Venice once taxed sky-high platform shoes

Because taxing the rich usually fails, the Venetian republic decided to simply tax their orthopedic destruction instead. In the 15th century, wealthy women wore platform shoes called chopines—sometimes up to 20 inches high—purely to flaunt wealth and avoid street mud. The government taxed these ridiculous stilts to curb luxury spending. Naturally, the rich just paid the tax and kept wobbling.