Platform safety shoes - I can has?

August 20, 2009 6:25 AM

Is there such a thing as steel-toed platform shoes?

I have a short complex, and pretty much only wear big frankenstein boots. I'm at a new job that requires steel-toe safety shoes to be worn in the warehouse, and I'm wondering if the hive can point me towards awesome steel-toed platform goodness.

Note: I won't actually be doing anything requiring toe protection; one of the QA offices is technically inside the warehouse and thus Health and Safety have declared it to be a safety-shoes-only zone.

posted by soft and hardcore taters to clothing, beauty, & fashion (8 comments total)

Doubtful... steel toes are a safety feature, and usually only found on other shoes incorporating safety features like stable, grippy lug soles. Since platform shoes are inherently unstable by their nature making them a safety shoe would make no sense. It would be like orthopedic stilettos.

They may exist with exterior steel covers, for fashion reasons, but they wouldn't be rated for warehouse work.
posted by Kellydamnit at 6:52 AM on August 20

Foundry boots have huge thick soles, but they're so absurdly heavy you wouldn't want to wear them unless there was molten metal flying around.
posted by scruss at 6:53 AM on August 20

Zappos has AWESOME girlie steel-toes. Wait, maybe you're not a girl. Regardless, they have a wide selection.

At my previous job I required my staff to wear steel toed shoes at ALL TIMES, so long as they were ANSI approved I didn't care what style.

As I'm looking they've changed their interface...but I'd start here.

You used to be able to see every type of shoe by gender, and ANSI was a category.

One of the ladies who worked for me got these kickin' purple and tan sketchers with vibram soles...she still wears them daily and that was 2 years ago. Some went with boots, one little wee female went with super cute pink doc martens...

Regardless, there are shoe styles, boot styles, slip ons..etc. They also do a great job of letting you know what OTHER ratings the boots have besides the toes. (slip resistance, oil resistance, etc.)

IMO---the timberlands FAR exceed the quality and comfort of the Doc Marten's.
posted by TomMelee at 7:00 AM on August 20

Lineman boots tend to have big (in work boot terms) heels on them, for climbing. If you're a woman and you're looking to imitate those goth-girl stompy boots, it's also worth mentioning that they go pretty far up the leg. Some companies make them with steel toes, although they're not standard. Heel height also varies. Shop around.
posted by nebulawindphone at 7:42 AM on August 20

Thanks all - and TomMelee, you may have inspired me to go the pink doc martens route!
posted by soft and hardcore taters at 8:52 AM on August 20

I would imagine New Rocks are steel toecapped, though whether they're suitable for your work is another matter.
posted by mippy at 9:13 AM on August 20

mippy, that was the kind of boots I was talking about. they have steel, but they're not ANSI rated, so they aren't true "steel toed boots" in the sense that they would qualify for any sort of job requiring protection. Since it's just a decorative element and not actually designed to withstand any impact it would be more likely to cut your foot open if something fell on it than actually protect you. (I've actually known a two people who got hurt, one lost toes, because they were wearing gothy fashion boots with decorative steel caps instead of real ansi rated boots. the decorative plate sliced right into them)

FWIW, I had a pair of steel toed docs for years that I loved and wore until they practically rotted right off my feet. They were super comfy, more than the normal ones even, IMO. I wore them through two summers working at a theme park and in a haunted house where I was constantly on my feet and running around, and in the house constantly dealing with props falling on me and getting stepped on by patrons.
posted by Kellydamnit at 10:05 AM on August 20

Here's the list of women's ANSI/ASTM steel toe shoes from Zappos. They don't look exactly platform, but the heels and soles are pretty thick and will give height.

From oshatoes.com: These look cute. They go over your own shoe.
posted by bluefly at 11:39 AM on August 20