First Doc Martens in 20 years!

It feels like coming home.

I wore Docs nonstop through the early 90s, but branched out to other styles after the grunge era waned. Last summer my partner gave me this awesome utility kilt he got in Seattle, and I wore it quite a bit with my high-heeled Fluevogs, but what the kilt really needed was a pair of combat boots. I was given birthday money back in August to get boots, but it has been so ridiculously busy that it took until December before I had a half a day to myself to go shopping. (I don't like to be rushed!). I had been looking online quite a bit, and honestly, I couldn't find anything I liked better than Doc Martens -- you can't really improve on that iconic style. Nothing says "I mean business" quite like a pair of classic lace-up Docs.

In the end, I decided on a nice shiny black pair of classic 8-eye boots. I learned that there are now two lines of Doc Martens: the "regular" ones, which are made in China (the company almost went out of business in the 2000s and outsourced its manufacturing at that time), and a "made in England" line which was started when the company recovered financially a few years back. This line is pricier but supposedly involves nicer leather and better quality control. I bought the latter. The leather certainly did look more appealing -- it was thicker and glossier, but I suspect it will be harder to break in. They also have white (not yellow) stitching, a white pull-tab at the back, and one white grommet at the top. I swapped out the white laces (which were overkill, to my eye) for black ones, but the pic below shows the white laces.

I also caved and bought the pointy white Doc Marten chelsea boots pictured below. I seem to be a sucker for white boots. They won't be everyone's taste, but I think they are fab and they go really well with light-colour frayed jeans, as well as my stripy Beetlejuice pants. What do you think? Keep? (Hubs thinks they are cool).

Thanks for reading! And again, apologies for my very patchy participation over the past semester. I hope the next one will be better.

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9 years ago

chewyspaghetti

Veteran

Nice! I'm glad you went with the made in England ones. The new leather is really not as nice.

Style Fan

Great purchase. I have been looking at Doc Martens for awhile. I didn't realize there were 2 lines. The made in England ones are probably better IMHO. I found when I tried them on they didn't seem the same as 20 years ago. Now I know why.
I like both of the boots you bought.

Ledonna N.

Love the dr marten line. I cannot wait to see you put together your fit. I love the white. Mi have a pair. I need to break out some time.

lpr200

Love both! My daughter now wears my old docs!

LaPed

Both gorgeous! I'm a die-hard Docs fan; I still have a pair of navy/white brogue oxfords I break out once in a while -- more ska than grunge .

DH too -- gave him a pair of the "For Life" 1460s for his birthday last year. Those things are sturdy as heck!!

I hope you post a WIW for these, paired with the kilt.

Angie

(website)

Fashion Stylist

LOVE

Suits you to a tee, Elisabeth.

I didn't know you liked white boots. That's my thing.

Aziraphale

Sounds like it's the thumbs up for both pairs! Yay! I am very happy.

Chewy, glad to hear that you think the made in England ones are indeed better quality. I thought so too, but I find it takes about a year to know for sure.

Style Fan, Ledonna and Ipr200, I appreciate the thumbs up!

La Pedestrienne, I don't post WIW very often, but maybe in the new year I'll do one for the Docs + kilt, since it's something a bit different. (Nobody else here would probably wear it -- except maybe you?).

Angie, high five -- I'm surprised that you didn't know I share your love for white boots! Below are my other ones (although the Ilse Jacobsen wellies have turned yellow, much to my chagrin, and I never wear them anymore). I was wearing the Sorel snow lions today -- most unusually, we have a foot of snow in Vancouver! The new Docs will be my first short pair. I really liked the pointy toe and the contrast between the black elastic and white leather. (I don't actually have any other chelsea boots yet, either).

At the moment my hair is blonde, which works well with lighter footwear, too.

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Anonymous

Very groovy and I recently got grey snd black chelsea doc booties, like your white!

jlpp, cool! I didn't know they came in grey. The shop I bought mine from also had them in a nice shiny black (also tempting!).

anne

Great news!!

Suz

LOVE the Chelsea boots. Super fab!!

I like the others, too, of course!

And you are blonde???? That is a change!!

Thanks, Anne and Suz! And yes, I've been blonde for about a year now -- but that, too, is like coming home. I was blonde all through my youth, starting at about age 16. My childhood light brown hair could be artificially highlighted really well into a believable "natural" blonde-brown, like Jennifer Anniston circa 1993. I have been many shades of blonde (and occasionally, red) but my usual look was medium blonde. I didn't stop getting it coloured until I was 35, when I decided to let it go brown for fun. I was a brunette until I started to get a bit of grey a year ago, and now we're back to a short blond shaggy bob, which hides the grey extremely well!

Haha, yours are tempting me too!

Sisi

I really like the white ones! So particular.

catseye

Now I want to know how you are planning on breaking them in. I have a pair of oxford I want to break in because I like how the sole works in slippery situations. But I have yet to break it in.

cheryl

I love both pairs! Great addition to your wardrobe.

Sisi and Cheryl, thank you!

Catseye, I plan on breaking them in the old fashioned way -- by wearing them! Easy does it. No more than two hours a day for the first few days, then slowly increase the distance you walk in them. My experience with Docs from years ago was that they're like breaking in new hiking boots -- i.e. wear thick socks and expect sore feet -- but once it's accomplished, they are very comfortable (and they last for years).

approprio

Glad you went for the Made in England variety. I'm a sucker for English shoes, have a very old pair of steel capped Docs dating back to the mid '90's (before they closed the factories) and a pair of brogues from one of their newer collections. The quality is definitely better on their premium shoes. Enjoy!

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