Modern France helped to make the female high heel iconic. Roger Vivier, a French designer, is considered to be the godfather of the stiletto, having designed the aiguille (needle) heel back in 1954.

LINTHICUM, Md. (AP) – At the airport, safety is more important than sexy. That’s what a woman found out at the Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport.

Need a break? Play the USA TODAY Daily Crossword Puzzle. “I wanted to create a luxury high heel that prioritizes how women feel, not just how we look,” Blakely said in a statement.

A reader wonders why the uncomfortable and often impractical shoes have not been retired. By Vanessa Friedman It is true, the death knell of the stiletto — that high heel invented in the 1950s ...