Freaky Fashion Friday: Chopines

Chopines, c. 1400-1700 C.E.

A high platform shoe of wood or cork, popularized in Venice, but also widely used throughout Europe during the Renaissance.  The elevated shoes are thought to have developed from a need to navigate the muddy and uneven stone streets of Venice, so as to protect the skirts of the wearer from muck and mud.  They soon developed into a status symbol, worn by courtesan and patrician alike; the higher the platform, the higher the wearer's status.  There are extant chopines as tall as 20".  Chopines are also called "pattens" and often were decorated with fabrics, inlay, and jewels.  Women wearing the chopine needed the accompaniment of a servant or valet she could lean on for balance as the height of the shoe made her gait unsteady.  (I am reminded of the unfounded legend that Marilyn would routinely saw 1/4" off of one of each pair of heels to give her that sexy, slightly unsteady walk she made famous).

A similar style worn by a Japanese woman.

Do you see any parallel with modern fashion?
Check out Galliano's shoes from the runways.  

How about the modern platform heel?