Are these British boots worth the price tag?

October 29, 2011 12:08 PM

Looking for reviews and opinions on Solovair boots or similar Dr. Marten-esque styles.

I tried on a pair of the Asian-made Docs yesterday and quickly decided they weren't worth $120. I had my heart set on a pair though, so I'm looking for opinions on Solovairs or the British-made line of Docs. I don't mind paying $200 for boots (my everyday shoes are Eccos), I just want to make sure they're worth it. Any other suggestions of similar boots are appreciated too.

posted by Roman Graves to Clothing, Beauty, & Fashion (3 answers total)

You might try looking on styleforum.net:

Brief Solovair thread; with comments on quality and a mention that they discuss Solovair in the Doc Marten threads

Sample Doc Marten thread; there are more than one of these

You might also consider Redwing Heritage, Wolverine 1000 Mile, or maybe even something from Alden, like the Indy boot or the captoe.

It will all depend on how wedded you are to the Marten look-and-feel. Happy hunting.
posted by zueod at 3:28 PM on October 29, 2011

I bought a pair of British Made Doc Martins when I was 18 to wear as work shoes in an office (in my day we didn't need no stinking college to work in an office) I wore them every work day for almost 8 years (except for the few times I broke down and wore a skirt and pumps). I polished them regularly and kept them clean and dry. In my 20's I stopped trying to be a rebel in the office and stopped wearing them regularly and just wore them with jeans when I felt like it. I am now 43, I still wear them with jeans, the rubber sole has pretty much worn out of all it's tread and is pretty much flat now, but I keep the tops polished and they still look great.

Basically look after them and you'll easily get your moneys worth out of them.

BTW thanks for making me check out that website now I am trying to convince my husband to get me a pair of the boots for Christmas so I can have a midlife crisis in some serious stompy boots.
posted by wwax at 7:56 PM on October 29, 2011

I have several pairs of DM shoes - one pair dating from the time when they were all made in the UK (pre-2003), not in fantastic shape any more but still wearable. A year ago this month I bought a pair of the foreign-made shoes and a pair of the UK-made boots (the plain black ones). The boots were worn in and extremely comfortable in a couple of weeks (I have sensitive feet which blister at the slightest provocation, so this is little short of miraculous), and I suspect they'll do me for a long time.

I spent yesterday evening glueing up a split in the sole of the foreign-manufactured shoes with epoxy resin. If they last another year, I'll be reasonably content (they were a good deal from Amazon) but if I'd bought them thinking they were special, I would be very pissed off.
posted by nja at 12:42 AM on October 30, 2011