First pair of DMs I owned were 8 hole with white stitching not the horrible yellow that you get nowadays. Bought them in Shoefayre in Kingston for 30 bob...shillings...£1.50
I personally didnt get past 8 holes until Punk declared war on society. Even then I think they were 12 holes, black with no stitching. I will never get over why they chose to add that bloody awful yellow stitching Yuk!
Last edited by baxta59 (2009-11-13 12:05:25)
Bit of a bump for this, in recognition of Jason's powers of observation re my Astronauts.
Oh, and another opportunity to kick Hewitt's theorizing into the long grass.
cheers RRP, glad that you've "seen the light" hehe!
moonhop....moonstomp.....which is the better tune? Both came out around the same time, Derrick Morgan sang on "Moonhop" and Symarip did what's now the classic "Skinhead Moonstomp". Personally I like Moonhop a tad better than Moonstomp, and it's ironic that Moonstomp became the household song because Moonhop was released first and Moonstomp released as a reaction to Moonhop's release. But I suppose the opening battle cry of Moonstomp's "I want to see all you skinheads to get up on your feet, to put your braces together and your boots on your feet and give me some of that ooooolllll Moonstomping!" resonated with the youth of its day.
One thing I'm curious about is the worn history of Red Wing's "Gentleman Traveler" boot. Been around since early 1900s iirc, look very much like DMs in styling, and according to Red Wing's own lore, were made for those who needed a boot that was tough as nails yet smart. Yet I don't think I've ever seen a vintage photo of anyone wearing GTs for the purpose of his occupation. If the English skinheads back in the 60s were adopting so many American clothes (brogues, shirts, Levis etc) I wonder what prevented them from adopting the GT as their boot of choice, esp as Dr Marten was technically not english right, but rather German. And as far as a tough work boot goes, the Red Wing GT is a much tougher boot than DMs, in terms of construction and materials used to make it.
i think by that time the docs trademark had long been owned by an english firm. klaus maertens sold it in the late 50s/early 60s i think, thats when they simplified the spelling.
redwings were more than likely a regional niche brand back then. when there were 9 zillion or so small bootmakers im sure no one would have thought to import them. when i was a kid timberland, wolverine, and i think even sears diehard were all higher quality, most of their offerings US made. if you want to go back another 15 yrs to the skinhead era there were about 8 times the number of mfgrs-even hanover shoe made a work boot. it was only when everything began to get outsourced that brands like carhartt and redwing, that most people would have thought of as way, way too expensive a few yrs earlier, began to get popular.
on the other hand i have seen that general style of boots on mods/skinheads (pretty common pictures, one for example is at the beginning of the knight book).......
What a brilliant thread this is.
Moonhop takes the day definitely, GS.
Am I the only person who detests the 'split toe'? I can't imagine the appeal.
Anybody remember with fondness the polo neck of c. 1972?
By some bizarre turn of events I have seen both Symarip and Derrick Morgan live, both in Leicester in recent years, the former very good, the latter . . . one of the best live acts I have ever seen, that gentleman knows how to put on a show, to say the least.
This thread, and others like it, will appeal to some but anger others. Depends a little on your age perhaps. My life at around twelve and thirteen was dominated by variations on skinhead style - the loafers, the awful Budgie jacket, the army and navy Harrington, big boots etc. Blokes I know now who had left school by then look back with wistful nostalgia: often terrace terrors. Blokes I know who are younger find it all slightly hard to fathom, having caught the tail end of punk rock, the mod revival, Dexys Midnight Runners or what have you.
Gibson Gardens has a view on skinhead culture that I tend to share. The ones I knew tended - then - to be mindless Person of Pakistani heritage-bashing, anti-intellectual thugs - not the thoughtful, very precise chaps Rowlands and Elms claim to have known. The skinhead revival was even worse - much worse, in fact, in England, where it was routinely assumed one had far right leanings.
I come from a dull, gritty Midlands town which had its sole moment of post-war glory under Brian Clough before sinking back into apathy and mindless violence. Your future was pretty well worked out for you: engineering, while times were good. Little house, wife, kids, football, lots of nostalgia. Never read a book, look at a picture, eat gnocci, drink grappa, watch a movie by Bunuel or wear a sack suit and horn rims. Vegetate.
Posters on DW may well denigrate my habit of bumping old threads, yet I feel there is a small crop of gentlemen on 'Talk Ivy' who might enjoy reading some of this (at their leisure). I believe it will ring a few bells for them.
Brideshead is a good few years older than me and his comments here are worth studying at length for anyone interested in the UK scene as, I suppose, Mod wound down a bit.
Comments by John Simons on certain brands of shoe are certainly worth rereading.
The American posters of the time, for the most part, probably got very little out of this.
Comments on DMs amused me. My mother was down even on loafers let alone boots football hooligans wore. Yet, when my father wisely divorced her, she inherited two stepchildren who were full-on suedeheads: a girl who dressed in monkey boots, tank tops and yellow blouses; wearing her hair somewhat Rod The Mod-ish. I bought my own DMs and forgot all about her objections. Now my younger daughter wears them. Awful.