Mule (footwear)
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A Mule (French word) is a type of shoe that is backless and often closed-toed. They can be any heel height from flat to high. This style of shoe is predominantly worn by women but some styles for men are also available.
The term is generally believed to have been derived from the ancient Roman calceus mulleus, a red shoe worn by senators and other high officials, although there is little indication of any structural resemblance.
High-heeled mules were a popular indoor shoe style of the 18th century, influenced by the patten, a backless overshoe of the 16th century. By the early twentieth century, mules were often associated with prostitutes[citation needed].
Marilyn Monroe, among others, in the early 1950s is given credit for moving the mule into outdoor wear and helped to break the shoe's poor reputation. Mules experienced some popularity in the 1950s and early '60s, and were seen in 1970s almost exclusively in the form of open-back Scandinavian clogs, but then re-emerged in the early 1990s, especially in its open-toed form (the "slide"), and has begun to dominate the shoe market for women.
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