Dr Martens Shoes, Women's Dr Martens Boots, Buy Online, Mens Dr Martens Boots

About Dr Martens Shoes:

1st April, 1960, April Fool's Day and all kids looked the same, like their mum's and dads! It was post war, grim there were still bomb stes everywhere and the sixties hadn't really begun, cue the birth of Doctor Martens.

Dr Klaus Maertens (Märtens), was a doctor during World War 2, he was skiing in the Alps in 1945 when he hurt his ankle and ended up in hospital. On leaving he found that his standard issue army boots were not the ideal item of footwear for his poor foot to recuperate in and thus he went about designong the perefct boot, using bits of old rubber from the Luftwaffe! He went in to business with a guy names Dr Herbert Funck and the two went about the task of shodding an entire decade of German Housewives!

In 1952 the pair opened the first factory in Munich and around the same time their unique boots came to the attention of R. Griggs Group Ltd who bought the right to make the shoes under licence in the UK. Griggs renamed the products Dr Martens and slightly changed the heel to improve the fitting assing the now famous yellow stitching to add some colour and trademarked the soles as 'AirWair'

So - the first boots were launched on the 1st of April - hence the name of the classic 14 eyelet boot which is still in the range today is the 1460 boot (01-04-60!)

The boots became essential workwear for many a Bobby, Postman and factory worker of the day and the distribution rocketed. It was the late 60's when the first of the UK's subcultures found them an essential ingredient to their look - The Skinheads. From late 1968 to the early 70's the movement embraced the boots as part of their uniform, super cropped hair, checked Ben Sherman shirts, braces, turned up short jeans and Doc - it didn;t matter whether they were Cherry Red or Black as long as they were Dr Martens! Check out the early publicity shots for Slade who morphed in to a Skinhead band after strating out as hippies and evolving in to the darlings of Glam Rock!

Slade NME October 18th 1969

Skinheads became suede heads and the culture all but died out when Glam came along - in the Early 70's a few hardnuts still wore Docs, I remember going to teen clubs and a couple of thugs still sported them with their long tresses and flared jeans! In 1975 Elton John wore Dr Martens in his match against Roger Daltrey as the Pinball Wizard - see below - The originals are now in the possession of the Griggs company in Northampton.

Elton John in The Who's Tommy 1975

As punk emerged once agan Docs became a firm favourite and that really sums up the story of Dr Martens. In one moment and out the next - the brand has huge surges in popularity and crashing lows. The Sex Pistols were a fan as were many Punk bands but once again by the end of the 70's the look does again - Next it was Alexie Sayle who released a tribute single to the Boots during an episide of the Young Ones in November 1982 here's the video:

How Dr Martens are made! 1. WELTED FOR DURABILITY Goodyear™ welted construction gives great durability is central to Dr. Martens footwear. 2. INSULATION Air is encased in the sole's structure which insulates and along with fillers for comfort gives an experience of walking on air. 3. ANTI -SHOCK The air cushioned soles take the shock on bumpy ground. This thick pad gives more beneath the balls of the feet. 4. SOLE RESISTANCE The compound used in the soles is resistant to fat,acid, alkali,oil and petroli. 5. QUALITY Prmium quality, durable and organicalley finished leather completes the structure coupled with top quality, tough metal eyelets and durable laces.