A broad shoe heel with a substantial surface in contact with the ground.
A block heel is broad where it meets the ground. That is its working difference from a stiletto: a 1983 patent for heel lifts notes that on extremely thin heels the wearer’s weight is concentrated on a very small area, and the lifts wear faster. Broad does not mean low or straight. Christian Louboutin lists block heels at 70 mm on its Dianouchette ankle boot and 100 mm on its Cora sandal, and calls the 85 mm block heel of its Miss Jane sandal gently tapered.
A block heel is still a separate heel, open beneath the arch. A wedge heel closes that gap: the Bata Shoe Museum describes wedges as shoes where the space between the heel and the sole is filled in. The V&A holds block heels across shoe types: a mule slipper designed by Roger Vivier for Christian Dior around 1960, a Rayne sandal of the 1970s and Mary Quant platform shoes of 1972 to 1973.
In job listings
Block heel is a product term rather than a job title. It matters in footwear development and production, where a mock-up technician may 3D-print heels for early prototypes and a development technician briefs outside heel makers. See current shoe roles.
