6.20 /// Mighty Boots Engaged...

Boots can be a simple bit of footwear or they can be a whole personality. I’m Stephen, and I’m taking you through the oddly emotional story of how I went from basically owning no “proper” boots to obsessing over them, wearing one pair into the ground, and still wanting more even when I know I don’t need them. If you’ve ever stared at a price tag and thought “this is ridiculous” while your heart said “but I’ll wear them forever”, you’ll feel seen here. 

I get into the boots that shaped my style and my routines, from the cultural pull of Dr Martens to the moment I discovered New Rock boots with their thick soles, leather build and metal details. I talk about saving up, pre-order nerves, and why the real question isn’t “how much do they cost?” but “how many years will they give me?” There’s even a bit of cost-of-living reality checking, because early-2000s prices hit different once you do the inflation maths. 

Then it turns practical and personal, what it’s like living in heavy boots day after day, why comfort can beat flash, how hardware can fail before leather, and what it feels like to finally let go of a favourite pair. I also share the boots I replaced them with, the budget alternatives that looked right but didn’t feel right, and the way getting older changes how much time you’re willing to spend lacing up. 

And yes, I got married in boots, so you’ll hear the hunt for the perfect colour, the bargain win, and later the long-delayed moment I finally bought Doc Martens and had to earn them through blisters and break-in. 

If you’ve got a clothing item you’re weirdly loyal to, or a dream purchase that didn’t match the fantasy, I want to hear it. Subscribe, share the show, leave a review, and send me a message with your own “boots story”.

Transcript

Welcome And Why Boots Matter

Stephen 0:05

Hello, welcome to Infinite Prattle. On today's episode, I'm gonna be talking about a bit of a passion of mine, and if I was really rich, how many pairs would I have? I'm talking about boots. So let's have a good old prattle about that, shall we?

SPEAKER_00 0:20

Thanks for listening to Infinite Prattle!

WrestleMania Tiredness And Outfit Talk

First Boots And Early Influences

Discovering New Rock Boots

Price Shock And Inflation Reality

Wearing Them Everywhere For Years

Magnums, Cheap Alternatives, And Age

Hunting Wedding Boots That Fit

Finally Buying Doc Martens

Listener Questions And How To Reply

Stephen 0:25

With your host Steven. Follow me on social networks at Infinite Prattle. And don't forget to subscribe. Thanks very much. Thank you for joining me again on another episode of Infinite Prattle. The hat today is an Ultimate Warrior WWF Throwback. Mitchell and Ness. Very, very nice. I'm gonna wear it backwards actually. So I can see a bit better. I was gonna say so you can see my face tonight a bit clearer, but uh if you're listening only, then uh you don't care. And if you're uh watching the video, it's probably a bit scarier. But thank you for joining me. Um I'm a little bit worse for wear today because I did stay up and watch WrestleMania, recording this the day after the first night of WrestleMania. Great show, great event. If you're not into wrestling, then you probably don't care. Um but yeah, so I didn't get into bed till about 4am this morning. Um so a few hours sleep. And I can I don't get me wrong, I could function, I think I am got the the energy to go out and be productive again today. Uh apart from this, obviously. Um so yeah. Um oh I've got my t-shirt on as well. I'll I'll explain what t-shirt I'm wearing. I'm wearing a a um memento for my my Caribbean cruise, and I've got a t-shirt, and on a little logo on the on the top left breast, it says, I'm the reason the rum is gone. And on the back, uh it has like a skull and crossbow, it's very uh Pirates of the Caribbean kind of thing. Uh I couldn't help that. It's it's it's funny for two reasons. One, because I do love rum and I could be the reason the rum is gone. But also, ironically, I hardly have a drink anymore, so that probably wouldn't also happen. Um but I did bring some rum back from the Caribbean, so uh I need to actually try that at some point. I haven't even opened it yet. It's been two weeks, damn it. What am I doing with myself? What's my life become? Um yeah, so I'm gonna be talking about uh boots, and I never got into boots until I probably went to college. I think some some teenagers get into it, it becomes like a a grunge kind of indie scene, kind of rock and roll scene. And I never really had any boots apart from Wellington's, which are not the ones I'm discussing today. Uh for anyone who doesn't know, Wellington boots are the boot button when you go in into muddy places, you know, uh come up to your knee, you know. Um we call them Wellington boots in the UK. Uh apparently after I believe the Duke of Wellington who invented them. I don't know if that's true. Um I'm sure someone on Wikipedia has has put up the whole factual story about it. Uh don't believe me. Anyway, uh my first pair of boots were um a pair that I bought myself. Uh always always liked always liked to have a pair of boots. My my brother kind of inherited some off my dad a couple of times, uh his old work boots or whatever, and my brother bought his own and I I just never I just never owned a pair, and I always wanted some. Um and then when I went to college and and really wanted some Dot Martins, um but I never I never got some Dot Martins. I thought they were quite expensive for what they were, and then ironically, I bought an a lot more expensive pair. Um so a lot of people at college used to have Dot Martins. And if you know what Doc Martins are, they're I think originally a British brand. They could well still be. Uh you never know over the international market who's bought out who and who is a big conglomerate and all that. But essentially Doc Doctor Martins was a was a British was a British company, I think, originally. Pretty sure of that. Um and they make just black boots basically, uh, normally with thick soles, known to be very comfortable, long, long-lasting, and uh were associated with like mods and rockers and stuff like that. Uh and all of my friends had them, and they were reasonably expensive, even like they're expensive now, but even back then they were expensive for a boot. Um but me being me wanted something a bit different. So when when the time came and when I had a little bit of money because I was working, uh I thought I need to get myself a boot. I've wanted boots for years, let's go and buy some boots. And one of my friends had a pair of new rocks. Now, again, if you don't know what new rock boots are, let me educate you. Um by doing a quick Google, you will find them pretty quickly. They've they're a company that's been going a long, long time. I believe they're Spanish. Um, and they just make like outlandish but beautiful boots. So very, very thick soles, uh metal riveted to them, like flame designs, all in leather, real leather, uh lined, uh, just really, really nice boots. And some of them like goating knees, some of them are shoes, but still with big soles. And they became uh synonymous with like goths and rockers as well. Um, and one of my friends had a pair, and I just fell in love with them. I was like, they are the nicest boots, and she told me how much they wear, and I was like, wow, that's a lot of money. But she was like, listen, they're heavy, but they're like the most comfortable things I've ever worn. They're waterproof, they're warm, they're actually don't overheat your feet as well because they're breathable, because obviously it's leather, it's natural. And I was sold, I was like, I need to save up and buy a pair of these boots. My mum and dad thought I was mental, like uh and in hindsight now, if you look back at like the price and the cost of living, and I use the inflation calculator all the time on the um uh the Bank of England website. If you haven't ever used that, go and use it. It's it's it's so fun. You can like look at things back in the day and see how they've you know, see how compound interest has affected that price of that uh that item. So you can kind of get a reasonable idea of if things today are reasonable price based on your wage kind of thing. So you can calculate how much your wage has gone up to how much that item's gone up and what the difference. So it's it's pretty interesting. I do quite a lot of one, especially when I go to uh stately homes. So we go to stately homes quite a lot, me and Sarah. Not as much as we like, actually. We probably need to start working on that, uh, cost of living and all though. Um but then we list things saying, oh, back in 18 something or 17 something, this cost£3.50, and you're like, or three pounds, they're like£3.10 or whatever it was. And um you'd be like, what the hell was that? And then sometimes they give you like what that would be in today's money, in in their money, so it's still not added the the interest, so this would have been the equivalent of like£3.50 or something. So then you can you can go um£3.50, I hear you say. Uh indeed. And um it's a good job there's no lot less monsters around. Um that's a South part joke. I apologise if anyone doesn't get that. Um go and Google that. Um bit of a ninja with me and my mate, we always say that when we hear 350. Um Yeah, so what was I saying? Oh yeah, so so I was going the inflation calculator and go, how much did this house cost to build? And you can put it in today's money, and it's it's insane how rich people were back then, and they threw their money around. Like, you know, it's it's an it's it's a great little tool though, but that's that's what I did. And I I use that for these boots, so I can kind of understand where my dad was hanging out going, are you sure you want to spend that much money on these boots? That's a lot of money for a pair of boots, and I think I paid, now I can't quite remember, but I think I paid, I ordered them from the the retail brand Shoe, uh, and I pre-ordered them. Uh I went and tried them on somewhere, um, but they didn't have the ones I wanted, so I had to order them in, um, hoping that they were gonna fit. They had a really dodgy returns policy, as far as I remember. Um, where they'd only give you like store credit if something didn't fit, so I was like, what I'm gonna spend that money on. And I think they're about£140 or£160, I can't remember. That was like 2001 money, 2 2000, 2001 money. Probably was 2001 if I'm honest with you, because that's when that started to work properly. I did have a bit of money saved from my summer job, so it could have been 2000. Anyway, bought these new rock boots, they arrived, they were beautiful, they were comfortable, um, they were heavy, they were heavy. Um and my dad liked them actually. My dad did like them, and he was like, if they last then you know the investment's fine. But in today's money, I I checked and it was like that's like 360 quid in today's money. So he wasn't wrong, that's a hefty, that's a hefty price to to put on a set of boots. Um but the only thing I'll say they lasted me. I I wore them to death. Like you don't understand how much I wore these boots, like I went to festivals in them, concerts in them, uh, I just wore them daily, like sometimes wore them like to the shops. Well, I I just wore them daily, so yeah, it's any anywhere. And the only time I didn't wear them was on my motorbike because they were too too bulky really to change gear and stuff, so they had a big thick heel. I was a bit good about that because um I mean I could have probably changed changed the controls on my bike to accommodate them, but um they weren't really I don't think they'd have been safe really to ride a bike with. Um but they were just amazing. They were just uh they they were the they were the big chunky new rock boots as as you can imagine if you've seen a picture on the line. They they came up to like just over my shin. They're these big shin guards that went up the front with three three lines of metal, the new rock logo. Um they were quite plain, they weren't the ones with the flames. I did want the ones with the flames. Then when I saw the plain ones, I was thinking, you know what, you might get bored of the design. Classic is probably better. Um but they have like riveted plates on the front and the heel. Um oh they were just they were just amazing, they were just so so good. Uh and even even years later, I mean the soles didn't even wear away. I mean, so you'd think like maybe the leather's fine, leather's leather's okay, but the sole would wear away. And it did a little bit, but for the matter I wore them. And I gave them well, I gave them to a charity shop, I think, to have to do the recycling thing. So I thought they're just too good to go to landfill. If someone can like extract the leather or the sole and recycle them stuff, that's always the best way. Uh and it was a hard wrench, it was a hard wrench because the one of the pieces of metal had snapped, and I thought that's not not really repairable, and the heels had started to wear a bit, so they were a bit uneven. And when I walked, I sound like a tap dancer because the metals used to click on the floor, that's because they they'd worn slightly the ends. Um but they were still as comfortable and they still looked fantastic. And I remember polishing them up thinking, could I keep these? And I polished them up and um yeah, the answer was no, like they were still beautiful, but yeah, there's there's the the the the metal had old style the actual rivets had actually gone before the actual boots itself, which is funny, that the metal had actually gave way before before anything else. Um yeah, but I I I think that was It's gotta have been around like 2017. It was when I was clearing up for moving out of my house when me and Sarah got together, and we got together in 2016, and I moved in 2017 or to the end of 207, something like that. Yeah, it'd have been 2016, so I gave them away in 2016 to the charity shop. So it's fifty I had 15 years out of them. So that's that's that's not too bad, I think. Not and I think if I hadn't gone around kicking things with the metal metal bits on the on heels, because I used to stand and tap my heels and kick walls and stuff and and like like a stupid young person does these things. Um but yeah, I I I um I probably would still have them now. Um I don't know if it's stupid on me to get them give them away actually and recycle recycle them. Maybe I should have taken them to a to a uh boot boot restore or shoe repair and see if they could have done anything with them. Um I just felt that it would have been like so much money it might have been worth buying some new ones. Um I haven't bought any new new new new boots of them, but I replaced them with um a set of Magnums, uh a brand I'd never heard of, recommended by uh my my brother-in-law. He he said that he'd had a pair and they were good, so I bought a pair of them and they are really, really comfy. Probably the closest I've had actually to the new rocks. Uh and then I like my work boots though. I used to get issued work boots through through my job and uh used to love my job partly because I used to be able to wear boots all the time. And um people go, oh they're impractical to walk around in blah blah blah. They're not like you you get used to it, like the weight of them new rocks, you do get used to it. I had brilliantly toned calves from lugging them things around every day. I think each one weighed about two kilos, it must have been, it felt like that at least anyway. Um and it can't have been far off that. They were heavy things. Even my dad was like, Jesus, these weigh a ton, how are you gonna do anything in these? But uh they were like weighted shoes and I think I feel that's part of why I was so fit when I was younger, because uh I got so used to walking around these. Like when I put a pair of trainers on, like I felt like I was on the moon. Um it was crazy. Plus, they gave me a little bit of a little bit of height, they were like an inch, an inch or so on my height, so that's always good, isn't it? Uh especially when you're five foot seven like I am. Um yeah, that was it was just uh it was just a lovely pair of boots. Um And I've had a few other boots in my time, like cheapo ones, um, some like Desert Combat ones. I cheaped out and wanted Timberlands, but I didn't want to pay the money for them. So I I went to a cheap shop and I bought like I think they were called US Brass. Uh they were fine, don't get me wrong, but they weren't fully like leather and stuff like that, a lot of man-made materials in them. And um, yeah, they they they rubbed a bit and they were they looked really good though. They looked, they looked the part. And I remember buying two pairs of them at the same time. I bought like a the sandy, like desert kind of coloured, like like uh the Caterpillar brand and the Timberland brand do. Um kind of inspired by Will Smith, because at the time Will Smith uh had released an album uh and and the front cover, he was he was wearing these kind of boots, and I was like, ah, they're an alternative to my new rocks. Um but I think after wearing the new rocks they were there were no comparison. And uh I bought like a like a black pair as well, just as a black ankle boot, uh as a as an alternative to the new rocks that I actually hardly ever wore. In fact, they actually become just a knock around the house DIY boot. Um so I used to put them on if I was doing anything in the garden or anything like that. But uh my Magnums are like the go-to boots, and I still have them now. So they've lasted a long time. I don't wear boots as much as I used to. Um I think it's my age, really. I think it's my age, like putting them on. It's not as quick as just throwing like a s I've got slip-ons and stuff now, so it's not as quick as like throwing a pair of like slip-on vans on or something like that, or you know, like a comfortable pair of trainers uh just to zip out of the house. Um and I think we all like take a bit more time when we're younger as well. Like I had a I had like an image to hold. Like I used to take ages putting all these rings on, which I've actually been wearing again recently. Uh I I used to have like rings on most of our fingers, um, and I'd do my eyeliner and my and and sometimes a bit of black lipstick, you know, because as you do, and black nail varnish, and depends how gothy I want to go, but I I'd spend time getting ready. Not not like stupid amounts of time, but now it's like grab some clothes. I still want to look nice, but I just grab some clothes straight out. Um and I I I I kind of go on the level of it now. What am I gonna do? Who's gonna see me? So if it's just nipping to the shop, don't really care. Whereas back in the day, if I wasn't even when I was nipping the shop, I never I never knew what my plans were, so I think I protect my time a bit more now. It's like right, I'll go to the shop and I'm not gonna wander around aimlessly. Whereas when I was younger, I just was like, yeah, I'll throw some I'll throw some stuff on, put my boots on, and my boots dictated the style, I suppose. Wearing them new rock boots, you you you kinda had to go all in on that rock look to to manage them that style of that boot, I think. Um but yeah, I I just throw stuff on now and go out, so it's just easier to put a pair of slip-ons on or a pair of trainers or like you know. Um but I do finally own a pair of Doc Martins, like oh, I got married in boots. That's probably a big thing to talk about. I actually got married in boots, so there are pictures, I think, on my Instagram, uh of uh our wedding, and I wanted to wear a a a kilt, but I didn't want to go full, really formal kilt, you know, with you know proper shirt and ruffle and and all that sort of stuff. But I wanted the I wanted the kilt and and and and the spar and all that sort of stuff, and a jacket and a shirt and a tie, but nothing too a bit more casual a bit more f less formal up top, really formal kilt kind of thing, like do the proper kilt, and then uh I had like rolled down socks, uh my my my kilt knife, uh my my sock knife was put in, which wasn't actually a knife, it was a bot lumina, um, because you can't walk around with a knife. And I bought boots, and god, it took me a long time to find boots for my wedding. So I wanted a very particular style and a particular colour. I wanted a pair of brown boots, but they couldn't be like too sandy red, and they couldn't be too sandy yellow, so they had to be like kind of like a rusty mahogany kind of that sort of colour. Um and it took me so long to find a pair, and every time I found a pair, they didn't have my even if I found a pair that I liked, they didn't have my size. Oh my god, it was it was awful. Um and eventually one day, oh they were expensive. If I found the pair I like, they had my size, they were like ridiculous expensive, like like like four or five hundred pounds sometimes, like designer ones and stuff. And I was like, I'm not buying that, that's that's ridiculous. Um and then Sarah, when they just sent me a link to the Harley Davidson website. She'd seen like an advertisement and this pair of boots, and she was like, Oh my god, look, these boots look cool. Plus the Harley Davidson, you ride a motorbike, there's a bit of a motorcycle link there as well. They're not really full-on branded with Harley Davidson, it was just a little bit on the side, which you probably wouldn't be able to see because of my socks, and uh they had my size, and plus the best thing is they were like a third off or two-thirds off, so they should have been like£200 and something pound, and I think they ended up being like 90 quid or something, which was still a little bit more than I was hoping to spend, because my rest of my outfit was very expensive. Um, but they they came and they fitted, and I wore them to death. Like that I had to throw them away because they literally the zip fell apart on them, and yeah, they were so loose. Um, but that's what I got married in. So I got married in a pair of boots, um, which was probably where the idea of this video came from and my love of boots, because I wanted to get married in some. And it it kind of completed the look, you know, it was like that casual, booted s uh Scottish vibe, uh, which was which is what I was going for. That's what that's what I wanted. I wanted to uh be really smart but have that casual edge, which is kind of me. That's like that the style I go for. I like to look presentable and smart, but I don't want to almost be too formal with it. There's always something on me that's like, oh yeah, he's he's chill. That's what I go for anyway. Or I'm full full chill, like you know. Um as as Sarah said the other day, like I had prison fatigues on because I was wearing grey shorts and a grey hoodie, and it looked like I'd just come out of prison. Uh so I was like, Thanks, thanks, my love, thank you. Um very nice of you to say. Um yeah, and I but I do have a doc Doc Martin's pair now. I I I bought them I think it was the beginning of last year. We were over in Ireland, out there's a Doctor Martin shop there, Doc Martin's shop, and uh we went in, and I never see anything, I always see things I like, they never have my size, etc. The same old story, or they're just too expensive. And I saw this pair at Doc Martin's, and there was there was two that I liked, um, and they had a special edition version in, and the special edition version was like just plain black Doc Martin's, but they had this white stitching around it, very, very reminiscent of like a pair of cowboy boots, and they were I think called the Cowboy or something like that. They had some sort of Western kind of inspired kind of name because everyone has to name their brands, don't they? They name their their their models of things. Uh they can't just be Doc Martin's black with stitching, it has to be Dog Martin's Black Cowboy Sunrise or something like that. Um so tried them on, they fitted really nice. Um and I bought them, and they were expensive, they they were more expensive than I wanted to. They were about the same price as my original new rocks. Um, but I thought, you know what, you paid this for your new rocks, you've wanted them for 20 goddamn years, just buy them. Um so I bought them, uh, but they're not as comfortable as I was hoping. They're don't get me wrong, they're nice, but they sometimes rub me. Uh they don't fit my feet as well as I was expecting. I think I'm like weirdly in between a size. Um and wearing them in was a was a pain. Like I've never had to wear a pair of boots in like this, but I think it's because a lot of the ones I've bought before had a lot of padding in, so like that kind of takes like the the effort out of trying to wear them in a little bit. Um But yeah, the it wasn't the experience I was hoping for from my Doc Martins, but I've worn them in now, I wear them, and they are they are actually comfortable now, and I just have to I just have to remember I think the whole rubbing thing was me not really doing them up as tight as I should do. So I every time now I put them on, it takes me a little bit of time to put them on because I make sure they're all undone properly, put my foot in, and then tighten them up and do a proper big double mark and make sure they're secure because as soon as they start getting a little bit loose, troubling shoes, and you always see it straight away, but troubling shoes, trust me. Uh they give me a few blisters, so as soon as I feel them starting to get loose, I have to stop and and do them back up again. So, apart from that little bit of annoyance, they are really, really nice. Um and I'll probably have them for years because I've worn them quite a lot in the last year. Uh again, it's the whole thing of them taking time to put on, really, because of the whole time. Like my new rocks, as big as they were, and they had all these buckles down the side. Um, I could undo the zip. When they loosened up, so I can undo the zip, put my foot in, loosen one of the buckles, and you know. I was away pretty quickly because the zip went all the way down, foot straight, and bang out of the house. So um I probably could put them on faster than my Doc Martins, if I'm honest with you. Um but yeah, it was uh it was it was lovely buying a pair of Doc Martins, but I felt so guilty of the price. And um so I'm completely in my dad's shoes when I was in that Doc Martin shop buying them boots, thinking this is a lot of money. But Sarah said, listen, you've wanted them, you've worked, you work hard, um, just just bloody get them kind of thing. So I was like, okay, okay, I will. Uh and I'm glad I have, I'm glad I have. I've got Doc Martins. Would I buy another pair? Probably if there was something I really liked in mind running out uh of of life at the end end of life kind of thing, written out, is if they deplete, uh I suppose they do in a weird way. Uh so yeah, I I I probably would, but uh not not for the foreseeable future. Um and it'd have to be a design that I really like. Quite happy with my magnums now for just general use. Um but yeah, that's I just like boots. Uh and I I would probably buy loads, and I I I really would love a good pair of cowboy boots. Um I'll have to say that when I go to America. Uh and Cuban heels. I'd like a pair of small ankle boots with Cuban heels because prints, man, yeah. I'm just I don't five foot seven, it would help. Um but yeah, I I I I think the the whole boot thing is like I I try not to let myself get down a hole. Like I buy a pair of boots that I like and I stick with them. But there is that thing in my back of my head, because I am a collector of things, as you can see from from from the the the scene behind me. Um and and for people that can't see that, there's a lot of shit behind me. Um I I I would collect boots though, and I would buy multiple pairs. I I I almost wish that I'd bought a second pair of the Magnum boots when I bought them because they are so comfy and they don't do that model anymore. And I'm like, ah, what if I buy a new pair and they're not the same? So I completely get it where people wear the same clothes all the time because they're comfy. And Gossi Osborne did it actually, he used to wear the same track seat bombs and he used to buy them in bulk because he liked them, and that's what he liked. And you think, well yeah, kinda kind of makes sense if you like something and you're gonna wear it a lot and that's your style, then there's no harm in it, is there? Uh it starts to get ridiculous when you move on to other things, like maybe like cars and stuff like that, but boots is fine, yeah? Boots is fine, I think. Um boots is fine, but is that is is that not very good grammar? Um anyway, um that was my tired uh ramble and prattle about boots. Um do you like boots? I don't know. I've said boots a lot in this in this video. I apologize. It is a is a video about boots, is a podcast about boots. I just keep saying boots. Oh my god, um I think I'm stuck. Um yeah, let me know in the comments. Are you obsessed with any item of clothing? You know I like hats as well, I collect them. But is there anything that like you wanted for a long time and they either did or didn't meet your expectations? Uh I'm always I'm always curious to hear what you guys think. Uh put a put a comment in the description below or or you know, or share and reach out. You can actually message on Buzz Sprout, so if you go to the description of this podcast, you can actually click the link and message me directly, uh, which is always nice. Uh I think you can actually leave like a voicemail now as well so you can do a voice note, which is which is cool. So, yeah, have a crack of that because uh it'd be nice to get some feedback. This is a two-way conversation uh if you can get a word in, and uh that's how you get your words in. So, until next time, thank you very much for listening and watching. And remember, take care of yourselves and keep on propping.

SPEAKER_00 25:35

Thanks for listening to Infinite Prattle with your host Steven.

Stephen 25:43

Follow me on the social networks at Infinite Prattle and don't forget to subscribe. Thanks very much.