Why isn’t there an industry standard for quality alternative platform boots?

Platform shoes have been having a heyday for the past two years, solidly. They’re a statement shoe, there’s no doubt about it. Platforms are not a shy shoe choice. But their height can bring confidence, and variations on their shape can communicate totally different messages. I’ll go through some different platforms, expand on the “alt” genre, and include quality feedback from myself and the internet at large.

Platform Genres

A platform mary jane, for example, is popular in the lolita community, but it can also be used in a more academic look.

A platform block heel can be classy, and can be very Barbiecore. Anne Hathaway was recently praised for her new and fresh style while sporting a pair.

A platform sneaker is popular for streetwear, and is generally the most casual platform.

A platform stiletto can be sexy, but can be interpreted as the opposite of classy, as its slang nickname is the “stripper heel”.

A platform boot can be a lot of different things. But the most common style I’ve seen is classy and Parisienne.

Boot Standards

When considering high quality boots, my immediate thought is of Dr. Martens. These boots are reputed to last for decades at their best, with their For Life brand being warranteed as such. This brand was discontinued in 2018, but all of their shoes are still under a year long warranty. They have been made of leather for decades, only recently expanding into faux leather, my opinion of which I discussed in Leather in the Landfill. My most worn pair of shoes is always my black boots. I’ve personally had a pair for at least the last 6 years, and they show no significant signs of wear, whereas less structured black boots have lasted a maximum of 2. 

Dr. Martens

Dr. Martens, however, are fairly unobtrusive shoes. Their most popular shoes are fully black other than their yellow stitching, and even their most adventurous shoes are less than three inches of platform. They do have a reputation for being hard to break in, causing wearers to develop blisters and bruises until the shoe conforms to the foot or the foot develops the necessary callouses to wear the shoe. It’s such a well known problem, in fact, that specialty socks were made to wear with Dr. Martens specifically.

My older pair is the taller one with the smaller soles, I’ve had them since I was about 15. I regularly switch out the lacing, so I don’t have them in the photo in my clothing app, which is where these photos are from. They’ve got stickers on them because I thought it would be funny a few years ago and haven’t taken them off. My other pair I got last year and they’re the maximum platform height Dr. Martens provides. I like them both and wear them regularly, but they’re not exactly alternative.

Alternative Platforms

The shoes I’m talking about are 5 or 6 inches of platform, brightly colored and loud, with add-ons like zippers, buckles, spikes and studs, chains, glitter, and blacklight reactivity. But they’ve been a staple of the alternative community (commonly referred to as “alt”) since the early 90’s, with the knee high platform boots appearing on Monster High dolls and populating the Myspace website. 

But is there a brand of alternative platforms with the same level of quality and reputation amongst consumers as Dr. Martens boasts in the standard boot category? There are several common quality issues with platforms. The shoe itself can become separated from the platform, the zipper can break, the material can crack and flake, there can be manufacturing errors such as excess glue, and there can be defects such as scratches and blemishes.

YRU shoes

The Monster High reboot, Generation 3, went live in 2022 and their shoe collaboration with YRU shoes was announced earlier this year in 2023. Unfortunately, there are many complaints on many social media platforms about their quality and durability. It seems additionally their customer service is not up to par, with their team only taking action when they are directly reported on the Better Business Bureau. I don’t personally own any of their shoes, despite my love of Monster High, because I found their reviews so off-putting.

It truly is unfortunate that their quality is so widely maligned, because these shoes are almost an exact replication of their Monster High counterparts. They have some general “inspired by” shoes, but they have clearly listened to the fans who want exact replicas. It can be disappointing to hear a brand has a collaboration, only to browse the collection and see that it does not embody the original spirit. The only thing disappointing about this collection is Mattel’s decision to collaborate with a brand with such low customer loyalty due to their quality.

Demonias

Demonia is a staple of the alt community, and has been around since 1993. However, when researching to buy my own, I found a dedicated shoe blog that compiled many different ratings of the shoes’ quality. It seems they lack quality control and therefore the shoes don’t have a significant longevity. Given their price tag, and their habit of never having sales above 20%, it’s supremely disappointing to hear that these shoes do not stand up to significant wear.

My Demonias haven’t fallen apart in the year I’ve had them, but I am not a daily wearer. They have some pretty glowing reviews on the Demonia site itself, but the lowest among them highlight manufacturing errors and uncomfortability. I personally would not recommend them for all day wear the way I would for my Dr Martens, but they are above a fair few of my other platforms.

Lamoda

Lamoda is the sleekest brand of those I’ve included, but their nonconventional shapes and use of buckles have earned them a place on this list. They are the most modern brand I’ve seen, with their #Lamoda tab at the bottom of their home screen featuring their shoes as styled by influencers.

They have the most frequent sales to my knowledge, and have offered up to 80% off. Their ability to do so, in my opinion, hints at the possibility that their items are not worth the price they are currently charging for them. The reviews I could find were polarizing, with some claiming that they are perfect, and some claiming they didn’t fit and their customer service was impossible. Their popularity amongst influencers, however, does a lot to counteract negative reviews. It’s easy to assume that the shoes will work when you can see them on a body outside of their website models.

My white Lamoda shoes, which are no longer available, are the most comfortable of the shoes I have included here. I wore them for the entirety of a karaoke night without feeling their presence, whereas my Demonias eventually felt heavier and clunky. I did have to modify my black Lamoda boots, as I’m 5’3 and they were inhibiting my knees from bending, but I have access to shoe cement and leather tools, so it was not an issue for me. I do see why it would be an issue for others, and do wish they would include the calf height in addition to their listed platform and heel heights.

Why does it matter?

But these are such wild shoes, they’re clearly novelty, why do they have to be good quality? People can and do wear their platform shoes regularly if not daily. With the significant height and thus added danger of destabilization of these shoes, quality should be a very high priority.

Dr. Martens are the closest to daily wearable but they’re way more mainstream and do not cater to the alt crowd. There truly is nothing in the niche that provides quality for the people who do want to wear these boots as part of their staple wardrobe.

Additionally, because of how much material is present on these shoes, and the popularity of faux leather in the creation process, all of these shoes are completely unusable once they wear out. They create a large amount of waste in comparison to smaller shoes with standard sized soles. 

Citations

1460 pascal max leather platform boots in black. Dr. Martens. (n.d.-a). https://www.drmartens.com/us/en/1460-pascal-max-leather-platform-boots-black/p/26925001

About Us. Demonia Cult. (n.d.). https://demoniacult.com/pages/about-us

Borrelli-Persson, L. (2022, July 26). Everything you need to know about platform shoes. Vogue. https://www.vogue.com/article/everything-you-need-to-know-about-platform-shoes

Cary, A. (2022, March 17). This spring is all about platform boots. British Vogue. https://www.vogue.co.uk/fashion/article/platform-boots-trend

Dr. Martens US limited product warranty. Dr. Martens. (n.d.-b). https://www.drmartens.com/us/en/warranty

For life terms and conditions. Dr. Martens. (n.d.). https://www.drmartens.com/us/en/for-life-terms-conditions

Hills, M. C. (2021, December 3). “the higher the better”: Why platform heels are back in fashion. CNN. https://www.cnn.com/style/article/platform-shoes-fashion-trend/index.html

Keiderling, G. (2023, September 25). 12 best platform boots of 2023 for sophisticated stomping. Byrdie. https://www.byrdie.com/best-platform-boots-7093639

Terms and conditions. Dr. Martens. (n.d.-c). https://www.drmartens.com/us/en/terms-conditions

Williamson, J. (2023, October 14). Are demonia shoes good quality? (everything you need to know). WearDuke. https://www.wearduke.com/are-demonia-shoes-good-quality/

YRU: Complaints: Better Business Bureau® profile. BBB. (n.d.). https://www.bbb.org/us/ca/chino/profile/online-retailer/yru-1066-850028944/complaints