Great heights: The rise of Bowie inspired glam-rock boots

Build up the inches on your heels this season

Marc Jacobs channelled goth-glam for his autumn/winter collection (Getty)

Gone are the days of the understated shoe, instead, a chunky, towering new breed is taking their place.

Perhaps in part, an ode to the late, great glam-rock king David Bowie, this season the only way is up.

They really had their heyday in the Seventies – think Studio 54 and John Travolta in Saturday Night Fever – but, this a style that defies decades. It’s the Spice Girls effect and 90s goth-glam all rolled into one.

On the runway, already statuesque models teetered on the lofty heights of sky high heels and for most designers, the higher the better.

For autumn/winter Maison Margiela featured tiger-stripe stacked platforms (Rex Features)

At Maison Margiela, John Galliano did what he does best sending stacked, chunky boots in giant tiger-stripe and emerald green, while Mulberry tapped into London’s rock ‘n’ roll scene with pointed platforms in black, orange and claret snakeskin.

For Marc Jacobs, a reverence for all things gothic saw knee high, patent black leather lace-ups bear a larger-than-life chunky heel. A theme on-going at Vera Wang too, where they were paired with thigh-high split maxi skirts and boyish, boxy tailoring.

Glam-rock platforms are having quite a moment off the runway too, with the high street offering up a legion of affordable alternatives but, just how easy are they to wear?

Heel-phobes might be put off by this trend but they’re surprisingly easy to walk in; compared with other heels anyway.

At Vera Wang, platforms were paired with boyish, boxy tailoring (Rex Features)

The added height from the platform at the front of the shoe levels out your foot, making it far more comfortable than staggering in a pair of needle thin stilettos. Similarly, the chunky heel offers a much sturdier base.

If it’s good enough for Baby Spice, it’s good enough for us so build up the inches and opt for a sky-scraping, Ziggy Stardust-esque shoe this season.