Things You Can Do In Platform Shoes

Platform shoes first appeared exactly at the right age for me - 16, just beginning to break loose from my mother's sense of fashion on my behalf, and trying to create my own fashion identity. To be honest, I was always a follower, never an innovator.

For us, the seventies was a time of flares, the wider the better, coupled with body shirts and skinny jumpers (pullovers). In summer there was the peasant look, lots of embroidered cheesecloth, batik blouses. shirred bodices were popular.

Looking back now it's surprising really that I didn't sustain (or give) an injury during one of my many, many episodes on the dance floor in my "shoes".

Having platforms in no way hindered my "moves".

Of course, I'm not bragging about my dancing. I am under no false illusions there.

But I would spend the whole night on the floor, only pausing to give the poor DJ a hard time if my friend and I didn't like his selections.

The boys would suffer our enthusiasm for the sake of being there with us.




Here is a great photo of a seventies style male complete with the shoes, the gear and the attitude (under Creative Commons from Koston Photography

I don't remember what shoes I wore for my driving test at the age of seventeen, but given my relationship with my shoes and the fact that this was 1975, I can't think what else I possibly could have been wearing. I imagine my mother would have had something to say about it however so we'll go with the likelihood that I was wearing shoes other than platforms. That would have been about the only time though.

Except for when I drove barefoot. I distinctly remember that the accelerator (the gas) pedal in the old Morris Major I inherited as my mother's hand-me-down when I first got my licence, was very small. It was only about two inches square and I used to be able to hold it down with my big toe. That, of course was when I wasn't wearing my big shoes. Thinking about it now, I wonder how much control I really had of the car.

But I never seemed to have any problems. In fact the only time I had an accident I was leaving school and who knows what shoes I was wearing that day. Probably "Clunkies". These were basically, a raised sandal, as in they were flat but about two inches high across the whole sole. The girls at our school would wear either these, "JC's" so named because they were a close approximation to what we imagined Jesus wore in his day, or a kind of puffy velvet thong (flip-flop) on a bamboo sole. Our fashion sense was highly evolved in those days!

This photo of an Austin Lancer, which was also sold as the Morris Major is used under creative Commons from Dr. Keats This is exactly the same as my old car!

So here's what happened. My father was taking a business trip to the US and Mum was going as well. Since there would be a lot of meetings and a lot of time on her own they decided to take me along as well. This was our first overseas trip and we would be spending around five weeks away. First stop Hawaii then on to San Francisco. A couple of days later we are in a hire care headed south towards LA. Hop out of the car to look at the view and I go over on my ankle. The rest of the trip is spent on crutches - Disneyland, Grand Canyon, Niagara Falls which is where this photo was taken. That white stuff on my left is ice. The river below the falls was heavily frozen and was just beginning to melt.

My 10 year old daughter sneaked a pair of my very high platforms to school for a dress up day and modelled them for the class. She has been chastised by me for doing this but that is another story.

Reaction from the girls:-

Ooh, they're so cool! I want some of those.

Reaction from the boys:-

How do you walk in those?!?

This has to be a question for the sociologists or the anthropologists among us. Is this nature or nurture? Are we inherently born to respond like this? I just thought it was very funny.

Sometimes you have to bite the bullet and wear flats - but you can still show where you heart lies with a pair of these great shoes!

My Other Shoes Have Five Inch Heels by ElleDeeEsse


My Other Shoes Have Five Inch Heels by ElleDeeEsse
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