Chelsea boots are close-fitting, ankle-high boots with elastic side panels. They often have a loop or tab of fabric on the back of the boot, enabling the boot to be pulled on. The boot dates back to the Victorian era, when it was worn by both men and women.
Chelsea boots and some of their variants were considered an iconic fashion element of the '60s in Britain, particularly in the mod scene.
The design is credited to Queen Victoria's shoemaker Joseph Sparkes Hall. [1] Hall claimed that "She (Queen Victoria) walks in them daily and thus gives the strongest proof of the value she attaches to the invention". [2] In his advertising they are branded J. Sparkes Hall's Patent Elastic Ankle Boots. [3] The boot became popular for horse riding as well as walking. [2] The term "chelsea boot" emerged a few years before the beginning of the Victorian era, being the name used by London cobbler Thomas Cotton by 1831. [4] [5] [6] [7]
Charles Goodyear's development of vulcanised rubber enabled the invention of the elastic gusset boot. The advantage of elasticised boots meant they could be readily removed and put on. By the late 1840s they had become fashionable, and it remained a prominent style in the West until the onset of World War I. [8]
In the 1950s and 1960s, Chelsea boots enjoyed a resurgence in the UK – and their association with trendy King's Road (a street in Chelsea and Fulham in inner western London) social set of Swinging London – worn by everyone from the Rolling Stones to Jean Shrimpton – is when Chelsea became contemporary name of the boot. [2] [3]
Theatrical and ballet shoe maker Anello & Davide created a variant of the Chelsea boot in 1961 with Cuban heels and pointed toes for the Beatles, after John Lennon and Paul McCartney saw some Chelsea boots in its shop window and commissioned four pairs with higher, Cuban heels – this style became known as Beatle boots. [9]
Beatle boots, as were Chelsea boots, were frequently adopted by mods and worn with tailored suits. [3]
Variants used as work boots include a type of riding boot called Jodhpur boots, originating from India, as well as other designs, including Australian work boots like those manufactured by Blundstone and other companies. Such work boots may have steel toes. In Brazil this kind of boot is known as a botina. Often rugged and utilitarian in design, and similar to Australian work boots, they are commonly associated with caipiras or the rural population in general. [10] [11] [12]
The Wellington boot, often shortened to welly and also known as the gumboot, is a type of waterproof boot.
A riding boot is a boot made to be used for horse riding. The classic boot comes high enough up the leg to prevent the leathers of the saddle from pinching the leg of the rider, has a sturdy toe to protect the rider's foot when on the ground and has a distinct heel to prevent the foot from sliding through the stirrup. The sole is smooth or lightly textured to avoid being caught on the tread of the stirrup in the event of a fall.
Chaps are sturdy coverings for the legs consisting of leggings and a belt. They are buckled on over pants with the chaps' integrated belt, but unlike trousers, they have no seat and are not joined at the crotch. They are designed to provide protection for the legs and are usually made of leather or a leather-like material. Their name is a shortened version of the Spanish word chaparajos. Chaparajos were named after the chaparral, from which they were designed to protect the legs while riding on horseback. Like much of western American horse culture, the origin of chaparajos was in the south of Spain, from which it then passed on to the part of New Spain that later became Mexico, and has been assimilated into cowboy culture of the American West. They are a protective garment to be used when riding a horse through brushy terrain. In the modern world, they are worn for both practical work purposes and for exhibition or show use. Chaps have also been adopted for use on motorcycles, particularly by cruiser-style motorcycle riders.
Winklepickers or winkle pickers are a style of shoe or boot worn from the 1950s onward, especially popular with British rock and roll fans such as teddy boys. The feature that gives both the boot and shoe their name is the very sharp and long pointed toe, reminiscent of medieval footwear and approximately the same as the long pointed toes on some women's high-fashion shoes and boots in the 2000s. They are still popular in the goth, raggare and rockabilly subcultures.
Morning dress, also known as formal day dress, is the formal Western dress code for day attire, consisting chiefly of, for men, a morning coat, waistcoat, and formal trousers, and an appropriate gown for women. Men may also wear a popular variant where all parts are the same colour and material, often grey and usually called "morning suit" or "morning grey" to distinguish it; considered properly appropriate only to festive functions such as summer weddings and horse races, which consequently makes it slightly less formal. The correct hat would be a formal top hat, or if on less spacious audience settings optionally a collapsible equivalent opera hat.
Boot fetishism is a sexual fetish focused on boots. Boots have become the object of sexual attraction amounting to fetishism for some people and they have become a standard accessory in BDSM scenes and a fashion accessory in music videos. Boots are seen as perhaps the most fetishistic of all footwear and boots are the most popular fetish clothing attire.
Galoshes, also known by many other names, are a type of overshoe or rubber boot that is put on over shoes to keep them from getting muddy or wet during inclement weather.
An Australian work boot is a style of work shoe, typically constructed with a leather upper bound together with elastic sides and pull tabs on the front and back of the boot. The shoe lacks a tongue, and laces, and often contains a steel toe cap for occupational health and safety reasons. When the shoe contains a steel cap they are often known as "safety boots" or "steel toe boots". The boots generally lack an inner lining. The sole is generally polyurethane and the leather uppers are treated to be resistant to hot water, fats and mild alkaline and acid solutions.
Breeches are an article of clothing covering the body from the waist down, with separate coverings for each leg, usually stopping just below the knee, though in some cases reaching to the ankles. Formerly a standard item of Western men's clothing, they had fallen out of use by the mid-19th century in favour of trousers.
Engineer boots, also known as engineer's boots or engineering boots, are an American type of traditional leather work-boots. Their lace-less, rugged construction made them popular among motorcycle riders. Originally developed in the 1930s for firemen working on steam locomotives, the boots gained substantial popularity in the post–World War II era during a growing motorcycling culture. They became popular symbols of teenage rebellion in the 1950s and a common component of greaser wear. They were later adopted by skinheads and punks in the 1970s. By the 2010s, engineer boots were being popularly worn for fashion purposes, especially by non-traditional customers such as women, young urban professionals, and hipsters.
Jodhpurs, in their modern form, are tight-fitting trousers to the ankle, where they end in a snug cuff, and are worn primarily for horse riding. The term is also used as slang for a type of short riding boot, also called a paddock boot or a jodhpur boot, because they are worn with jodhpurs. According to Tara Mayer, "Jodhpurs … exemplify the material and cultural exchanges between Britain and its Indian colony in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries."
The Hessian is a style of light boot that became popular from the beginning of the 19th century.
Waders denotes a waterproof boot or overalls extending from the foot to the thigh, the chest or even the neck. They are traditionally made from vulcanised rubber, but available in more modern PVC, neoprene and Gore-Tex variants. Waders are generally distinguished from counterpart waterproof boots by shaft height; the hip boot extending to the thigh and the Wellington boot to the knee. For the sake of emphasis, therefore, waders are sometimes defined by the extent of their coverage as thigh waders, chest waders or full-body waders. As a drysuit variant, full-body waders come with leaktight cuffs or gloves fitted to the sleeves and with a leaktight collar or hood fitted to the neck, enabling the wearer to remain dry when standing or walking in deeper water. Waders are available with boots attached or can have attached stocking feet, to wear inside boots, or inside swimfins in the case of float tube fishing.
A Beatle boot or Baba boot is a style of boot that has been worn since the late 1950s but made popular by the English rock group the Beatles in the 1960s. The boots are a variant of the Chelsea boot: they are tight-fitting, Cuban-heeled, ankle-high boots with a sharp pointed toe. The style can feature either elastic or zipped sides.
The Jodhpur boot is an ankle boot or Chelsea boot designed as a riding boot with a rounded toe and a low heel. They originally fastened with a strap and buckle, but today the term also includes designs with straps that do not wrap entirely around the ankle and the elastic-sided design without a strap also known as Chelsea boots. A closely related riding boot design is called a paddock boot, particularly if modified to have a lace-up front. It is named after Jodhpur, the second-largest city in the Indian state of Rajasthan.
Anello & Davide is a footwear company based in Covent Garden, London. It specialises in ballet shoes and theatrical footwear as well as making high quality fashion footwear for men and women. They are perhaps best known as the shoemakers responsible for the Beatle boot. The shop is seen briefly in the opening shot of the 1953 film Street of Shadows.
A fashion boot is a boot worn for reasons of style or fashion. The term is usually applied to women's boots. Fashion boots come in a wide variety of styles, from ankle to thigh-length, and are used for casual, formal, and business attire. Although boots were a popular style of women's footwear in the 19th century, they were not recognized as a high fashion item until the 1960s. They became widely popular in the 1970s and have remained a staple of women's winter wardrobes since then.
Over-the-knee boots, OTK boots, are long boots that fully or partly cover the knee. Originally created as a man's riding boot in the 15th century, in the latter part of the 20th century, the style was redefined as a fashion boot for women. Over-the-knee boots are also used as a work boot in circumstances requiring additional protection for the legs.
R.M. Williams is an Australian footwear and clothing company. It is best known for producing chelsea boots for men and women. The company was founded by Reginald Murray "R.M." Williams. It is currently owned by Tattarang, an investment company owned by mining magnate Andrew Forrest.
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