Thursday 13 July 2017

New work boots too

but not for me.
I was puzzled to see what amounted to an advertisement for "gold" work boots on the front page of the paper this morning. They are apparently going to be made, in a limited edition, by a company which is well known to most Downunderites. 
I know the brand but nobody in my family owns any items of clothing or footwear made by them. Yes, they tend to be expensive. Like that famous hat worn by a certain golfer they tend to be a fashion statement. (I do know someone, not a family member, who has one of those hats. Hers is scarlet and she looks magnificent in it but I would look ridiculous.)
But, the boots? It used to be that they came in brown...and brown... and then black and, after more years, something I think they call nubuck. Colours just weren't the thing. Why would they be? These were work boots. They were worn by people who worked  on farms and in similar places. (No, they aren't the same as those even heavier industrial boots with steel toe caps used on building sites and in industrial areas.)
And then... something happened. Maybe it was because somewhere, in another part of the world, someone wore a pair of those Doc M... boots. Someone else saw them wearing those boots. They made mention of it. People bought them. The people who made them saw a new market. It was potentially a big one. It turned out to be a huge one. They make those Doc M.... boots in all sorts of colours and designs now. 
Now, for the most part, I wear ankle boots on my rear paws. For me a pair of shoes is like female humans wearing outrageously high heels... don't do it if you are sensible. The pair I am wearing at the moment were bought some years ago. They were bought with comfort in mind - and they also happened to be on sale in the local shoe shop. The girl in there actually put them to one side knowing they were my size and that I wouldn't care about the colour - after all they weren't meant to be a fashion item. They are a dirty olive green. I bought them. They were made somewhere in Germany and the leather is soft and flexible. I have worn them and worn them.
And yes, I know people who have bought the boots made here. They have bought them in brown and black and they have worn them and worn them too. It was only a few weeks back I saw someone collecting his much loved pair from the shoe repair stand. They had been given yet another lease on life. Their owner is a "tree doctor". 
But, there must be many other people who own a pair of boots who scarcely ever wear them. I don't see them on feet - or rarely so. Why would you wear them in the city?
There used to be a time when those boots were worn by people who lived on farms and rode horses as part of their daily work. Like "jeans" they have been taken over as fashion items. Unlike jeans they lack the flexibility of the other footwear "fashion" item - the so-called "jogger" or "running shoe".
And so they must be hiding in cupboards wondering what their purpose in life is - while my non-fashion pair lead a much more interesting life. 

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