Dr. Martens: Counter Culture to Culture

*This isn't meant to sound snobby, it's sort of a letter to myself about how I can be more disingenuous than anyone I know. If you have Doc Martens, and you love them, you do you, I just encourage y'all to know the incredibly interesting history behind them. No hate to Doc Martens or their wearers, they are great shoes for great people.*

Dr. Marten’s boots seem to have infiltrated the closets of many American teens, and while the shoes are seen as “edgy” and “unique”, people buy them for all of the wrong reasons. They are fantastic shoes, but they are, or rather, were a means of self-expression for genuinely different people. Dr. Martens have been and should remain a symbol of the freaks and free-thinkers of society, not the conformist fashion statement they have become today.

Now I understand, you are probably rolling your eyes and wondering why some girl with three pair of Dr. Martens gets to tell you about conformism. Yes, I am part of the problem, because no matter how much I say I got them first, I aided in turning a counter-culture movement to culture.

The Dr. Marten’s that the student body has adopted began in the 1960s when the Griggs shoe-making family developed the bouncing soles and yellow stitch that make the shoes iconic and released a new model on the 1st of April 1960, earning the 8-eye boot the  name “1460” (2018, “Dr. Marten’s: A History of Rebellious Self-Expression, Airwair International). However, the family business began in 1901 in Wollaston, Northamptonshire and quickly built a reputation with the working class for their sturdy labor boots. The 1460s boots reinvigorated the business, and they quickly became a staple of the proletariat and hard-working people (2018, “Dr. Marten’s: A History of Rebellious Self-Expression, Airwair International). When sales began in 1960, they cost a mere 2 pounds, which equates to about 25 dollars today. They soon were added to the uniforms of bands and punks who wanted to express their unity with the working class (Brenden Gallagher, March 07, 2018, “An Abridged History of Dr. Martens”, Grailed).

Docs spent the 60s with workers, 70s with punks, 80s with radical feminists, 90s with grunge in Aberdeen, and 2000s with the “emo” kids. Why is it that something we rejected then is welcomed with open arms now? I can’t say I’ve ever seen an ad for Docs which leads me to the conclusion that maybe history and counter-culture movements are their own ads. Why does seeing Corey’s Doc Martens on Empire Records make me fall in love with the shoes as I had fallen in love with the movie? Why does the brand of Pete Townshend’s boots matter to me? Does anyone else care Jello Biafra autographed a pair of boots by the same brand? I cannot be the only person trying to see what brand of combat boots Sid Vicious wore. Is a Black Flag shirt really a Black Flag shirt without the appropriate footwear to go with it?

           Docs aren’t the only brand that capitalize on a counter-culture history, Vans did the exact same thing, selling Iron Maiden or Johnny Ramone shoes, in their words “bringing the underground to the main stage.” Will Judi be a punk and Sheena a punk rocker without their Vans? Does this piss off people who have Joey, Dee Dee, Johnny, and Tommy staring at them from the poster on their wall? A little bit.

            Despite, how using counter-culture to infiltrate culture upsets me, I really do hope that these brands can introduce us to genuine music. Maybe, just maybe, you saw an old picture of an ugly British guy playing a guitar and learned about the destructive love affair of Sid and Nancy or Kurt and Courtney. If Doc Martens and Vans can use these people to sell shoes, hopefully they can sell the past with them too. 

             *Also, when I was researching the article I found some ads that Docs got in trouble four that included Kurt Cobain, Joey Ramone, Joe Strummer, and Sid Vicious in heaven as they sit on clouds, wearing togas and Dr Martens boots. Rest in peace, not in advertisements*

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