I started seeing people wearing Doc Martens again.
Despite the bankruptcy threat, the company managed to restructure, and the little shop at London SOHO is still open. But the selection… only about 20% of the footwear is made in England and costs more, while the majority is made well in China and Thailand. That’s London. They have winters so mild most houses actually don’t have double glazing. But in Russia three glass windows are sometimes not enough! So I don’t understand wearing DMs in winter. And it’s not even about cold – you can always mitigate that with a good pair of wool socks. The problems lies within the biggest Doc Martens selling point – the air-cushioned sole. It’s made out of polyurethane, the same stuff used in roller blade wheels. And it has pockets of air inside. Well, when air temperatures drops beyond -10 C, the sole snaps. This happened to me twice in my youth, and I was extremely disappointed as the shoes are quite expensive. Cracked sole starts to suck in water which damages it even more, and it also makes that ugly annoying swampy sound when walking. So DMs are good for spring and autumn, but for winter get some proper shoes.