<P> It is named after the stiletto dagger, the phrase being first recorded in the early 1930s . Stiletto heels may vary in length from 2.5 centimetres (1 inch) to 25 cm (10 inches) or more if a platform sole is used, and are sometimes defined as having a diameter at the ground of less than 1 cm (slightly less than half an inch). Stiletto - style heels 5 cm (2.0 in) or shorter are called kitten heels . </P> <P> Not all high slim heels merit the description stiletto . The extremely slender original Italian - style stiletto heels of the late 1950s and very early 1960s were no more than 5 mm (0.20 in) in diameter for much of their length, although the heel sometimes flared out a little at the top - piece (tip). After their demise in the mid-late 1960s, such slender heels were difficult to find until recently due to changes in the way heels were mass - produced . </P> <P> Relatively thin high heels were certainly around in the late 19th century, as numerous fetish drawings attest . Firm photographic evidence exists in the form of photographs of Parisian singer Mistinguett from the 1940s . These shoes were designed by Andre Perugia, who began designing shoes in 1906 . It seems unlikely that he invented the stiletto, but he is probably the first firmly - documented designer of the high, slim heel . The word stiletto applied to a heel is derived from a knife or dagger stiletto, which is a long, thin blade, whose the heel of the shoe is similar in profile . Its usage in footwear first appeared in print in the New Statesman magazine in 1959: "She came...forward, her walk made lopsided by the absence of one heel of the stilettos". </P> <P> High - heel shoes were worn by men and women courtiers . The stiletto heel came with the advent of technology using a supporting metal shaft or stem embedded into the heel, instead of wood or other, weaker materials that required a wide heel . This revival of the opulent heel style can be attributed to the designer Roger Vivier and such designs became very popular in the 1950s . </P>

In the world of fashion what are kitten stiletto and wedge types of