Chopine Chopine A chopine is a type of women's platform shoe that was popular in the 15th, 16th and 17th centuries. Chopines were originally used as a patten, clog, or overshoe to protect the shoes and dress from mud and street soil. Chopines were popularly worn in Venice by both courtesans and patrician women from ca. 1400–1700. Besides their practical uses, the height of the chopine became a symbolic reference to the cultural and social standing of the wearer; the higher the chopine, the higher the status of the wearer. High chopines allowed a woman to tower over others. During the
James A. Patten University where he donated funds to build the original Patten Gymnasium. The architect of the gym was George Maher who had designed Patten's house in Evanston. Patten died in 1928. James A. Patten James A. Patten (1852–1928) was an American commodities speculator, financier, and politician. The mayor of Evanston from 1901 to 1905, Patten is best remembered as a leading financier of the Gilded Age. James A. Patten was born at Freeland Corners, Illinois He attended the common schools and was early a clerk, a farmer, and an employee in the Illinois State department of grain inspection (1874–78), whence he