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Walk All Over You

Walk All Over You

It’s cold as I’ll get out right now, and that’s great. It gives me an excellent excuse to throw away the summer-oriented footwear I so abhor and bust out my boots. Even when I’m not scrubbing pipes in the engine room of a retired PT boat, wearing a pair of boots draws on an even more sacred type of history than that of blue jeans – these are some of the most ancient shoes that people still wear.

It all goes back to the military, of course. Not only is that where they originated, but they still pump out so many that a pair of “combat boots” isn’t too uncommon in even the non-military types (not to mention the counter-military stereotype). They have evolved into various species, ranging from cowboy to punk rocker, and more specifically Doc Martens and the half-rubber Bean Boot from LL Bean. Even the term “combat boot” is a generalization, as you’ll have to sort through jump boots, tanker boots, jungle boots and others if you plan to buy a pair. All boots are worn for fashion at some point, and they long ago left the idea to be made for work alone.

Consider the Chelsea boot. Made without laces, it secures itself thanks to elastic panels on either side at the top. There are variations for both men and women, but they are practically useless outside in the mud, or working anywhere. They’d come off way too easily for it to be feasible. Other boots, such as Doc Martens, have almost transcended their roots as work boots and are more often spotted on the feet of fashion-forward men.

A boot, when new, is nothing special. Like a good tweed jacket or pair of jeans, they need to be broken in before they’re worth anything. This process irrevocably binds a pair to a single owner – they’re molded to your feet, and no other person can fill your boots the way you do. This means a pair of boots is an incredibly personal thing to own, and to replace them would be equivalent of replacing a friend or pet.

A boot is multi-functional, thanks to an incredible product called Kiwi Shoe Polish. I’ve worn freshly polished combat boots with a suit, and received complements on them. A few days later, I wore them to work with a pair of jeans – same compliment. I wear a pair nearly every day. I try to polish them weekly.

To be able to polish boots, or even dress shoes, is a rapidly disappearing skill. In these days of patent leather and floor-waxed tuxedo shoes, the ability seems irrelevant. But who fails to be impressed by a shiny pair of shoes at someone’s feet? It used to be equivalent to the adolescent male’s first shave. Polishing shoes was important, and it was passed from father to son. But nowadays, most people don’t own a shoe brush, let alone a tin of saddle soap.

Boots have been a large enough factor in the world at large that many expressions referring to them have become popular. You might get booted from a club, boot up your computer (this one is derived from the idea of pulling oneself up by their bootstraps), or maybe you recall the phrase Orwell used to summarize oppression and prophesize the future: “A boot stamping on a human face — forever.”

The footwear also asserts itself in other ways. Perhaps the most notable is Nancy Sinatra’s song, “These Boots Are Made For Walkin’,” which hit the number one spot on the Billboard charts. Other women who want to make the same statement are also spotted in high boots, often wearing them all the way to their thighs.

This brings us to the images associated with various boots. A man in a pair of cowboy boots, with jeans, an earth-toned work shirt and a cowboy hat evokes a different idea than someone wearing the same boots with a pair of khakis and a dress shirt. Combat boots, with a grey military uniform, a la Nazi Stormtroopers, bring the feeling oppression while someone wearing combat boots with an army surplus outfit provokes the image of anti-Vietnam protestors and perhaps homeless veterans.