Stiletto U.S. V-42 stiletto, while in American English usage, the name "stiletto" can also refer to a switchblade knife with a stiletto- or bayonet-type blade design. The term in plural "stilettos", is also used as slang for a long, thin, high heel (stiletto heel) for certain boots and shoes, usually worn by women. First developed in Italy, the stiletto dates from the late 15th century, and is thought to be a development of the rondel dagger or "misericordia", a needle-pointed weapon with a narrow blade designed primarily for thrusting, though possessing cutting edges. Early stilettos normally used a one-piece cast-metal handle
Stiletto heel in the mainstream shops. A version of the stiletto heel was reintroduced in 1974 by Manolo Blahnik, who dubbed his "new" heel the "Needle". Similar heels were stocked at the big Biba store in London, by Russell & Bromley and by smaller boutiques. Old, unsold stocks of pointed-toe stilettos and contemporary efforts to replicate them (lacking the true stiletto heel because of changes in the way heels were by then being mass-produced) were sold in street fashion markets and became popular with punks and with other fashion "tribes" of the late 1970s until supplies of the inspirational original styles dwindled