Kniferide wrote: Thu Jun 10, 2021 4:10 pm I got a couple of pairs for free when I did sound for a Doc M. corporate event a few years ago. I've tried to wear them but they are mega uncomfortable. I've been told they take a long time to break in but man, it's tough to wear them long enough to get them there. A friend told me his started getting comfortable about the time another pair of boots would need a resole. Ain't got time for that.

Same, I've got a pretty narrow foot and Docs just feel clumsy no matter how much I lace them down.

I switched to Fluevogs about 5yrs ago, albeit at twice the cost they are a much better fit and the soles last waaaaaaay longer.

They used to be much narrower in the toe and heel and throughout, and the toe was much lower. This is 80s/90s. Then they went bulbous with deep/high toe spaces and whatnot. They are made for Bigfoot these days. I need to put inner soles in them and wear huge socks and kind of treat the like clogs.

They were sold in the 90s and moved their manufacturing to Asia and the designs changed noticeably. I had a long chat with Max at The British Boot Company in Camden Town in London about this a while back. They were one of the very first shops to sell docs I think. Anyhow, the point is that they have always been made by different people in different factories with different material suppliers and slightly different designs. Quality and fit varies (low point was early and mid 2000s).

The shallow-toed early 90s ones can still be found 2nd hand and they are indestructible. They say “made in England” on the bottom of the sole.

I have a pair of 80s / 90s black eight holes in mint condition that are too small for me, probably around a 10.5/11 US. Happy to give them to any FM if you cover postage from Sydney (!)

A couple of years ago I stumbled into a stash of Made in UK docs that were in a sort of dusty store where people wouldn't go to look for hip shoes. I grabbed a pair of monk strap UK12-US13 shoes that I wore a LOT, but then got caught in a rainstorm and the damn things stretched out.

I also bought a pair of black wingtips with black stitching in my size, then a friend asked if he could buy them from me and I sold them to him. Kind of wish I hadn't, now.

I stare at the Solovair site and wonder why I care so much about shoes. I kind of want a pair of the old school 11-eyes with the cherry black ruboff, just because they're so fucking cool looking, but man, that's a lot of boot to carry off just going to the grocery to get more half and half and some bananas.

Somewhere in storage there are a pair of Docs that I bought from one of those stores that sells Returns. I got them for like $18. I wore them FOREVER. Classic yellow stitching 3-eyes. I got married in them twice, divorced in them once. I played 1000 shows in them, probably waited on 2000 tables. Great shoes. If I find them I'm going to go right back to wearing them again. They look great with those Grey Dickies work pants. Fuck, I might even break out the wallet chain.

I tried a pair of the 1460s Made in England one time, about 2006 or so? They were horribly uncomfortable, even after 3-6 months. Ended up selling them.
But I found a pair of modern 1914s that weren't made in England in a secondhand shop that had a dented toe but were otherwise pretty new, and they were great. Comfortable from the start, if a little more effort to get on and off.
Not crap, but huge stacka waffles.

I have this terrible feeling that I'm turning into the old bastard who mutters about how good this or that used to be, and doesn't understand why this thing or that thing has changed.

Man, that's not a great feeling.

"You used to be able to get ten years out of a pair of these shoes...."

well to be fair, I did not get 10 years out of those 1914s - more like 4 or 5. They were cheap enough secondhand that I didn't care too much. And I've never tried the OG 90s Docs, so I can't compare.

I had an old pair of the classic black 10-eyelet Docs for years. I think they were UK-made, and the soles lasted forever. Later, I had a low-cut pair that lasted about 3 months. I don't wear boots as often now, but I prefer Frye.

I used to buy the UK-made 10 hole boots in the late 80s and 90s along with the heel-strapped Birkenstocks - making a point to buy shoes from places with living wages and benefits/pensions.

I stopped buying them when I couldn't fine the UK versions anymore. Fuck paying that much for awkward shoes that take a month or more to break in and still aren't suitable for hiking.

Now that I live in Oregon, all I buy are trail runners or backpacking shoes. Nobody out here expects you to wear leather shoes to a meeting. For the last five years it's been nothing but North Face and Salomon trail shoes, Keens and a pair of the aforementioned Birkenstocks I've had re-soled twice.

In the pandemic, Glerups felted boot slippers have been my new Doc Martens.

seby wrote: Thu Jun 10, 2021 6:27 pm They used to be much narrower in the toe and heel and throughout, and the toe was much lower. This is 80s/90s. Then they went bulbous with deep/high toe spaces and whatnot. They are made for Bigfoot these days.

Considering that last pair I bought in 1997 were considerable narrower and shorter in the toe than the magical pair I bought around 1990, this actually gives me hope on trying a newer pair. I think that 1990 pair I got about 3.5 years on wearing nearly daily before the sole wore through at the ball of my foot.

dontfeartheringo wrote: Thu Jun 10, 2021 8:31 pm
I stare at the Solovair site and wonder why I care so much about shoes.

Cuz shoes are cool. I read a long time ago a quote from Giorgio Armani that he'll judge a man based solely on his shoes.