micha

Dear folks,

I hope, that the 70's are also accepted as a topic of vintage fashion!

Surely you all remember the awful crazy platform boots of Abba, Elton John or Kiss. Typical for this time were these very thick platform soles with chunky heels. But the difference between the sole's height and heel's height was typically only a few centimeters or approximately 1 inch.

When this fashion faded away at the transition to the 80's a short period came up, where you could see platformless high heel boots for guys with high chunky heels up to 4'' and more. Especially rock musicians wore those weird boots. I believe, that was absolutely inacceptable for normal guys and that's presumably the reason why this fashion had only a very short survival time .

My question:

Does anybody of you still remember this time? Has somebody worn such boots? What about pics?

Now I'm searching as a male high heel fan for similar boots in the internet.

Result: Nothing. Hence, further robbing the women's shelf :-)

Thankful for any hint

micha

Highluc

Hi Micha, being born in 1951 I definitely remember those 70's and very much participated in it. I also remember the Abba times and although I bought a few platforms designed for men I didn't like them because they mostly were too bulky and heavy. I only wore them to school or when out with my parents to family meetings or formal type of gatherings. Like many boys my age who were blessed with small feet I opted for the models available in the girls' racks. These styles were similar but much more elegant and less clumpsy to wear. People didn't see the difference because we all wore those elephant piped very long pants (now called flared jeans or bootcuts). In those times boys and girls often got similar colorful clothing from the same unisex racks and the same ideology was pretty much accepted for shoes. In summer a lot of guys wore those wooden high heeled clogs, fully exposed under their shorts. When the platform fashion for guys diminished, it was still going on for the girls and the smaller guys just turned to the girls racks in order not to be dwarfed by their partners. The rock stars set the example annyway. While the long wide pants covered most of the shoes it didn't matter and when the platform became a fashion no go for the guys, we lowered the platform height but kept the blocky heel in order to maintain our height versus the girls who were still in platforms In the south of france where the guys were muich smaller and more skinny, most guys wore the popular black or brown loafers with a 4 inch block heel on a 1 inch platform to school. Boys and girls wore the same loafers and clogs, bought straight from the girl racks, to school and in the streets and everybody found this completely normal. While most of the guys slowly got back down to flats, some short guys like me continued wearing them for almost a decade. It all vanished when fashion for men dictated pants with a very narrow bottom. I was thinking it all would come back when about a decade ago platforms came back into fashion, and the lately bootcut pants becoming popular again but this time only the girls followed while the guys "preferred" to remain in their boring standard pants and flat shoes.
I never quit wearing my heels and still have some of those 70's models in my collection. The boots, cork sandals and wedges are back into fashion now but the loafers look dated. Hang on to it, it's your choice to decide what to wear each day.

__________________
Be youself, enjoy any footwear you like and don't care about what others think about it, it's your life, not theirs. Greetings from Laurence

azraelle

WELL do I remember them, but never found a source for them at the time. I ordered a couple pair of women's knee-hi boots, one in black leather, one in blue-grey suede from Lane Bryant, with aprox 2-1/2" heels, but never wore them in public except late at night, or when driving, and always under bell-bottom pants. The heels eventually either came loose, or the sole broke down (I remember nailing them from the inside to try to save them, but they never felt the same again, and I eventually threw them away). :(

__________________
"All that you can decide, is what to do with the time that is given you."--Gandalf,
"Life is not tried, it is merely survived
-If you're standing outside the fire."--Garth Brooks

coolshoes

During the '70s I owned a pair of brown loafers with heels about 2 1/2" and a pair of black ankle boots with heels about 2 1/2". Neither one of them were platforms, never cared for them. Bought both on the men's side and delighted in wearing them, especially the boots. I still remember the day when I was walking past the shoe shop window and saw the boots. It was an instant sale for the clerk. In fact, today I own a very similar pair of boots that I bought on the ladies side and wear them quite often to work and shopping.

__________________
Go gently through life.

Sway

Hi Micha,

You may try Western Ranch, they make the high heel cowboy boots. This is what I gout back from them and they have somevery nice styles on their old website.

We don't market our platforms at this time and quite frankly don't no if we will. But we still make them by request for anybody that is interested. Here is a link to our old site.
http://www.npnhost.com/footwear/old

Best regards,
Nick

Later
Sway

micha

HiLuc,

a just wrote a many pages answer, but it disappeared in the digital nirvana. I'll try it tomorrow again!

micha

micha

Sorry for my very late response, but here it is!

HighLuc, I'am almost of the same age as you (1952). By the way - we already had a chat with each other in the german high heels forum, unfortunately I don't remember, what the subject was.

Going back to the seventies:

Some time I saw in a shop-window those light brown platform boots with 3'' heels and 1'' soles. I fell in love with them immediately. With a beating heart and a blushed face I entered the shop and I really dared to try them on. They fitted well. No question, I had to buy them. And I must confess, *** ** *** *** *******.

But there was still a little problem: To present my new boots to the friends of my flat. To my astonishment I got a lot of acknowledgement. I believe that was in the year 1974. Thus I wore them daily with pleasure. Many years later I threw them into the waste bin. Simply mega out - impossible to wear these boots in public!

Today I regret this decision. Here a link to a web page with similar boots:

http://www.internationalmale.com/pro...&subdept%5Fid=

Sway, thank you for your hint - that's really, what I was looking for. But the prices... oops!

Here some links to my daily footwear from the women's shelf:

http://www.pennangalan.com/boots/FW42.php

http://www.neu.otto.de/is-bin/INTERS...r_Text=Buffalo

or together with the boot's proud red eyed owner

http://www.mbuenger.de/pics/stiefel%20034.jpg

nice greetings

micha