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Paying for Protection When it comes to workwear and – more specifically – work boots, it doesn’t pay to scrimp. Demolition magazine editor Mark Anthony finally applies his own footwear rules to his site wear. Someone once said: “Invest in your shoes and in your bed. Because if you’re not in one of them, you’re in the other.” Unwittingly, I have followed this sage advice when it comes to my choice of everyday footwear. I do not buy shoes; I invest in them. I have several pairs that have been with me through thick and thin for more than 20 years and which have been repaired and rejuvenated several times over. I still wear – on a regular basis – the pair of Chelsea boots in which I walked down the aisle on my wedding day 28 years ago. I own more pairs of shoes than it is seemly for a heterosexual man to admit without blushing. As I have mentioned before in these very pages, I have something of a penchant for British-made Loake shoes and boots. At last count, I owned eight pairs of those alone; now I come to think about it, I may have missed a few pairs too. And I treat all my shoes with love and attention. I own a Loakebranded valet box that contains polishes, leather creams and conditioners, and a plethora of cleaning cloths and brushes. And believe me, it gets a very regular outing.
The fact is that I would rather spend £200 on a pair of shoes or boots that will last me 20 years than spend £50 on a pair that might last six months. Bizarrely, until recently, I had never thought to apply this rule of thumb (or should that me rule of toe?) to my site boots. Sound Investment This is strange for a number of reasons. First of all, site boots are designed to protect feet. Given the amount I have spent (sorry, INVESTED) in footwear over the years, you would have thought that I would have considered paying just a little more for some on-site peace of mind. Secondly, I spend an inordinate amount of time in my site boots. My favourite pair of Loake brogues might adorn my feet for a few hours before being dried and conditioned and put back in their box until their next outing. But when I am on site, I am there to do a job of work; and those boots might be on my feet for seven, eight or even ten hours before they’re slung into the boot of my car with mud and dust still clinging to them.
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And thirdly, and perhaps just as importantly, there is the matter of comfort. Like most people, I have crammed my feet into countless pairs of wholly inadvisable and (with the benefit of hindsight) monstrous shoes because I was a dedicated follower of fashion. Yet the comfort that eluded me during my fashion-conscious days was right there all along. It might not have been staring me in the face; but it was definitely staring me in the feet. As listeners to the Demolition News Radio podcast will know, I have been a fan, advocate and evangelist for the Dr Marten 1460 boots since I was 14 years old. And there has rarely been a time in the 38 years since that a pair of Dr Martens was not tucked away in my wardrobe. The first pair I bought – secondhand from a school friend – were purchased purely for fashion reasons. But the moment the boots moulded to my feet, I was hooked. You can keep you Gucci loafers and your Oliver Sweeney oxfords. Give me a pair of boots with that AirWare sole any day of the week.