Vintage
If we were going to be in England, I decided to get myself a pair of steel-toed DM Chelsea boots. It’s not that I couldn’t get these shoes in the US, but I wanted to get them over there. A memento from the trip.
So we went to Camden Town and went to the Dr. Martens store. I did a loop, looking to see if any other style appealed as much as the Chelsea boots, and then went to the salesperson and told her what I wanted.
“Steel-toed Chelsea boots,” she said. “We stopped selling those years ago.”
“I’m certain that you still make them,” I told her. “All my DMs have steel toes, and I just saw them online last night.”
She kept repeating that they hadn’t made steel-toed shoes in years (but my last pair of boots was only… oh… 11 years ago), that anything I saw online was probably used (it wasn’t), or — she finally conceded — overstock sold outside the UK (maybe). “We don’t make steel-toed shoes anymore. Your shoes are… vintage.”
Vintage. Old. Ancient. Bygone.
Another salesperson stepped in and told me that I may like non-steel-toed boots if I gave them a chance. He understood that they had a different shape, but I could make myself happy with a good polishing from time to time. They were comfortable — as comfortable as my lace-ups but ten times faster to pull on.
And all of my other shoes now marked me as old, and I didn’t even know it.
I don’t know why the salesperson words got under my skin; made me feel old and grey and out-of-touch. But they did. It took me a long time to make a decision to get the boots. I’m glad that I did. And I’ll be gentle with all of my existing DMs knowing that I can’t get them anymore. But it feels like the end of an era. And I’ll have to get accustomed to walking in lighter shoes.
4 comments
Yeah, my husband had some Levi’s in the early 2000s that are in style again. I need to post them on the sale sites to take advantage of the retro trend.
But yes, I am old. And not sure why anyone would wear steel-toed boots unless they had to!
I don’t know why but I am dying in a giggle fit at the idea of you in steel toed DMs. It just didn’t fit my image of you that’s been carefully curated over more than a decade and now there’s this whole new image of you as a Serious Shitkicking Sister. And now I want some and know I can’t get them. Boo.
I’m sure that a lot more than just my shoes are marking me as old, and I don’t know it! I hope the new lighter shoes are comfy and good for your feet and back!
It is jarring when you realize that your interests and preferences are staying in place and the world is moving on around you. Good thing that doc martins are so sturdy, yours should be good for a long time, especially with your great care. And now you can tell people that they are RARE! So special and amazing that they don’t make them anymore! Old? Or CLASSIC?! I love that you have vintage DMs, it’s so cool. Perhaps it was the tone of the store worker, like you didn’t know what you were talking about, in reality you both were right. They may not make them, but you can get them new. You are not out of touch, you just know what you want.