I've worn DMS most of my life. I was the only kid in primary school with them.
The last time I went to buy some the price was absolutely ****ing mental and the sizing was all wrong.
Hence I can no longer wear DMS .Until you start looking you don't realise how difficult it is to buy some leather boots that arent lined with ****ing foam and nylon.
I'm at a big trade fair and I would say 99% of DM wearers are women.
The cultural appropriation of what was a man's wardrobe staple into an ill fitting,high priced lady's fashion accessory is what them idiots outside parliament should be moaning about.
I WANT MY BOOTS BACK.
I don't know about the cultural appropriation bit, but you can still buy Dr Marten's esque boots from one of the UK manufacturers:
https://uk.nps-solovair.com/collections/mens/Boot
It could be that the prices look absolutely mental :-/ but I guess that's a side effect of making things in Northamptonshire rather than overseas.
I have been wearing Converse this winter as a means of saving up for some 😀
I have a pair of these - they are safety boots, but if you can live with a big toe box - circa £90 iirc
What size are you?
I've got a pair of brown ones in the shed with steel toe caps from memory.
Found them too heavy to wear casually.
They'll be over 15 years old now.
Tim
The cultural appropriation of what was a man’s wardrobe staple into an ill fitting,high priced lady’s fashion accessory
HA! Women have been wearing DMs since the 80s. Well, probably before that, but that's when I noticed them! And they look a **** of a lot better on women than they do on you 😛
I've heard that Solovair took over the old DMs factory in Northhampton including the equipment and machinery, so you can get UK made quality versions. No idea what they are lined with, and undoubtedly not cheap. Still, that may give you what you want and still retain your sense of individuality/masculinity.
Edit, sorry, didn't see tomparkin's link above
how difficult it is to buy some leather boots that arent lined with **** foam and nylon.
Surely squaddie boots from any army surplus shop fit that bill for a reasonable price?
I thought they were overpriced - then I say Greg Wallace on one of their factory tours. They are bloody artisan boots - essentially handmade in the UK! I've no idea if the sizing has changed to suit their market demographic but I'm pretty sure if you are willing to spend £100+ you will find comfortable footwear.
The Solovair versions are apparently properly welted, so you can replace the soles when they wear out. Expensive initially, but the liftetime cost shouldn't be too horrific if you can get 2 or 3 repairs on them.
I've ordered a pair of these William Lennon 78TC's in black after a recommendation on another thread. There's a months long waiting list, I hope they're worth it!
I have no idea why anyone would willingly wear DMs. The pairs I have had rip your ankle to pieces and plastering up your feet is a must until they break in, and even then they aren’t great. Had some as a teen and some more modern ones and they have all been awful.
And while I'm at it, the amount of handmade boots that don't have a bellows tongue...jeeezus!
Expensive initially, but the liftetime cost shouldn’t be too horrific if you can get 2 or 3 repairs on them.
The 'Vimes' approach to consumerism
HA! Women have been wearing DMs since the 80s.
My first GF wore oxblood DMs.
Ahhh memories.
They were de rigeur for indie chicks in the '90s. And '90s style has been back for a few years now.
I thought they were overpriced – then I say Greg Wallace on one of their factory tours.
+1, find it on BBC Iplayer 'inside the factory' (yeah just ignore Gregg & enjoy the factory tours)
Did you watch the mug one...mugs, who thought you could make an interesting program out of making mugs, it was fantastic! (especially the mug forming bit!)
I'm not keen on the lace-up ones but I am partial to a chelsea boot.
Got some very nice Clarks ones which are heavily DM-inspired.
Yeah, Solovair for those that want the 'old DM's, from before the Permira buy out.
Or Red Wings if you really want to punish the bank balance.
They've been crap for years now really. I lived in DM's most of my teenage years and wanted to buy a pair a year or so ago and like the original poster was really taken aback at how much they cost.
I think i may have had rose tinted specs on because they are pretty uncomfortable and the air sole is a joke. The fact that they're very en vogue at the moment means that if you wait a month or two Ebay will be swamped with pairs that have hardly been worn.
Now in complete contrast.
I used to wear DMs back in the 80s & 90s. Purely fashion. When new they’d cut your feet to ribbons. They only lasted one winter and cost about half a weeks wages. (To an under paid youngster)
I bought some 1460 in waxing brown about five years ago. Everyday wear during the winter and they have lasted and will last a good time yet. The sizing was stop on, not a plaster in sight. They cost a lot less than half a weeks wages. They had increased by about 50% in 25 years.
Most of them have been made in the Far East for years, except the Made in England range.
Good post.
I used to get mine from Holt's in Camden. Which wasn't like your Camden DM shop/theme park of nowadays.
We're not target market any more.
I now wear Cheaney boots instead, for town/work use. Not cheap. But they last a long time; longer than my DMs used to last me, and are more restorable when needed.
Staple cheap school uniform of the 80's...
Pop down to Yeomans for a Donkey Jackey, DM's and a Canvas Rooksack.
At least canvas rooksacks are still only a tenner! 🙂
https://www.military1st.co.uk/bp001-be-highlander-large-web-backpack-beige.html
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^ that knapsack takes me back- spent hours with the felt tips inking the DK logo on mine.
Back OT, bought solovairs for Mrs Lex at Christmas and one sole started flapping after three wears. Took a while to get it sorted, and although a repair was offered, looks like a new pair was sent. (More an RM Williams fan for my boots these days.)
You want to get some nice Red wings moc toe work boots - nae cheap but so comfy and last for ever.
desperatebicycle
Free MemberHA! Women have been wearing DMs since the 80s.
Yup. They haven't been a "man's wardrobe item" in my lifetime.
Red wings moc toe work boots...so comfy and last for ever.
The uppers, yes, but I seem to go through the crepe soles annoyingly quickly, at least they can be re-soled and yeah they are super comfy, the'yre not even too hard to break in.
The cultural appropriation of what was a man’s wardrobe staple into an ill fitting,high priced lady’s fashion accessory is what them idiots outside parliament should be moaning about.
Nah, women look great in DM's. My wife had some back when we met when we were 17. Keep trying to get her get some more but shes having none of it, says she too old now. Shes only 46 and still has cracking legs!
Yeah the Red wing soles do wear but they are replaceable by a cobbler (or Red Wing).
Canvas ex-mil pack.
Now you are talking.
I still use one from WW11, looped over my Barbour waxed jacket and riding my vintage motorcycle.
Never had the love for DM's.
Preferred Lewis Leathers boots.
Nah, women look great in DM’s. My wife had some back when we met when we were 17. Keep trying to get her get some more but shes having none of it, says she too old now. Shes only 46 and still has cracking legs!
Mrs dB just replaced her 20+ yo dm shoes with new & turned 54 last week 😊
Mrs LJ was mulling over getting a pair a while back and it turned out her old, UK made pair from the nineties were still in her Dad's loft. Bit of balsam and elbow grease from me and she lives in them now. Her Dad was a factory floor manager and I think he put them through the books as general consumables. She's 41 now and looks cracking in them TBF.
If you're that particular get some made.
My old man used to get his smart shoes made for him up town.
Mrs Sandboy has six pairs and Miss Sandboy wears them for school. They love them!
I’m loving these boots at the moment. Prices have went up £62 I paid on Amazon few months back
Super comfy once worn in 🙂
Not sure how people are getting more than a couple of years from DMs - IME the sole wears smooth after 18 months or so when wearing daily.
Hence I can no longer wear DMS .Until you start looking you don’t realise how difficult it is to buy some leather boots that arent lined with **** foam and nylon.
Why don't you put a sock in it
Even when they were 'made in England' the soles came from China and the uppers from India. I seem to remember about 15 yrs ago the costs of materials was about 7 quid a pair. The Northamptonshire bit was sticking them together. They were never going to be much good.
Even when they were ‘made in England’ the soles came from China and the uppers from India. I seem to remember about 15 yrs ago the costs of materials was about 7 quid a pair. The Northamptonshire bit was sticking them together. They were never going to be much good.
you should watch the recent inside the factory. The leather might be from Indian cows but its all cut and constructed in England. I can't remember the exact process for the sole but they were definitely not just sticking soles to uppers.
my mid 80's german surplus paraboots bit muddy from last weekend at the beach, even after nearly 40 years the are still 99.5ish % waterproof.
I don't know who DMs are meant to fit, I bought some recently as a throwback to my youth and found the toe box to be tiny and the heel massive it was like pushing my foot into a traffic cone.
The inside the factory was quite interesting, makes me tempted to go to the factory outlet. Are the soles replaceable?
I have these Chippewas - made in USA, they are lovely
Tempted to get some Altbergs customised for me though as I have weird wonky differently sized feet.
Surely squaddie boots from any army surplus shop fit that bill for a reasonable price?
‘Squaddies’ wear either Meindle Desert Fox boots if they’re out in the Middle East, or a dark brown smooth leather hiking-type boot, and the (in)famous German para boot is bloody difficult to find these days. Both have a foam-type midsole that can and does turn to dust after a few years of wear, and are almost impossible to resole, two of my four pairs of Desert Fox boots have had this happen, and the uppers are still perfectly good to wear. I did only pay no more than £38 for any of them, while retail is £169, but I’m still annoyed about it.
The soles of my para boots disintegrated walking on gritted pavements as did my Blundstones.
I went to Solovair a couple of years ago after many many years of Doccies.
The welting failed at about 12 months, not the end of the world but not great given the price; then I took them and and the spare soles I bought at the same time as the shoes to the local cobbler... who refused to fit them. So that was all a big waste of time and money.
I'm back in DMs and perfectly happy to pay for them as they remain the only shoes that don't fail under my weight for 10 hours a day at work within a few months. Somehow, the sizing has changed a little recently, and I'm now a size smaller than I was for the previous 30 years!
the-muffin-man
Full MemberNot sure how people are getting more than a couple of years from DMs – IME the sole wears smooth after 18 months or so when wearing daily.
I've never worn a sole out- they've always cracked first (and worn out around the back of the toebox on top)
They are bloody artisan boots – essentially handmade in the UK!
TBH honest unless they’ve started building shoes with robots they’ve always been handmade and labour intensive which is why the work went abroad.
There’s also a time element as well,you can’t just make them that quick,they have to spend a certain time hanging around on trolleys of metal feet.
I worked(well babysat the mainframe) in a shoe factory till the land was worth more as houses 🙂
Have a pair of DM's as well, love them
Had some Blundstones back in the 90's that lasted years, bought pairs for me and other half a few years ago and the soles just disintegrated, came off in huge chunks, here's with minimal wear as well. Friend had similar experience.
My guess is that the solvents used back then worked better but fail elf and safety rules these days.
(Found a tin of 1990's Nitromors I'd forgotten about the other day, the good shit. Just waiting to use it in anger on an oak table top I picked up.)
I've been thinking of buying some DM's again. Used to live in them as a yoof in the 90's. Always had the black ones but this time gonna go for the cherry red ones!
So, the moral of this thread is that there are two versions, and the one to buy is the handmade in UK version. Is that right?
Edit: As a side-thread, I got weirdly into cobbler videos on Youtube, weirdly hypnotic and amazing to see the amount of work that goes into repairing shoes. There's a couple of American brothers called Trenton & Heath, and a suitably weird Japanese guy that I can't remember the name of.
The cool kids were wearing Converse All Stars 🤷♂️ back in the 70’s 🥺
they brush up quite nicely
Wonder if Alexei still wears them...
Happy memories of DMs - think I paid £40 for my eight hole ones, then went to German para boots like Klunk's ones for a while. DMs were pretty much unisex in the 90s.
spent hours with the felt tips inking the DK logo on mine
Dorling Kindersley?
Also: how about Monkey Boots? Similarly sackcloth 'n ashes in approach, hopelessly permeable, possibly made comfortable with footbeds. I'm wearing a pair now with some spare / rando Planet X footbeds. They're simple and not massively uncomfortable.
I bought some recently as a throwback to my youth and found the toe box to be tiny and the heel massive it was like pushing my foot into a traffic cone.
I lolled 😀
Blundstones back in the 90’s that lasted years, bought pairs for me and other half a few years ago and the soles just disintegrated, came off in huge chunks,
That was an issue that occurred when they initially moved production off-white. Supposed to be fixed now. DMs were notorious for the same problem a few years back.
There are models of the Blundstones that are leather-lined though. Same with Rossi and Redbacks. If Chelsea boots are your thing the you could do worse than the latter 2. Both made still in Oz, apparently.
Dorling Kindersley?
In case that was a serious question, the Dead Kennedys:
Nice and simple, like that for Crass.
The cool kids were wearing Converse All Stars 🤷♂️ back in the 70’s 🥺
I wear them now
Got 3 pairs of DM's on the go at the moment and I've always had a pair since the mid 70's.
Only buy the 'Made In England' range now, the cheaper ones are poor quality. Mrs Spursn17 has worn them for years and they look great on her, despite being an old bird now 😉😂
They are bloody artisan boots – essentially handmade in the UK!
Well , some of them are. The made in England ones are clearly made in England. But that's only 10% of the company's output and you have to search them out. They come with an extra £40 or so on the ticket price. Your bog standard DM is made in Taiwan. Whilst I quite liked the Gregg Wallace programme (apart from it having GW in it obvs) they nicely skirted around that - a good PR coup for Dr Martins. Every unthinking BBC watcher will have gone away from that programme thinking buying a pair of DMs would be supporting English craft workers. Mostly not.
That said, I can't imagine the process in Taiwan varies particularly in technique or quality from the setup in Wellingborough. Edit - though the post above clearly thinks there is a difference!
Same with Rossi and Redbacks. If Chelsea boots are your thing the you could do worse than the latter 2. Both made still in Oz, apparently.
Alas, Rossi are no longer exclusively made in Oz; I bought some hoping they were and sadly it turned out they weren't.
