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Lady Gaga almost became fashion roadkill today when she tripped over her gigantic platforms and fell on her face at Heathrow Airport—but she's not the only one who's ever made the news falling off treacherous footwear.
In 1999, a Japanese nursery school teacher fell off her platform shoes, fractured her skull, and died. Baby Spice hurt herself performing in purple platform boots. And, of course, Naomi Campbell famously took a tumble on the Vivienne Westwood runway in a fashion moment heard around the world.
The Canadian Hospitals Injury Reporting and Prevention Program issued a public flyer about the dangers of platforms in 2003, and public concern-slash-outrage has been swirling in the media since the 70s.
We found this August, 1977 story from the The Rock Hill Herald where a reader wrote in:
The Food and Drug Administration and the Health, Education, and Welfare Department seem to be genuinely interested in our welfare. They protect us against pollution, and against dangerous drugs. When are they or any other health agency going to set down sensible rules for the manufacture of shoes? Twice in the past year, my daughter has fallen off her "stilts," sprained her ankles and has been incapacitated for weeks.Indeed! Why doesn't the FDA place manufacturing regulations on fashion footwear. Can you imagine? The columnist's response was, however, sympathetic:
I saw a group of girls coming out of their high school, and wondered how they were able to navigate the 20 or so steps to terra firma. The platforms were inches high. The heels looked at least six inches tall. When they walked, there was no bending of the arch of the foot, just clump-clump. I noticed, too, that the knees had to be kept rigid.· Platform shoes dangerous fad [Rock Hill Herald]
· It Finally Happened: Lady Gaga Fell On Her Face [Gawker]
· Platform shoes pose health risk [BBC]
· Injuries associated with platform shoes [CHIRPP]