heelma

This is actually quite a nice article about platform shoes, particularly those from the 70s, but also referring to chopines from Venice and nowadays platform shoes.

http://einestages.spiegel.de/static/...die_hoehe.html

For non-german speakers, there is at least a nice picture collection - click on the little black < / > on the top right. Some pictures show shoes that Kiss or Elton John wore those times.
What I don't like is that if they show men wearing those, it's from "Christopher Street Day Parades" in Europe, so yet again, cross-dressing and wearing heels is associated with gay men.