It’s official: high heels are key to sex appeal

THEY have divided fashionistas and feminists for generations, but its seems high heels really are sexy, according to scientists.

Researchers recruited 52 female university students aged 18 to 24 and shot videos of them walking in flat shoes and in their own high heels, varying in height from 8cm to 10cm.

Editing software was used to erase their feet so that only the women’s body movements could be assessed – and all had been instructed to wear similar dark, tight-fitting T-shirts, with jeans or leggings and have their hair tied back to ensure uniformity.

The videos were then shown to more than 100 male and female volunteers who were asked to rate the women on a scale of attractiveness from one to ten. The results were overwhelmingly in favour of heels.

‘Irrespective of raters’ gender, higher attractiveness ratings were assigned to models in the high heels condition than in the flats condition,’ the scientists said.

The findings apparently endorse the opinion of Hollywood legend Marilyn Monroe, who once said: ‘I don’t know who invented high heels, but all women owe him a lot.’

And high heels were a feature of the hit television series Sex And The City, with its lead character Carrie Bradshaw, played by Sarah Jessica Parker, obsessed by shoes.

According to the scientists from the University of Pecs, in Hungary, the main reason high heels make women sexy is the effect wearing them has on ‘lumbar curvature’ – the way the back curves during motion.

They claim that if a woman’s spine curves in a certain way, the shape can send a positive subconscious signal that she is at a lower risk of being infertile.

The study was published in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health.