Dr. Martens were invented in the
1945 by a couple of Germans- Dr. Martens and Funck (engineer).
Apparently Marten had a skiing accident injuring his foot. To make
things easier whilst it healed, he and an engineering friend Dr. Funck set
about developing a shoe with an air cushioned sole- one that would be
comfy yet durable. Funck suggested selling these shoes to others, as
they had sold well to around Germany.
In 1958, Bill Grigg's spotted an ad
in Shoe Record by Martens and Funck. They were looking for overseas
companies to produce their unique sole. The Grigg family then acquired
global rights to use the air cushioned sole.(Bet they are counting their
dollars and thanking the beer god for that decision!). So their factory
in Wollaston-Northamptonshire (England) started making the boots and
shoes as we know today. The first boot was produced on the 1st April
1960, hence it's name, the1460. "Airwair- with Bouncing Soles" comes
from a doddle Bill Grigg had made.
The emergence of the skinhead movement saw the first adoption by a British subculture of Dr. Martens boot. In 1968/69 skinheads wore concealed steel toe caps. Steel caps were often polished or painted white, though they were classed as offensive weapons so Dr. Martens soon banished these other styles.
The 8 eyelet Air Wear brown was by far the most popular with the laces drawn through the heel tag and the trousers high enough to reveal it. Black Dr. Martens virtually were never worn until well into 1969/70. It became a fad in early 1970 and brown boots were often dyed black. As the year went on Dr Martens developed many other styles but the 8 hole and 11 hole seemed to be the most popular with Skins preferring the ox-blood and cherry red versions.
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| My Friend in Tambov, Russia. Galaletsang Mosweu Rocking her DM's |
Now you can't say you haven't found a proper shoe for the rain, get your DM's on homies :-D
love floral ones
ReplyDeleteAren't they just too pretty :-)
ReplyDelete