Ha! I clicked on the thread because I wondered why anyone would be talking about them! It’s one of the rare times in western fashion history when men’s fashions were more extravagant than women’s. Poulaines were cut low around the ankle to show off the coloured stockings men wore and to elongate the legs (which were on display because tunics had gotten scandalously short). Eventually they were subject to sumptuary laws in England and France which dictated the maximum length of the toes.
And Pianojuggler is correct about the pattens - high wooden platforms to elevate the wearer above the muddy streets. They were eventually subject to their own set of laws to limit the height.
-------------------------------- "Your first 10,000 photographs are your worst." ~ Henri Cartier-Bresson
