Can these be called platforms?

I don't know where the minimum height for platform shoes begins but I read in one definition that they could start from 1/2" in the 70's; presuming these are from the 70s of course do you think they might qualify?
I'm asking because there seems to be a difference in opinions between vintage and the modern platform shoes we have an awful lot of here in the uk at the moment.
I would have thought any shoe that has an extra layer between the shank and sole at the ball of the foot would be a platform. What do you think?

 

All the St Michael labels on the resource are from clothes so I'm not sure which examples you're referring to.
The info on there does also state that the two brands have been used together since 1950.
I was basing the 70's dating on my instincts rather than the label. They are heavy, chunky feeling shoes with a tan leather sole similar to what I've found on much earlier shoes (e.g. the 1940s/50s d'orsay pumps previously posted).
You may well be right, I'm still finding my way with shoe labels and having found only 2 major resources that list them, only one by name I'm sure I haven't seen the range yet.

 

They are platforms, just small platforms, and the shoes look mid-late 70s to me, c. 1976-78

 

Does anybody else submit shoe labels to the resource? It would be really useful to see more up there as I'm sure it varies from clothes to shoes due to space available and techniques of applying them.

I'd be interested in seeing St Michael shoe labels from any period, not just 70's if anyone has access to them.

I agree the label is the only niggling factor with me but the construction just seems so old fashioned otherwise. The only query I have with the label looking 90's is that it has 'leather upper' bigger than the brand; Why would they do this? also the fact that it's landscape, all the more modern M&S shoes I've seen have vertical text and this fits in with other 70's shoes I have.

 

Thanks you've actually just solved another mystery shoe for me:

The middle pair of shoes you show have a very similar label to an unbranded pair I have with a stickered label on top; I had peeled one back and found the 'Leather upper' mark beneath but no brand so I didn't know the reason for the sticker -it's very similar to how they disguise end of line branded shoes for resale here.

However upon seeing yours I realise the blue/green substance appears to be something they've used to completely remove the brand from above the leather upper text.

 

still, very cool and much obliged for your input.

 

Shame they're missing the insole, hard to tell without.

 

I don't like to disagree with Jonathan either but there are two reasons that I don't think these are around 1977, which was my thought at first - firstly, the heel is a little more '90s than '70s. Secondly, I agree about the St Michael's - in 1981 some family members went to the UK and brought me a cream cardigan from Marks and Spencers. The label only had St Michael, nothing about M&S and it was only when I moved to London in '91 that I made the connection - so I agree that it's likely that '70s shoes would just say St Michael too.

But it's the heel that does for me: the rest of the shoes say about '77 but the heels look more mid '90s.

Nicole

 

another 90's vote

 

I've been wrong before and I'm sure I'll be wrong again... these could be 90s but they are direct rip-offs of the 70s. The only thing that made me hesitate when I first saw them was the writing on the insole sock. I remember looking at tall platform shoes in shop windows in the late 90s and thinking how its going to be really difficult to tell the difference between them and the 70s versions in the future... You could put these on the feet of an actress and throw her into a scene that takes place at Studio 54 in 1977 and nobody would guess they weren't the real thing.

 

Agreed! And I still, when looking in the thrift shops, have a hard time "on sight" sometimes telling the difference. Usually when I have them in hand and can handle them and study them "in person," I can tell the difference. I would say that half, or more, of the "vintage platform shoes" on eBay right now are 90s and later, NOT 70s!

I am no expert on shoes, but it seems to me that there is a subtle difference in the look/shape of the platforms and toes on the newer models of platform shoes. It's not something I can really describe, but when I see it, I know it (usually!).

This pair does confound a bit, because I don' think the toe or heel is as obviously 90s as many of them are. And they appear to have a genuine leather sole, which, at least here in the U.S., was not as common in the 90s. But I'm going to agree with the folks here who know Marks & Spencer labels that these are the 90s' copies of platforms. I'd bet the very large "leather uppers" was done because so many shoes in the 90s were not leather.... In the 70s, this particular style (platform sandal with ankle strap) was usually done in leather, so there would be no need to call that out as boldly--I wouldn't think.

Just my own thoughts here--nothing I "know" with certainty about this pair of shoes! Other than that they are one of the best/most authentic rip-offs of their 70s' counterparts that I personally have seen!