Engineer Boots, Harness Boots...

Bfd70 said:

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These look pretty cool

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Don’t ever buy these lol


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Quality lacking?

Anyone have a link for an article detailing stylistic changes for engineer boots through the decades?

Bfd70 said:

Anyone have a link for an article detailing stylistic changes for engineer boots through the decades?

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There’s plenty of stuff to read if you google: history engineer boot. Basically it was a black thick leathered loose fitting tall heeled boot that one cinched up with the instep strap, and it was built to protect the guys shoveling coal on trains (called firemen, not engineers, ironically). It protected from heat, shovels, and dirty coal. I would think pants legs were tucked in the shaft and the shaft strap was tightened over the pants, so no chance of burning your pants leg or getting hot coal into your boot.

Then the style caught on with ww2 vets that came back from Europe having learned to appreciate motorcycle riding, as the boots design lent itself to the same sort of function. No laces to get caught on anything. Protected your legs and pants from the heat of the motor. Black color blended with road grime. Brando iconized and popularized the look in “the wild one”. From historical pictures it looks like most people opted to roll up their pants legs instead of tucking them in.

Iterations of the boot occur later, after Brando popularized the boot. I’d say primarily after the 70’s, when the boot’s use gets far removed from coal shoveling and bike riding. Different colors are used since it isn’t hiding coal and asphalt grime. Leather gets thinner. Heel gets shorter. Toe gets lower (not from use but by design). Shaft gets tighter. Shaft gets shorter. There was a single short shafted model available from Sears in the 50’s, but I wouldn’t wager on its popularity.

I have never read when the steel toe started being used with them, but I would guess after the motorcycle riders started favoring them, as it adds a bit of protection I suppose. Probably not good in its first use connected to hot coal since it would have heated up the toes.

The boot seems to have remained mostly unchanged for about 40 or 50 years after its invention in the 30’s. The wild one had a huge and lasting impact... both for iconizing the boots design so its primary design would remain unchanged, but also popularizing it so that there would be people who wanted to change it. But big changes didn’t occur for quite some time. The many iterations of it that sears offered in the 50’s (because of the wild one no doubt) were all remarkably similar.

This is all just my musings from what I can piece together from a lot of different articles and pictures. There must be others here more knowledgeable than I on the topic.


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Thanks for taking the time to give a thorough reply. I think i should have started with a more specific question. Some ad descriptions and posts here refer to “1940’s style” or “toe shape popularized in the 1950’s”
It is descriptions of some of these differences i am curious about. I am aware that different makers use different lasts but their are very noticeable asthetic differences between for instance Wesco 100 yr, Biltbuc, and Role Club. I’m curious if these represent styles of different decades.

As far as I understand early types (20s/30s) of engineer boots were similar to the Mister Freedom Road Champs with a flat toe. The bilt buck (Attractions) are more 1950s inspired whereas more bulbous toe-boxes started appearing from the 1960s onwards. Steel toes are probably an even more recent thing.

This is my recollection of what I’ve read here and there over the internet so I might be talking nonsense. Interesting topic though it would be nice if someone with more knowledge would chime in.


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regius said:

Don’t ever buy these lol


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Their profile looks really wonky. Like a copy of a copy of a copy.


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Bfd70 said:

Thanks for taking the time to give a thorough reply. I think i should have started with a more specific question. Some ad descriptions and posts here refer to “1940’s style” or “toe shape popularized in the 1950’s”
It is descriptions of some of these differences i am curious about. I am aware that different makers use different lasts but their are very noticeable asthetic differences between for instance Wesco 100 yr, Biltbuc, and Role Club. I’m curious if these represent styles of different decades.

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From the old ad pics, the boots did not appear to have flat toes. If you find a vintage boot it will have a flat toe though, merely because it has flattened and collapsed over time. Now they are building the boot with a flat toe calling it the true/authentic/vintage style, but it’s really like buying predistressed leather imo. That isn’t how the boots looked when they were new. All the old ad pics show just a normal round toe. Not flat, not bulbous, just normal. Old pictures of people wearing the boots show the same.

Here’s a link with some old pics.
https://www.redwinglondon.com/blogs/red-wing-london-blog/the-history-of-the-engineer-boot


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1950’s Sears Wearmaster Engineer boots catalogue




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Bfd70 said:

Quality lacking?

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The RRL current offers? So, their problem is “out of balance”. The leather is some kind of Hidehouse chromexel-copy? It’s good leather, probably better with making jacket than real CXL, but for boots, too thin too soft & loses shape (as you can see in the photos), all that may not be an issue until you use super hard sole & midsole material. Imagine a pair of boots with soft leather on wood.


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Mich486 said:

1950’s Sears Wearmaster Engineer boots catalogue

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This photo, & many like it by other brands, all show that the strap was not long, unlike repro makers make it today. Today’s makers use a range of lasts & techniques that’s reminiscent of the 30s to 60s styles, but tend to insist on a long strap


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This thread has been dead of late.
Ok, so I’m thinking of getting another pair for fall.
In approximately the same price range I can get Viberg, Lofgren, or Wesco (made to my foot).
Throw in your $.02 until i have a buck.

regius said:

This photo, & many like it by other brands, all show that the strap was not long, unlike repro makers make it today. Today’s makers use a range of lasts & techniques that’s reminiscent of the 30s to 60s styles, but tend to insist on a long strap


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I wonder if that’s because they are copying vintage used boots, which had straps that had simply stretched out over time.

Brando’s seems long here:



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I am wanting to give Wesco's another chance. However each time I "spec out" a pair of theirs the way I would like it, I get the jitters when I peer at the price...

Viberg, Lofgren, Wesco, tough call I have a pair of all three. Vibergs are beautiful I must say, Lofgren have a goodyear welt, Wescos are very tough. If I was me I think I'd choose Viberg, I just like the leather a bit more than the others two, not keen on the cats paw heels though, they don't last so well.

bluesmandan said:

I wonder if that’s because they are copying vintage used boots, which had straps that had simply stretched out over time.

Brando’s seems long here:

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The aging effect is part of it. I often hear people today say that modern boots don't have the same heel-cup shape, though I find that's something that develops over time. Maybe - like teacore leather - this is another case of reproducers aping older, worn-in examples rather than what the boots were really like new. Or possibly some boots did just have longer straps new. What if Johnny Strabler's boots were made with the end of a roll of leather strap, the bit left being longer than the average strap by an inch or two, but obviously not long enough to be anything other than waste, so the guy making them lust left it a bit longer? Sixty odd years later, how many of the guys wanting or making the "Brando boot" really look at any other BRMC member's boots in the way we focus on Brando?

AeroFan_07 said:

I am wanting to give Wesco's another chance. However each time I "spec out" a pair of theirs the way I would like it, I get the jitters when I peer at the price...

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Ha, me too - doubly so as I keep remembering the glory days of 2008/9 when the pound was at USD2.20.... Not sure I can bring myself to buy anything in dollars while the pound is so historically low. One day, maybe. I do have a couple of very decent pairs of engineer boots already that I need to wear more first, probably.

Dav said:

Viberg, Lofgren, Wesco, tough call I have a pair of all three. Vibergs are beautiful I must say, Lofgren have a goodyear welt, Wescos are very tough. If I was me I think I'd choose Viberg, I just like the leather a bit more than the others two, not keen on the cats paw heels though, they don't last so well.

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My big hang up is that i can get the Wesco made to fit. I currently have a pair of Redwing that fit pretty close to perfect and a pair of Wesco that now fit with the help of a cobbler. I need a somewhat wide toe box, a relatively low instep, and prefer a narrow shaft as I have SKINNY calves. Interestingly my redwings check all of these boxes but the overall finish when compared to the Wesco is quite low.

Sounds like Wesco is the way then, they're excellent well made boots, not sure what leather options they have these days, I've brown domain which takes a shine and the standard brown which ages rather nicely to my mind, it's not dressy though.

I do have a pair of Wesco brown domain IH colab. The color depth is fantastic.

I’ll add Lone Wolf’s and Road Champs to the election as well. At this point I’m keeping RC out because I’m afraid to custom order boots at that price point and have them not fit PERFECT, even though like most here I’ve done that with jackets.
Though it seems that Road Champs are currently made from unobtanium.