create height. Stiletto heels are a common fetish item.

As a fashion staple for women, their popularity has waxed and waned. After an initial wave of popularity in the 1950s and early 1960s, they faded from the scene until the early 1980s, when stiletto heels became de rigueur for American professional women to wear at the office with their wide-shouldered "power suits".
The style survived through much of the 1980s but almost completely disappeared during the 1990s, when professional and college-age women took to wearing shoes with thick, blocky heels. However, the slender stiletto heel staged a major comeback after 2000, when young women adopted the style for dressing up office wear or adding a feminine touch to casual wear like jeans.