Platform shoe

An example of an 8-inch platform clear heel

Platform sandals with wooden sole

Platform boot, ankle length

Lucite platform shoes

Platform shoes are shoes, boots, or sandals with an obvious thick sole, usually in the range of 3–10 cm (1–4 in). Platform shoes may also be high heels, in which case the heel is raised significantly higher than the ball of the foot. Extreme heights, of both the sole and heel, can be found in fetish footwear such as ballet boots, where the sole may be up to 20 cm (8 in) high, and the heels up to 40 cm (16 in) and more. The sole of a platform shoe can have a continuous uniform thickness, have a wedge, a separate block or a stiletto heel. Apart from the extreme forms of fetish shoes (which are first and foremost not intended for walking in), walking in platform shoes can be cumbersome and clumsy. Raising the ankle increases the risk of a sprained ankle.^[1]

History

Platform shoe are known in many cultures. The most famous predecessor of platform shoes are the Zoccoli in Venice of the 15th century. Depending on the current shoe fashion platform shoes are more or less popular. In the 1970s they were widespread in both genders in Europe. Today, they are preferred by females.^[2]

Ancient

A maid wearing circle-type pattens: Piety in Pattens or Timbertoe on Tiptoe, England 1773

After their use in Ancient Greece for raising the height of important characters in the Greek theatre and their similar use by high-born prostitutes or courtesans in London in the sixteenth century, platform shoes, called Pattens, are thought to have been worn in Europe in the eighteenth century to avoid the muck of urban streets. Of the same practical origins are Japanese geta. There may also be a connection to the buskins of Ancient Rome, which frequently had very thick soles to give added height to the wearer. In ancient China men wore black boots with very thick soles made from layers of white cloths, this style of boots are often worn today on stage for Peking opera.^[3] During the Qing dynasty, aristocratic Manchu women wore a form of platform shoe with a separate high heel, a style that was later adopted in Europe during the 1590s.^[4]

Modern

Platform shoes enjoyed some popularity in the United States, Europe and the UK from the 1930s to the 1950s, but not nearly to the extent of their popularity from the 1960s to the 1980s.

1930s

In the early 1930s Moshe (Morris) Kimel designed the first modern version of the platform shoe for actress Marlene Dietrich. Kimel, a Jew, escaped Berlin, Germany and settled in the United States with his family in 1939 and opened the Kimel shoe factory in Los Angeles. The design soon became very popular amongst Beverly Hills elite. In 1938, The Rainbow was a platform sandal designed by famous shoe designer, Salvatore Ferragamo. “The Rainbow” was created and was the first instance of the platform shoe returning in modern days in the West. The platform sandal was designed for Judy Garland, an American singer, actress, and vaudevillian. This shoe was a tribute to Judy Garland’s signature song “Over the Rainbow” performed in the Wizard of Oz in 1938. The shoe was a crafted using uniquely shaped slabs of cork that were covered in suede to build up the wedge and gold kidskin was used for the straps.^[5] His creation was a result of experimentations with new materials because of wartime rationing during World War II. Traditionally heels were built up with leather, but because of the rationing of leather, he experimented with wood and cork ^[6] The colors and design of this shoe still resemble modern shoe standards today. In the 1940s, platforms were designed with a high arch, but as exemplified here, they originated with the heel elevated only slightly above the toes. The platform brings a heavy looking foundation to the wearer that is in direct polarity to the stiletto heel. With its reconfiguration of the arch and structure of attenuated insubstantiality, the high heel suggests the ant gravitational effect of the dancer en pointe. On the contrary, the platform displays weightiness more like the flat steps of modern dance.^[7]

Late 1960s and 1970s

The biggest, and most prolonged, platform shoe fad in history began as early as 1967 (appearing in both advertisements and articles in 1970 issues of Seventeen magazine), and continued through to 1979 in Europe and Britain. The fad lasted even further in the US, lasting until as late as the early 1980s.^[8] At the beginning of the fad, they were worn primarily by young women in their teens and twenties, and occasionally by younger girls, older women, and (particularly during the disco era) by young men.^[9] Although platform shoes did provide added height without the discomfort of spike heels, they seem to have been worn primarily for the sake of attracting attention. Many glam rock musicians wore platform shoes as part of their act.

While a wide variety of styles were popular during this period, including boots, espadrilles, oxfords, sneakers, and sandals of all description, with soles made of wood, cork, or synthetic materials, the most popular style of the late 1960s and early 1970s was a simple quarter-strap sandal with tan water buffalo-hide straps, on a beige suede-wrapped cork wedge-heel platform sole. These were originally introduced under the brand name, "Kork-Ease", but the extreme popularity supported many imitators. Remarkably, there was very little variation in style, and most of that variation was limited to differences in height.

1980s

As the fad progressed, manufacturers like Candie's stretched the envelope of what was considered too outrageous to wear, while others, like Famolare and Cherokee of California, introduced "comfort" platforms, designed to combine the added height of platforms with the support and comfort of sneakers, or even orthopedic shoes, and by the time the fad finally fizzled in the late 1980s, girls and women of all ages were wearing them. It may also be a by-product of this fad that Scandinavian clogs, which were considered rather outrageous in the late 1960s and early 1970s, had become classic by the 1980s.

1990s and early 2000s

Vivienne Westwood, the UK fashion designer, re-introduced the high heeled platform shoe into high-fashion in the early 1990s; it was while wearing a pair of Super Elevated Gillie with five-inch platforms and nine-inch heels that the super model, Naomi Campbell, fell on the catwalk at a fashion show.^[10] However they did not catch on quickly and platform shoes only began to resurface in mainstream fashion in the late 1990s, thanks in part to the UK band the Spice Girls, whose members performed in large shoes.

The United Kingdom (and European) experience of platform shoes was somewhat different from that of the United States. Britain generally is not as concerned with women's feet appearing as small as possible;^[11] the long pointed shoes of the early 2000s, giving an elongated look to the foot, have been more popular in the US than in the UK.

The trend re-established itself in the late 1990s and early 2000s with a much higher threshold of what was considered outrageous: parents of 1997 to 2004 typically thought nothing of buying their preschool daughters and sons platform sandals that parents of 1973 would not have wanted their older children wearing. The Walt Disney Company licensed Mickey Mouse cutouts and Disney Princess and Action Man images wearing platform footwear.

Notable wearers

• Elton John has a large collection of platform shoes, many of which were sold at auction for charity.
• Carmen Miranda
• Spice Girls
• Simon Rimmer wears platform shoe at all times due to his different length legs.
• Lady Gaga wears platform shoes out in public as well for concerts and performances.
• Courtney Stodden
• Charli XCX
• Veruca Salt

See also

• Elevator shoes
• High-heeled footwear
• Platform boot

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Platform shoes.