I’m Cool, She’s Hot—and We Both Wear Docs

My age (65) and that of my girlfriend Audrey (56) might render us something other than fashion-forward if not for the fact that each of us owns a pair of Dr. Martens boots. If you wear Docs, you are at least moderately hip. First, however, let it be said that function is beauty. And these air-cushioned shoes epitomize function: They are light and yet sturdy, they are flexible, they provide ankle support, and they hug and caress your feet. A pair of Docs will last 10 years, maybe longer. Today, buyers of this brand have a multiplicity of options, some of which are quite gaudy. Audrey and I favor the basic black boots with eight eyelets, yellow welt stitching and trademark yellow-and-black heel loop that you pull to get them on. DMs are so stylish, so well-designed and -built that people will continue to wear them far into the future.

The Nazi connection

This most iconic of footwear began with a Nazi physician, Dr. Klaus Märtens. (Adidas and Puma also trace their origins back to the Nazi era.) He had injured an ankle while skiing and took it upon himself to design a pair of ergonomic boots with air-cushioned soles and fine leather. Märtens started a Munich-based business after the war, in 1947. Fashion was not on his mind, as most of his customers were housewives or gardeners. Thirteen years later, Bill Griggs of Wollaston in the English Midlands bought patent rights to manufacture and sell the shoes in the UK. Actually, he made a couple of modifications and dropped the umlaut from Märtens’ Teutonic name. For more than two generations, the Griggs family had been turning out shoes of little distinction. But that changed not long after the German-derived boots went on the market in April 1960. They were bought by postal carriers, factory men, stevedores and other members of what the Brits then called the working class. They first came to prominence in 1966 when Peter Townshend, lead guitarist of The Who, started wearing a pair of classic Docs when the band gave rock & roll concerts. Townshend was also the mastermind of Tommy, the musical fantasy drama film in which his mate Roger Daltrey had the part of a deaf-dumb-and-blind kid who played a mean game of pinball. Elton John, the erstwhile pinball king, wore a comically oversized pair of Docs. Remember also that Alex and his droogs wore Doc Martens in the dystopian crime movie A Clockwork Orange. They were used to perpetrate what he gleefully called “a bit of the old ultra-violence.”

Docs’ popularity grew organically, without a lot of fancy advertising. The teddy boys, the ska- and skiffle-playing ruffians, the mods, the rockers, the punks (Sid Vicious and his fellow Sex Pistols always wore them on stage and out on the streets of London), the skinheads, the soccer hooligans, the goths and other misfits just plain loved wearing DMs. Many of them customized their shoes to further emphasize their individuality and rebellious nature. Docs spread to other European countries including, of course, Germany from whence they had originally come. Doc Martens were not licensed for sale in the USA until 1984, but they soon took hold. What’s there not to like about these boots, except that they are somewhat costly? DMs have never been more popular; global sales are up nearly 40% over the last three years.

The heck with PC

I recall that when I lived in Austin, Texas, there were fervent discussions among politically minded persons (e.g., those claiming that “meat is murder”) as to the propriety of owning and wearing such shoes. They discerned unpleasant connotations, recalling that Klaus Märtens had served in Hitler’s Wehrmacht. They lost sleep because skinheads, definitely not sensitive new-age guys,  sometimes brawled in their Doc Martens. Big deal! I would suggest that they relax and go buy a pair, put them on and see if they are not great. No, I am not on the payroll of Doc Martens, nor do I hold stock in the company—which is now owned by a British private equity firm called Permira. New styles and colors often appear in glossy magazines, worn by today’s celebrities like Miley Cyrus, David Beckham, Susan Sarandon, Justin Bieber, Brad Pitt and Emma Watson. I would not know haute couture if it came up and bit me on the backside, but Jean-Paul Gaultier, a French fashion designer, sometimes has his pouty-faced models prance up and down the runway wearing the latest Docs. They are quite popular in Seoul and Tokyo, the fashion hubs of Asia.

These shoes are multi-cultural, and I mean that in the truest sense. They seem to please different people for different reasons, everybody from anarchists to mall-hopping teenagers. Audrey and I wear our matching Docs because they look good and feel good. They are durable and will never go out of style. What more reason do we need?