I just received my pair of "Vintage" 1460 8 hole oxblood Dr. Martens boots. The final price shipped was $127 with a coupon code at a competitor to Zappos, which seems like a great deal to me. I don't see many people wearing Docs like these anymore (I work in Manhattan), but I used to like my Cherry 14 holes with steel toes back in high school (1990's). These 8 holes without steel cap toes are a bit more svelte looking and seem to look great with my Nudie RRDS bootcut jeans. I'm glad I went for the Made In England models because the quality seems pretty good, and I recently tried a pair of 1460s from China at a store in Manhattan.... wow, they were so damned stiff. I can tell already that these MIE ones will break in nicely like the ones I had in high school. I also love the all brown soles and brown laces.... much more subtle than the black/brown sole and black laces. When I was in college, I bought a pair of the really mean looking 10-hole black cap-toe Dr. Martens with the all-black lugged sole. I thought they were pretty awesome looking on the shelf but unfortunately didn't really find a way to integrate them into my wardrobe, which was heading away from the days of wanting to look like Trent Reznor. I guess I bought them out of nostalgia, but I was too late. Anyway, back on track... I can't be sure, but I think they were probably Chinese manufacture and I remember them being so damned stiff and hard to break in. I ended up giving them to one of my younger brothers because my foot suddenly grew after years of being the same size, and they got uncomfortable. Anyway, I'm just posting to say that the MIE Doc Martens seem like the way to go if you can find them, and I'm looking forward to wearing my new Oxblood 1460 8-holes. I also just bought a pair of Clarks brown suede Desert Boots for more spiffy and low key wear, such as work. I guess I'm on a roll with old school English boots. -Ian
