From work boots to fashion icon - how the social importance of a boot model changed

Extravagant overknees, plateau boots or chic Chelsea boots are part of the street scene today. Some of them are temporary fashionable phenomena, while others have developed into real classics.

The models of Dr. Martens , which are still an integral part of shoe fashion to this day and never get out of fashion .

Change in time

Boots got their place in society early on. Shoe fashion around 1900 was already shaped by filigree lace boots. The ladies of that time liked to carry them to the skirt. Most of the time, these were models with a short shaft.

So -called long -shaped boots have already been offered by the shoe manufacturers, but found little love. Heavy lace -up boots, as we like to wear them today, were also rarely found on the social parquet at that time.

Instead, they were mainly on the feet of workers. The English shoe manufacturer Griggs , from which Dr. At that time, his boots mainly became martens for use in professional life.

Popular workers with comfortable sole

In fact, the predecessor of today's Dr. Martens from two Germans invented, the Munich Dr. Klaus Märtens and his university friend and engineer Dr. Herbert Funk. In the 1950s they started producing the shoes with the innovative air-padded soles and sold the unique models mainly to older women.

The shoe company Griggs quickly became aware of them and joined them. In 1960 it was time: the first version of the Dr. Martens came onto the market. Initially, the boots were available in Great Britain and the former health shoe was primarily valued by the workers' classes.

Because the Dr. Martens had a big advantage: their certified Airwair sole was significantly less hard than that of many classic labor boots, so that there was greater comfort.

Music and subcultures

The time had not yet come for the big fashion stage. Nevertheless, a change was noticeable in the 1960s: Dr. Martens became a fashion statement, subcultures of London . The skinheads and punks began to integrate the boots into their looks.

Some of them wanted to show their connection to the working class, others celebrated their protest against society.

Many musicians of punk bands such as the sex pistols or The Clash also wore the shoes on stage as a sign of their inappropriateness, so that they steadily gained awareness, especially in their own subculture until the 1970s and 1980s.

The workers' boots as a political statement

Tony Benn appeared as a member of the British Labor party with Dr. Martens in parliament and demonstrated without a doubt that his sense of belonging to the working class . He set a visible statement and at the same time gave up the border between the workers and the political elite a little - at least in the area of ​​fashion.

From the cult boom to fashion classic

In the 1990s, a new subculture discovered the robust treads for themselves. The Grungs wave made the boots really popular. More and more people wore the shoes without a socio-political background, but purely for styling reasons.

In the meantime, they have become an integral part of fashion and are carried on paragraphs by subcultures and fashion fans. Not only the sponsorship, but also the brand offer has increased. Thanks to feeding, some docs are even suitable for winter .

Real world stars such as Ryan Gosling, David Beckham, Bella Hadid or Lady Gaga happy to show themselves in the stable boots. Some of them prove how wonderfully diverse the former workers' boots have become.

Lady Gaga bears the style classic as a contrast to the feminine dress and Bella Hadid uses a modern plateau variant that really comes into play in contrast to transparent stockings.

A boot model that started its story as a workers' shoe has become an important part of pop culture and fashion and thus shows an example of how society has changed .

Nevertheless, Dr. Martens A symbol of liberal and creative self -portrayal and realization.