Staying on top of the latest fashion trends can sometimes mean sacrificing your own health and comfort for style.

Modern fashion trends including suffocating shapewear, flimsy ballet flats and oversized tote bags have caused misery for many wearers. But these trends are tame in comparison to many of history’s fashion fads — some of which were even lethal.

1. Vertiginously volatile shoes

The 1950s invention of the stiletto heel was met with mixed reviews. While for wearers it became a symbol of femininity and empowerment and many enjoyed the extra height it gave them, some women found the stiletto uncomfortable to walk in.

Concerns were soon raised over the heels’ potential to cause harm. In 1953, British photojournalism magazine Picture Post ran a feature titled The Hazards of the Stiletto Heel, which cited concerns from doctors about the impending dangers that wearing these shoes could bring, from turned ankles to broken bones.

Decades later, concerns over the harmful nature of high heeled shoes still continue. Studies have shown there’s a direct relationship between high heel wearing and musculoskeletal injuries.

However, it’s not only the act of wearing stilettos that causes harm. In 2016, The Telegraph reported that stilettos had been used as weapons in hundred of assaults. In 2013, US citizen Ana Trujillo, nicknamed the “Stiletto Killer”, received a life sentence for stabbing her boyfriend 25 times with a blue suede stiletto heel.

The corset has had a long and often controversial history, one which can be traced back centuries. From the........

© The Conversation