And then there’s another question, made more pertinent by our changing perceptions of gender stereotypes. If heels really were linked to power and success, then wouldn’t men be wearing them too? There’s still little crossover between ‘women’s clothes’ and ‘men’s clothes’, particularly in the workplace, despite certain high street chains’ attempts to cash in on gender fluidity (Zara launched their first genderless collection earlier this year). In general, men and women’s fashions are still pretty different.One man who enjoys bending the ‘rules’ is 28-year old community manager Caner Daywood. “I started wearing heels in my early twenties” says Caner. “As my style was evolving past the conventions of male trends I wanted to feel more powerful, self-aware and confident, so I started wearing Cuban heeled boots then started moving into stilettos as I got braver within my own aesthetic.”Despite it not being the norm yet, Caner hopes it will soon be, at the least, more accepted. “To be honest, I don't care as us drag queens have always been outside the norm and that's how we like it,” he explains. “It's just that other people want to join us here and don't know how.”Man or woman, it’s safe to say that most of us agree on one thing: heels make you look good. And we should be able to wear them because we want to, and enjoy it. “I have 54 pairs of shoes and choose them based on whether they go with my outfit and who I’m going to meet that day” agrees Nadya Powell, managing director of creative company Sunshine.“It’s 100% my choice” she says. “And it should be no other way. I’ve never been someone who feels more powerful or confident because of them. Quite simply, if you are physically uncomfortable or don’t feel confident in what you’re wearing, how you do your job will be affected in a negative way.”Of course the meanings we associate with a type of shoe are always evolving. Anyone working in a creative industry will be used to seeing colleagues in trainers, jeans and whatever they feel comfortable in that day. Katie Harland spotted the lack of fun, comfortable and smart-ish shoes while working in advertising and launched her shoe start-up Rogues shortly after.“Shoes are a fashion commodity so they should make you feel good” offers Harland. “Whatever footwear you choose you should feel happy in them. One thing I love about shoes is the fact that they're the only thing you wear that you can see yourself in all day.”If you look down and see a pair of uncomfortable, maybe even torturous heels that make it hard to walk, and hard for you to do what you want or need to do that day, that’s pretty demotivating. And if you want to look down at shoes that make you feel great about yourself? Surely that’s a small pleasure we’re all entitled to.“Heels have gone out of fashion in the past yet seem to re-emerge over and over again,” says Semmelhack. “Culturally, the high heel remains a potent, albeit problematic, icon of femininity and given that the meanings we ascribe to the high heel have developed over centuries, I think it will take a while for it to completely disappear.”So while our outdated views slowly die out, here’s to women being able to wear the shoes they want to wear. Not the ones a patriarchal dress code requires of them.