There are many wedding customs and traditions throughout the world but we do many of these things because they are customary without really understanding what they mean or where they come from. One of those traditions is throwing rice at the newlyweds as they run the gauntlet of guests. The history and meaning of using rice or grain dates back to the ancient Hebrew, Assyrian, and Egyptian societies where the throwing of food items over the newlyweds was symbolic of fertility.
Food was a natural product to throw because it was meant to give the newlyweds good luck and a hope for prosperity.
After the literal rise of shoe heels in the form of wood- or cork-soled chopines, popularized by Venetian fashion, high heels for both men and women of the European aristocracy were widely adopted throughout the 1600 and 1700’s. Most noteworthy for further enhancing the style of the high-heeled shoe was King Louis XIV of France, whose court at Versaille epitomized a period renowned for exorbitant trends in fashion.
As a man of less than average height, King Louis XIV used shoes with heels of up to 5″ in height to alter his stature. He was of course a significant figure, known to history as the Sun King (Le Roi Soleil), for his role as a kind of prototypical absolute monarch who brought sweeping reforms to government and law in 17th century France, still loosening itself from the grip of feudalism. But Louis XIV’s reign, from 1643 to 1715, is also resonant in history for the lavish and extravagant displays of fashion and style that emerged from his court at Versailles.
It was during his reign that trends in fashion really established themselves in terms of seasonal fluctuation and it was the glamour of presentation at powerful Versailles that made following a particularly French style imperative to the aristocracy in France and throughout Western Europe. Typical of French fashion for men (men’s fashions at this time being more extravagant than women’s) during the Sun King’s reign was flare and pomp. Men wore their hair long and curled (usually in wigs), and trimmed their fitted jackets with wide-set lace collars and bow accessories, wore wide brimmed hats decorated with feathers, adorned their legs with lace stockings and full breeches and finished off their flamboyant style with the famously high-heeled shoes, tied with ribbons or clasped with rosettes.
Towards the end of Louis XIV’s reign his wardrobe became slightly more subdued and generally the trend for certain extravagances, such as the extremely heeled shoe, lost favor. Still, having reigned for 72 years, his imprint on fashion and his role in creating new codes of dress was significant and pervasive.
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*image– Portrait of Louis XIV (1638–1715), by Hyacinthe Rigaud (1701) *image– Illustration of French Fashions,’Homme de Qualite en Habit d’Epee’ 1683-88, by Nicolas Visit the History Store for historical gifts and museum quality replicas representing the most significant historical eras. We offer Museum Reproductions, Replica Guns, Replica Swords |
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