Mod to Suedehead

[Sipreano]



What's worse is the absurd price you now pay for this poor-quality footwear. And this is the bog-standard stuff; nothing fancy. For example:

Made in China 8i DM: £100
Made in England 8i DM: £180

These boots cost less than half of that four years ago. Seems to me that (even allowing for the VAT increase from 15 to 20%) they have been inflating their prices ready for the sell-off of the brand (just as FP, Sherman, British Rail etc did).


Contrast that with NPS:

Made in England 8i Solovair: £110 (but they were only £80 last year!).

My worry is that the Solovair brand is going the same way as Dr Martens. Their new web site is beginning to look like a clone of the DM site (similar videos, marketing bumph etc).

Definitely overpriced. A lot of companies are going that route and it seems to be the best way to make a profit: Drop quality. Raise prices. Add more marketing to hype it up -> People are still buying it

If i lived in the states i would definitley refuse to buy ovepriced DMs or Solovairs. For boots would rather get something like this: http://www.chippewaboots.com/boots/classics/25260
They also offer different widths.

 

[Brideshead]



Did you wear brogue boots back then?
Anyone remember?
I've spoke to a couple of lads that did. Didn't seem that common though and very area-dependent. Many had never heard of them at the time.

Oneflewover - welcome mate - great crack and very interesting.

No, we did not wear brogue boots back then and I don’t recall seeing anyone in them. In fact I would say that brogues in general did not feature in the skinhead wardrobe until the emergence of Royals (1969 for me).

A friend of mine who either wanted to be different or was just perverse bought a lovely light tan pair of English brogues in early 1970 as an alternative to Royals. That choice was always frowned upon however much secretly we all admired his balls – and the shoes!

 

[ek77]



Yes, they look like them. Where did you buy your boots? Are they new or vintage? Without being anal I notice that yours are 7 eyelets. I thought mine were 6 but I could be wrong. The first photo look 6 eyelet but not very clear on my screen.

yes, they are 7 or 8 eyelet... they are vintage and i still wear them alot as you can see...

here are a pair of my 6 eyelet astronauts..

and these are my 7 eyelet solovair...

 

[ek77]



There was a coupe of different types, depending on when and where they were from.
I've got couple of pairs of Solovair ones (without the stitching on the welt). These 6 hole ones are from before February '69 (according to the lad that got them as they were part of a stock that were transferred into storage that month and forgot about). Got the same ones in brown but they've had a lot of wear.

Interesting what you said about the change over to the black trim by 1970. Do you not remember mates buying them without white trim before then?
By '69, Hawkins were doing their range as well in many different heights. Plus there were others who'd licenced the Air Wear sole to use on their own variations.

really nice ones!!!

 

[ek77]



Roy, you are right about not hearing of 'Solovair'. Neither had we about '74. When we saw them, we just thought they were inferior DM imitations, no name attached. Perhaps NPS didn't use the 'Solovair' brand name then (no need, when they produced boots for Griggs with DM soles).

everybody is talking about dr martens, but dr martens were just the soles that klaus maertens designed in germany..
"British shoe manufacturer R. Griggs Group Ltd. bought patent rights to manufacture the shoes in the United Kingdom" (quote wiki)...
and as buttons allready mentioned above and also quoted from wikipedia:
" a number of shoe manufacturers in the Northamptonshire area also produced DM's under license, as long as they passed quality standards. "
nps/solovair, tredair, griggs, hawkins, cox, etc and even loake are just some of the names i found printed on the inner sole or on the boxes of my dr martens i bought over the years..

from the solovair page:
For 35 years NPS produced Solovair (Sole-of-Air) boots and shoes under license, which were sold under the name “Dr Martens by Solovair”.
http://www.solovair.co.uk/history.html

 

[yankmod]

Do I recognise someone at 3:25 here?

Saw this before,Didn't want to blow HIS cover,Camera Hog. London Rudeboy nice to see you back from securing the safety of the western world.Lots of great pics of original boots,interesting stories as well.

 

[ek77]



Where does Hawkins Astronauts fit into all this .. pretty sure they were my first pair when i was 12 in 1970 . 

from the skinheadheaven page:

A popular boot post-1970 was the 11 eyelet Hawkins Astronaut. These weren't Doctor Marten produced but had the AirWair sole. They differed in style but I have to admit they had a good shape. They had no heel strip, just a blind stitched seam running up the back of the shin. There was no tag at the back and most importantly had internal stitching between the sole and the boot instead of the yellow stitching. This gave the boot a flatter, wider profile over the front. UB40's Astro was an Afro boy/boot boy in the early 70s and obtained his name from the boots he wore - Astronauts. AirWair did bow to competition and brought out an 11 eyelet boot.
http://www.skinheadheaven.org.uk/index.php/articles/58-these-boots-are-made-for-stomping

but also not all astronauts were made by hawkins.. got some made by different shoemakers.... --->>>

 

[buttons]



everybody is talking about dr martens, but dr martens were just the soles that klaus maertens designed in germany..
"British shoe manufacturer R. Griggs Group Ltd. bought patent rights to manufacture the shoes in the United Kingdom" (quote wiki)...
and as buttons allready mentioned above and also quoted from wikipedia:
" a number of shoe manufacturers in the Northamptonshire area also produced DM's under license, as long as they passed quality standards. "
nps/solovair, tredair, griggs, hawkins, cox, etc and even loake are just some of the names i found printed on the inner sole or on the boxes of my dr martens i bought over the years..

from the solovair page:
For 35 years NPS produced Solovair (Sole-of-Air) boots and shoes under license, which were sold under the name “Dr Martens by Solovair”.
http://www.solovair.co.uk/history.html

I've got boots or shoes by all of the above. I've got some others that don't appear to be made by any of these. and that's not including Co-op Directors or the cheap Czech copies or the kiddies ones like Sargent Peppers or Major Domo (which by the way I haven' got!) No time to take pics of everything.
I'd say its a lot rarer you see a pair of 60s Griggs with welt stitching than a pair of Hawkins originals. I think in a lot of places, they'll have stocked one make so if you bought them there, that's what you got. And I'm sure the bloke at Blackmans, as with any salesman, would have told you any tale he fancied as long as you bought a pair.
Would be interested to hear from the originals on here as to which, if any were favoured, which were frowned upon or which you've never heard of and might have had but didn't know any different. Have spoke to many others about this but want to see how you lot compare.

Also, someone mentioned the matt astros. Can you remember when from?

 

[Lasttye]

Although Boots and Braces defined the original Skinheads , but the boots for us was more of a practical item, Fighting and Football, Also we would hang around the streets all day and night sitting on walls with girls chatting , I remember kicking my boots out.. scruffing them up to give the worn look, yes we put polish on em but only because thats what you did with leather footwear, I cannot remember anyone really giving them a real buff up, All this highly polish boots that current Skinheads do i don't understand and to call it smart is ridiculous, How can boots look smart ?

Now our Royals was a different story we would spend hours polishing them, Many a fight would start in a disco because someone had stepped on a Skinheads Royals

 

[kicksinstyle]

Looks like Baracuta is set for a relaunch soon under the new (Italian I think) owners:
http://www.selectism.com/2013/01/31/baracuta-fall-winter-2013-film/

 

[Watermelon man]

... but also not all astronauts were made by hawkins.. got some made by different shoemakers...

That's where you're wrong, technically speaking.

Although the 'Astronaut' style of boot and shoe may have been made by many firms, 'Astronaut' was a brand name used by Hawkins, AFAIK.

 

[Watermelon man]

Looks like Baracuta is set for a relaunch soon under the new (Italian I think) owners:
http://www.selectism.com/2013/01/31/baracuta-fall-winter-2013-film/

Saw this on www.baracuta.com yesterday.

You can bet that their prices will rocket (not that they weren't daft already, but my bet is that those 'sales' Baracuta always had are now a thing of the past).

 

[Watermelon man]

Funny how it turned the other way around-haircuts I mean.....

His hair has gone one way then the other, then back again. At least Will has hair...

 

[bunty]



I 'ate you, Bunty!

Very good sir, 1-0 to you M-o-M

 

[yankmod]

Looks like Baracuta is set for a relaunch soon under the new (Italian I think) owners:
http://www.selectism.com/2013/01/31/baracuta-fall-winter-2013-film/

Thanks for posting that kicksinstyle.Really enjoyed it.The usual "Faces" I see.Norman Jay and Jeff Dexter.Would never spend the kind of money they are asking for these days.Will keep my eye out for a thrift store deal.Lots of Older American guys sellin em to the thrift.