Platform Shoes: Shoes, boots or sandals with thick soles at least four inches in height and a high slim or wide heel.
Pizzazz: Style, spark, zest, zing, energy.
Combine the two, and you have a shoe that puts the “P” in PIZZAZZ!
Platform shoes have been worn for such reasons as fashion or added height in various cultures since the Ancient era. It has been said that the platform shoe got its start being used in Ancient Greece for raising the height of important characters in the Greek theater and that the alluring shoe was also used by sixteenth century prostitutes or courtesans in Venice, Italy.
No one has ever denied that the Italians do indeed know their fashion!
The most prolonged platform shoe fad in history began in the 1960s through the end of the 1980s in both Europe and the United States. Although predominantly worn by women, the platform shoe was also enjoyed by some men during the height of the disco era, and worn on stage by many male rock stars and heavy metal glam bands.
To date, platform shoes are still a staple of high fashion and high appeal, and also, high height!
For those of you who wear platform shoes, and for those of you who wish to wear platform shoes but refrain for fear that you will fall flat on your fabulous fannies, a platform shoe is actually easier to walk in than a standard pump. When walking in a pump, the sole of the shoe is flat with the ground, and the entire leg is raised up and supported by only the high heel, giving the effect of falling forward. Your toes are on the ground while your heel is elevated in the air.
However, since a platform shoe has a raised sole, your toes stay at the same level as your heel, just inches off of the ground. As you walk, your entire foot remains straight, as if you are making strides in a flat shoe.
For the faint of heart that still believes that you will wobble walking on such stilts, the next time that you are in a shoe store, try on a platform shoe and walk a few feet. You will see that it is as if you are walking on flat ground, just slightly elevated.
Nancy’s Tip: If wearing platform shoes, it helps if the shoe has an ankle strap or some sort of back support for your foot. If you wear slip-on platforms (with no back support at all) your dainty foot slips out of the shoe as easily as your dainty foot slips into the shoe. While walking, the shoes will slip right off, and you will slip onto the ground.
Great Fashion Looks for Platform Shoes:
- Worn with tight, form fitting skirts like the pencil skirt and the tube skirt.
- Worn with wide-legged or bell bottom pants, whether dress slacks or jeans.
- Worn with dresses that stop at mid-calf or at the ankle.
I vividly remember my first pair of true platform shoes. I was in the ninth grade, fourteen-years-old, and yes, already a shoe lover. The shoe was a royal blue in color and was crushed velvet. The platform sole was 4 inches and the heel was 5 inches. The shoe was open toed and the material that ran across the top of the foot had tiny openings in the shape of hearts. Darling!
I am, by nature, a fashion fanatic!
(Thanks Dad and Mom for never squelching my clothes creativity and for always letting me wear whatever fabulous fabrics I wanted to drape myself in. I never crossed the line and wore midriff tops to school, but I do think midriff tops are peachy, but that is another blog post).
Platform shoes truly do put the “P” in Pizzazz! The “P” in Punch! The “P” in Pow!
When you step into platform shoes, you will be lifted up and stand tall on the platform, literally!
Classy, sassy platform shoes!
Nancy Mangano is an American beauty/fashion/style influencer, fashion journalist, screenwriter and author of the Natalie North murder mystery book series. Visit Nancy on her global online fashion/style/beauty magazine Strutting in Style! at https://nancymariemangano.com, her Facebook page Nancy Mangano at https://www.facebook.com/nancymmangano/ Twitter @https://twitter.com/nancymangano and her author website http://www.nancymangano.com
nice article