Platform Sneakers

Platform shoes took off in a very big way amongst most age groups and classes of UK men and women in the 1970s. Even today men wear shoes which increase their height. Such shoes are called elevator shoes. For instance, handmade Don's elevator shoes increase the height of a wearer from 2,6" to 3,2" and even up to 4". Whilst wedge heels were popular on platforms in the summer, high thick separate heeled platform boots and shoes were 'all the rage'. Many of the shoe styles were recycled 1940s and early 1950s styles, but both shoes and boots were often in garish combinations of bright colours.
The trend firmly re-established itself in the Developed World fashions of the late 1990s and very early 21st century with a much higher threshold of what was considered outrageous: mothers and fathers of 1997 to 2004 typically think nothing of buying their preschool-age daughters and sons platform sandals that US parents of 1973 would not have wanted their high-school-age daughters and sons wearing and UK parents of 1973 would not have wanted their prepubescent daughters and sons wearing, and the Walt Disney Company has licensed Mickey Mouse cutouts and "Disney Princess" and "Action Man" images on footwear that in earlier decades would have been considered totally inappropriate for the company's "wholesome" image.
Buffalo Boots is a brand whose platform models were popular, especially in Europe (notably Germany and Scandinavia), from the mid 1990s to the early 2000s.
Elton John has a large collection of platform shoes, many of which he auctioned off for charity.