A high, very slender heel, or a shoe with that type of heel.
A stiletto heel is built around metal. The V&A notes that the steel spike, invented in the mid-1950s, runs through the center of the heel and supports the wearer’s weight, which let H. & M. Rayne make heels of Perspex, wood and even Wedgwood ceramic. A 1980 patent for steel-reinforced heels, used particularly on women’s shoes, describes thermoplastic injection-molded around a spring-steel tube, the top piece pinned into the tube. On extremely thin heels, a 1983 patent notes, the wearer’s weight is concentrated on a very small area and the lifts wear out sooner.
Height alone does not make a stiletto. Christian Louboutin lists its So Kate pump on a 120 mm stiletto heel, its Miss Z Sling Back on a 60 mm kitten heel and its Cora sandal on a 100 mm block heel. The V&A records that Roger Vivier, who designed for Christian Dior from 1953 to 1963, is credited with creating the stiletto heel.
In job listings
Stiletto names a product rather than a job. Work on such heels sits in footwear production and development: listings include heel wrapping technicians, who prepare, level and cover heels, and development technicians who brief outside heel makers. See current heel roles.
