Doc Martens v Solovair

Aren't modern "made in England" Docs made in the Solovair factory anyway? Personally, I like the look (and price) of the Doc MIE shoe.

Joel Shapiro said:

Aren't modern "made in England" Docs made in the Solovair factory anyway? Personally, I like the look (and price) of the Doc MIE shoe.

Click to expand...

As far as I know, no, they've gone elsewhere for this much more limited MIE production than they used to get from Solovair.

I never had doc marten but I remember them being the rage in 1993 paired with a mexican poncho. I never had any but a shop was selling those in all kind of color and pattern.

Found out a co worker bought a pair last winter. I think hes in a mid life crisis. 37, wearing wutang clan shirts and his docs...[huh]

I read that it's near impossible to get Docs resoled. That might be their weak point. Other than that, I love them (they've grown on me considerably). With your pants covering the boots, they can actually look rather conservative. Are any of the comparable brands (all made in the same factory I think) able to be resoled? Can one tell by looking at the picture?
http://www.britboot.co.uk/engine/shop/index.html

If not, no big deal. I'll buy 20.

So I did some research, and apparently both Docs and Solovairs are storm welted, meaning they can't be resoled or easily resoled. Also, there aren't replacement soles other than directly from the maker.

It can be done, but it's rare, and, yes, I think your resoler has to do them using soles from the factory. It's one of the reasons I moved away from docs, tbh. DMs are, I think, still doing their "for life" series... http://drmartensforlife.com/ The classic, eight-holed boot, made with much better materials than the standard boot (I think this is oned of the few lines still made in England, if that matters to you at all; makes sense from pov of the repairs, it would be crazy to send them to China for that, and I should think the factory there is geared for churning out new pairs rather than repairs). If you buy a pair (last I looked, about twice the price of the standard, Chinese-made boot), you action thed for life guarantee within sixty days, then for thed rest of the natural life of you, the first owner, they will make any necessary repairs for what they call an "administration fee" of GBP20/USD25. Even if you have to pay postage on top of that, it's a good deal compared to what it would cost to have them commercially resoled (assuming that to be possible). Couple of resoles and you'd probably be in profit against repairs to, or replacement of, the equivalent, regular boot. I'm sure Solovair would equally do repairs, though I don't think they offer the same deal on it as the DM "for life" guarantee. Either case, you're still into posting the boots to the manufacturer for repair (I'm not sure if they cover the cost of postage or not, you'd need to look into the small print), but that does seem your most realistic alternative to the boots being effectively disposable.

I've had a few DMs in my time, including "Vintage", but the soles always wore out quickly. The last time I checked it was £60 to resole, but I felt that this was too much in relation to the value of the upper and the relatively fast-wearing soles.

I chose Lennon's for my kick around boots and these are superior in every respect. Also, they have proper soles that can easily be replaced, although I'll send them back to them as they'll do the best job.

I do recall that a punctured air-sole (typed that carefully!) could be repaired using a hot knife. Never saw the point myself, as they were so cheap back in the day that it was less hassle to just buy a new pair. [huh]

Timpson shoe repairers say they can re-sole DMs. No idea how good or not they are, but their website says it's an in-store job, so it's readily available throughout the UK. Again, no idea if they're any good at it or not.

wdw said:

I've had a few DMs in my time, including "Vintage", but the soles always wore out quickly. The last time I checked it was £60 to resole, but I felt that this was too much in relation to the value of the upper and the relatively fast-wearing soles.

I chose Lennon's for my kick around boots and these are superior in every respect. Also, they have proper soles that can easily be replaced, although I'll send them back to them as they'll do the best job.

Click to expand...

Yeah, I moved that general direction with footwear too, partly because I'm not keen on "disposability" (I'm not hard on shoes, but inevitably I do put wear on soles...), and partly to do with changing aesthetic preferences. The bog standard DM model I used to wear that was £45 back in the day and is £45 now, resoling that was never going to make economic sense. Can't honestly comment on the "for life" DMs, though - they may well be good enough in the upper to be worth it. I see they're in the William Lennon league, price-wise: http://www.drmartens.com/uk/Mens/Mens-For-Life/c/Mens-For-Life If the leather is as good as WLS, all other things being equal, they'd be worth it (comparing the price of a resoling to the WLs). That said, you'd need to be sure, I think, of the uppers lasting long enough fror two to three resolings for it to be worth it.

I don't see myself going back to DMs any time soon, but next time I'm passing the doc Shop I must have a look at the to see what they're like.

Sloan1874 said:

I do recall that a punctured air-sole (typed that carefully!) could be repaired using a hot knife. Never saw the point myself, as they were so cheap back in the day that it was less hassle to just buy a new pair. [huh]

Click to expand...

Yeah, the standard model back when typically ran done all-over at the same time. My first pair lasted eighteen months before the top split on one, over that crease on the toe, but that said, aside from an hour on a Sunday morning, I wore those boots everywhere, almost 24/7... Next I had a pair of brown, waxed finish ones (nice enough boots, problem was if they got damp and didn't dry out in an airy space, they smelled of wee....). They lasted a while - I think I actually gave them away before they were knackered. Also had a pair of really nice burgundy ones that were sort of like a hiking boot, but cut below the ankle, so technically a shoe.... lovely chunky soles, double-thickness, strong burgundy colour. Wore those to death over five years (they were the start of my thing for burgundy/cordovan leather...). Back when I bought the standard, £45 model, they were still made in England, though tbh I don't know that they were that much better than the same model is now, Chinese production being used to keep the price to £45 a pair. Even at £20 to resole, it would probably have made far more sense to just buy new.

MJCR said:

Timpson shoe repairers say they can re-sole DMs. No idea how good or not they are, but their website says it's an in-store job, so it's readily available throughout the UK. Again, no idea if they're any good at it or not.

Click to expand...

do they say what they charge? I've had most of my shoe repair work done in Timpsons over the last few years, as there's one round the corner from my office. Used a few branches, and they're all very good. Excellent service, reasonably priced. Mostly I've just been having shoes reheeled, but I did have a pair of Barkers completely resoled at one point, and they came back good as new.

Sorry, no idea. I just checked quickly online as I remember someone telling me they did it and it's mentioned on the front page.

It was Timpsons that quoted £60 at least 2 years ago, so I didn't bother. It's better to put the money towards a decent pair.

I read that someone mentioned the DM uppers possibly not holding up unless you conditioned them religiously. But then there's numerous accounts of "I've had mine for twenty years". Seems like a mixed bag of reviews. I'd only purchase the MIE ones, as the others have a poor track record. The "Doc Martens For Life" boot isn't MIE.

I purchased a couple of pairs of Solovair last year and liked the quality but the fit didn't work (wide around my ankles) I tried both Dealer (my favourite) and eight hole Astronaut boots. I spent my formative years in Docs and once made the mistake of trying to get a pair re-soled...waste of money..supposedly real DM soles that soon detached themselves (not a cheap experience).

Just had a look at the the DM's for life.....wonder whether that would include replacement soles?

See my earlier post: it does, i believe, include soles, you just have to pay a £20 "admin fee". Not sure whether you're out the postage in either or both directions, though.

An alterative to DM's & Solovair would be the rare and desirable Hawkins Astronauts - also made in England and very similar in look to classic Dm's. I have a rather unusual pair of Hawkins ankle boots in horsehair with an air wear sole.

[url=https://flic.kr/p/jaSJaD] IMG_1367 copy by stllsman, on Flickr[/URL]

nick123 said:

I read that someone mentioned the DM uppers possibly not holding up unless you conditioned them religiously. But then there's numerous accounts of "I've had mine for twenty years". Seems like a mixed bag of reviews. I'd only purchase the MIE ones, as the others have a poor track record. The "Doc Martens For Life" boot isn't MIE.

Click to expand...

Yeah, I wear DM shoes when I have to ride the rush hour train, because I know that people will step on my toes. I usually get through one pair a year. But it's the uppers that go every time- the leather just splits/wears away in the creases, exposing a cardboard looking substance underneath. I condition them regularly because of the rainy season and the humidity.

Conversely, I have several pairs of DM boots that have lasted me for 5 years or more, of regular winter wear (I can't drive in my Danner boots). The quality of the boots seems much better that the shoes. I have one pair of 'for life' boots- they are noticeably more sturdy that the usual boots- soles are slightly heavier and thicker, uppers are stiffer, insoles are better, spongier.

Interesting cultural piece on DMs: http://www.skinheadheaven.org.uk/index.php/articles/58-these-boots-are-made-for-stomping