Stiletto designed the Fairbairn–Sykes fighting knife, a double-edged dagger with a long narrow point designed to optimize the blade for thrusting, though it was also capable of slashing strokes if the cutting edges were sharpened. Other variations of the F-S knife soon emerged, including the U.S. Marine Raider Stiletto, which was based upon the Fairbairn-Sykes knife, and the U.S. V-42 stiletto, designed from the outset to emphasize thrusting over cutting. During the 1950s, large numbers of folding switchblade or automatic opening knives with locking blades were imported from Italy to the United States. Most of these switchblades were side-opening designs, though
Stiletto heel extremely slender original Italian-style stiletto heels of the late 1950s and very early 1960s were no more than in diameter for much of their length, although the heel sometimes flared out a little at the top-piece (tip). After their demise in the mid-late 1960s, such slender heels were difficult to find until recently due to changes in the way heels were mass-produced. Relatively thin high heels were certainly around in the late 19th century, as numerous fetish drawings attest. Firm photographic evidence exists in the form of photographs of Parisian singer Mistinguett from the 1940s. These shoes were designed by