Pretty much everything that could happen to shoes happened in the 70s. One strange-looking development was the wedge heel, which evolved from the platform shoe. It was easy to topple over while wearing platform shoes, with their awkward platform base and stack heel; wedge heels were supposed to be a bit safer. Whether they really were safer was a matter of opinion, but how often do safety and fashion meet, anyway? Either way you were walking on a six-inch tower, and that just ain’t natural.  But it sure looked – well, it sure looked something.

Having one solid surface to stand on did at least offer an illusion of greater stability. And a fairly small wedge was undoubtedly safer than that never-say-die closet staple, the pump. But it was those wipeout-sized waves that became the craze in the 70s. The heels were so big they started to be made out of lightweight cork instead of wood. Ankle straps were often included to help stabilize the outlandish shoe and ground it to your feet.

Along with its big sister the platform heel, the wacky wedge returned for a fashion encore in the 90s.