Platforms: How High Can You Go?

Recenty I have been spending my days devouring fashion blogs, forums and online fashion news continuously, stopping only for the occasional meals or bathroom breaks. I have never delved so much into fashion journalism until this moment, and it has been very insightful to look into the debatable and argumentative side of fashion from other people’s point of view, rather than to just browse through online stores looking for the next bauble to drool on (or as my dad puts it, to waste money on), and afterwards presenting my finds to you. Suzy Menkes mentioned in one of her interviews that fashion conversations have ceased to be a one-way journey. People express their opinions on articles they feel strongly about, or thrusts their preferences on certain fashion trends/articles in forums and blogs, often to the point of showing off their wares (even when noone really wants to see another twenty stacks of their Louboutin shoe boxes), much like what I’m doing on this very blog.

In the subjective world of fashion, trends invite lovers and haters of equal numbers. This Wall Street Journal article listed a journalist’s opinions on the best and worst fashion trends of 2009. While I beg to differ on a number of fashion fads listed under the ‘worst’ list (tights with shorts, 80s getup, killer ankle boots with short skirts) , I would like to zoom in on a particular number: the platform boots.

Comments on the article concurred with the journalist’s less-than-favourable view on platform boots, with some hoping that these monstrocities would be condemned to the eternal fire of hell, never to see the light of the day again (I jest, but you get what I mean). One can only conclude that the readers of WSJ would loathe scrolling through Lookbook or Chictopia, if they haven’t done so, seeing how every other girl would either own or lust after any of the shoes above, yours truly included.

I can see why some people would hate them (something tells me they come from the Louboutin camp). These boots are chunky and clumsy, with platforms that rises steadily over the years, so much so that they have been called hooves and Frankenstein shoes. Noone would associate them with elegance or glamour. On the contrary, they are adventurous footwear that the younger market is much more willing to embrace. I would disagree to any opinions that deem these people as fashion victims, so long as they are able to work these fads to their greatest advantage. Unfortunately many are jumping on the bandwagon as soon as they see these boots worn by influential bloggers. Am I a fashion victim myself for sporting one of those babies? Perhaps, but I am not afraid to admit that I am a girl in my youthful prime who isn’t afraid of the weird and wonderful, in fact I love avant-garde experiments. I will not trade my Opening Ceremonies for Valentinos and Roger Viviers, yet (but would gladly do it for any of Nicholas Kirkwood’s collaborations with Rodarte). With that in mind I shall present to you Acne’s pre-fall 2010 shoes.