Fashion Free Falls
Fashion is often risky. But rarely does that risk include falling from great heights. Some chopine platforms reached ridiculous heights of 50 cm (18-20 inches). When tangled in the fabric of the elongated dresses, it created a tripping hazard. People who wore the extreme chopine usually had a servant help them keep upright. These ankle-twisting shoes were for the elite who could afford the extra fabric for a dress or highly impractical shoes, and shoes that actually stopped people from walking. These people wanted to show they had no expectation of doing labor – or even moving all that much. The height of the chopine became so ridiculous that a 15th century Venetian law restricted the height of the fabulous footwear. This law, however, was pretty much ignored and unenforced. Chopines continued proclaiming the social status (or the appearance of social status) of the fashionista into the early 1700s.