Cheat with platforms

Platforms are a great way to get you extra height for free, I’ll admit it’s cheating but what’s life if you don’t find some shortcuts. Effectively the platform reduces the heel height by the same amount as the platform. So if you usually wear a 10cm heel, you could wear a 12cm heel with 2cm platform.

The trick is to be subtle in your approach, and nobody does it quite as well as our friends in Italy. A hidden platform can give you 1-1.5cm without showing much, and if the shoe is cut well it will draw attention away from the platform

Nicholas Kirkwood loves to live dangerously, his shoes are extremely low cut to show loads of toe cleavage, and a defined arch. Teaming them with a pair of fishnets is a good way add more drama, but usually I’ll go bare with these.

Even works with peep toes, using a contrasting colour makes them pop, the cut here reminds me of Rupert Sanderson’s Elba from the vamp back.

Just be careful, the wrong combo of platform design, materials, and heel height can completely kill a shoe. So long as the shoe is roughly as tall as it is long it’s a sweet ratio, but stray too far either way and visually you lose balance, best keep it so a single sole that way.

There’s something a little ungainly with the way this shoe looks because theres too much emphasis on the front of the shoe. You could still wear under bootcut jeans for a casual look though.

Alternatively the right platform can make a bold statement in the way Charlotte Olympia, YSL or Alexander McQueen does. With their designs.