Platform boots
1972-73
Museum Purchase
2006.5.3AB
With a heel of about 5 1/2″ and a platform sole roughly 3 1/2″ thick, these dramatic boots are an extreme example of the platform shoes, sandals and boots popular in the first half of the 1970s. Perhaps even more notable then their extreme height is the fact that platform shoes of this era were worn by both men and women. In a final flowering of the Peacock Revolution, men wore platform boots and shoes featuring contrasting color combinations, appliques and exotic leathers with unusual finishes, including wet-look and crinkle leather. In 1972, a shoe salesman interviewed by the New York Times reported that his male customers were unafraid to experiment, saying that “the freakier the shoe, the higher the platform and heel, the better it sells.”1
2006.5.3B Detail
Many fashion writers of the 1970s referred to platform shoes as “40s shoes,” because they had last been fashionable during the late 1930s and early 1940s. In the 1970s, platform shoes were considered the ideal pairing for a maxi skirt or flared trousers because their height elongated the silhouette. Conversely, platform sandals and boots could be paired with short hot-pants and a long coat, a look which created an impression of towering height. Though designers such as Roger Vivier and Yves Saint Laurent offered high-fashion versions of the platform, the most extreme styles retained an association with popular and/or street fashion. Because of their obvious theatricality, platform shoes were worn to great effect by performers such as KISS, David Bowie and Elton John (who reportedly had a large collection of platform shoes). Platform shoes were also associated with urban African-American fashion due to their frequent appearance in 1970s blaxploitation films such as Shaft.
2006.5.3AB
Inevitably, some medical professionals insisted that high platform shoes could cause both immediate and future problems with the feet and lower back. They were also linked to car accidents, as studies demonstrated that thick soles led to slowed braking response times. Fortunately for those concerned with foot health, towering platform shoes were almost entirely out of fashion by about 1974. Contemporary variations on the platform shoe include Alexander McQueen’s much discussed Alien shoes from his Spring 2010 Ready-to-Wear collection. Though it appears the Alien shoe will not go into production, podiatrists would probably have much to say about its extreme shape!
1 Taylor, Angela. “The 4-inch Heel Returns–But This Time It’s for Men.” New York Times 19 Feb. 1972: pg. 18.
YES!! I looove platform shoes! Platforms always remind me of a scene in the 80s movie “I’m Gonna Git You Sucka”, when at one point a character goes out for a stroll decked out in full 1970s pimp regalia, complete with platform shoes with soles that are each made to be miniature aquariums with goldfish inside. I’m not sure anything like that ever existed in the 70s, but given how crazy some fashions were known to get, it wouldn’t surprise me if those costume shoes were based off something real.
Now, if the weather in LA keeps going the way it’s going, I think we’re all going to need platform shoes to get around town!
Oh, those goldfish filled platforms!
They were apparently created in 1972 by a designer named Harold Smerling. However, a search of Vogue, Harper’s Bazaar and a quick look at the New York Times didn’t confirm this information. I’d love to know if they actually existed, but I suspect they might be an urban legend.
Readers, if anyone has a lead on the goldfish filled platforms, please post a comment!
wow, it is really a very nice shoes. I like it a lot and it makes me so tall. My height is only 5.1 and worrying for it. Thanks for sharing.
Hey Rachel…here’s a screencap from “I’m Gonna Git You Sucka” of the shoes I was referring to in my earlier comment:
http://www.sundancekat.net/junkbox/shoes.jpg
No information on the actual shoes that may have inspired this, but it seems that there are several manufacturers of joke/costume shoes out there currently making goldfish pimp shoes. Maybe they did come from something real! Although, who knows…maybe a shoe company once made some platforms with clear, hollow soles and some enterprising people took them apart to put goldfish in them…
I met a man named Tom McArdle (now retired and living in The Dominican Republic). He had worked for Florsheim/Airstep shoes in the 70’s and (I was told by a mutual acquaintance) that he was instrumental in popularizing the the platform shoe, and had, “put platforms on the feet of the Beatles and Elton John.” I was also told that he had invented the platforms with the goldfish inside. When mentioned in his presence, he grumbled a bit, and said, “Yeah.” but was dismissive of the idea.
Tom McArdle is my father. He was crazy talented and had a closet full of these boots!
Tom McArdle was also my father! He was very talented! Britton please contact me.
Is the Pull on boots and platform boots the same? are both different? I used to pull on work boots I think both are the same design but I think the use of purpose of both are change platform for fashion and pull on boots for work may be..