Vogue Essentials: Heels

The latest in the Essentials series from internationally prestigious fashion brand, Vogue, celebrating the ultimate fashion power symbol, the high heel.

There is an indefinable magic, mystique and fascination about high-heeled shoes that defies all understanding or logic. How can you explain that the simple act of pointing your toes and gently slipping them into a pair of towering heels can be such a powerful experience physically, psychologically and emotionally? As British Vogue has charted over the last hundred years, by stepping into a pair of heels, a woman's personality is instantly transformed.

Divided into the categories of Fancy Footwork, Enduring Classics, Step Up and Rainbow Heels, British Vogue's archive of fashion photos has been plundered to showcase the most beautiful, memorable, rule-breaking and trend-setting heels to be photographed in its 100-year history.

Gail Rolfe is a freelance journalist and fashion editor with more than thirty-five years of experience. She joined the Daily Mail as Fashion Writer in 1981 and became their Fashion Editor in 1986. She left in 1995 to pursue a freelance career working for Tatler, The Sunday Times and The Times, alongside a fashion consultancy for the Arcadia Group. Over the years she has interviewed and styled many celebrities including Goldie Hawn, Elizabeth Hurley and Tamara Mellon. She is passionate about high heels and bought her first pair of Manolo Blahniks for her interview at the Daily Mail. She lives in London.