Beatle boot explained

Beatle boot should not be confused with The Beatles bootleg recordings.

A Beatle boot or Baba boot ^[1] 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.^[2]

Beatle boots saw the reintroduction of high-heeled footwear for men.^[3]

History

Beatle boots are a direct descendant of the Chelsea boot, but have an even more pointed toecompare the slightly earlier winklepickersand a centre seam stitch running from ankle to toe, and the flamenco boot, from which its Cuban heel was derived. Beatle boots originated in 1958, but in October 1961 English musicians John Lennon, George Harrison and Paul McCartney saw Chelsea boots whilst in Hamburg, being worn by a London band, and then went to the London footwear company Anello & Davide to commission four pairs (with the addition of Cuban heels) for the Beatles, to complement their new suit image upon their return from Hamburg.^[4]

Beatle boots were very popular with rock bands and artists during the late 1950s, but started to decline during the late 1960s. They were worn by subcultures such as teddy boys, beatniks, rockers and psyches etc. The boots saw a surge of popularity during the punk movement in the late 1970s and early 1980s but again started to decline throughout the 1990s. During the late 2000s and early 2010s the boots have seen a steady surge in popularity.

Notable wearers

Non-fictional

• The Beatles
• Carl Barât^[5]
• Michael Jackson
• The Dave Clark Five
• The Monkees
• Elvis Presley
• Johnny Cash
• Chuck Berry
• Little Richard
• Bill Haley
• Eddie Cochran
• The Who
• James Brown
• Roy Orbison
• Jimi Hendrix
• Alice Cooper
• The Dandy Warhols
• The Brian Jonestown Massacre
• Claude François
• Neil Tennant
• The Doors
• MC5
• The Velvet Underground
• The Grateful Dead
• The Kinks
• The Zombies
• The Sonics
• The Yardbirds
• The Byrds
• The Beach Boys
• Steve Lukather
• Ryan Ross
• Daedalus Howell
• Iggy Pop
• David Bowie
• KISS
• Queen
• Jef Aerosol
• Marc Zermati
• The Pretty Things
• Peter Gunn of The Inmates
• The Kills
• The Hellacopters
• Russell Brand
• Bob Dylan^[6]
• The Gruesomes^[7]
• The Rolling Stones^[8]
• Alex Turner^[9]
• Richey Edwards
• Andy Warhol^[10]
• Kanye West^[11]

Fictional

• Riff Raff from the 1975 film The Rocky Horror Picture Show^[12]
• Austin Powers, from the Austin Powers series^[13]
• Ned Flanders, from The Simpsons^[14]
• Sid from Hey Arnold!^[15]
• Starfleet officers in ^[16]
• Eddie Dean from Stephen King's The Dark Tower series.

See also

• Pointed shoes
• Chelsea boots
• 1960s in fashion
• Music and fashion

External links

• Chelsea Boot/Beatle Boot: The Origin, The Story & The Legacy
• John Lennon's Beatle Boot, at Google Arts & Culture

Notes and References

1. Web site:

   THE LOOK – adventures in rock and pop fashion:: » The Baba boot: 60s pop footwear of choice

   . 2022-01-28.
2. Book: Bassett McCleary, John. Hippie Dictionary: A Cultural Encyclopedia of the 1960s and 1970s. Ten Speed Press. 2004. 44. 1-58008-547-4.
3. Web site: Beatle Boots . 2007-10-11 . Kippen . Cameron . The History of Boots . Department of Podiatry . The Beatle Boot saw the reintroduction of heels for men. . https://web.archive.org/web/20071010001055/http://podiatry.curtin.edu.au/boot.html . 10 October 2007 . dead .
4. Book: Bramwell, Tony. Magical Mystery Tours: My Life with the Beatles. Robson. 2004. 34. 0-312-33043-X.
5. Web site: Carl Barât . 2007-10-11 . Lawrence . Helen . 2005-04-18 . Popstar Feets . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20080907095046/http://www.popstarfeets.co.uk/2005/04/carl_barat.html . 2008-09-07.
6. News: Bob dylan. 2008-02-03. 2007-04-17. The Independent. 2.
7. Web site: Back from the Grave. https://web.archive.org/web/20121017213339/http://exclaim.ca/Features/OnTheCover/gruesomes-back_from_grave. 2012-10-17. 2007-12-29. Lejtenyi. Patrick. June 2000. Exclaim!. ...and the Beatle boots....
8. News: The Rolling Stones. 2008-02-01. Bone. Martyn. St. James Encyclopedia of Pop Culture. 2002.
9. Web site: Turner. Adam. 2019-01-28. 11 Best Chelsea boots for men 2019. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20190221235217/https://www.standard.co.uk/shopping/esbest/fashion/shoes/best-chelsea-boots-for-men-a4048906.html . 2019-02-21 . 2021-02-10. Standard Evening. en.
10. Web site: Warhol's foot fetish. 2007-12-29. 2007-11-19. Brisbane Times. The Daily Telegraph. 2.
11. Web site: Watamanuk. Tyler. The Future of the Chelsea Boot Has Arrived. 2021-02-10. GQ. 5 August 2020 . en-us.
12. Web site: Riff Raff: Costume List.
13. Web site: Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery script. Myers, Mike. 1996-07-17. We start on a pair of BEATLE BOOTS....
14. Web site: "Treehouse of Horror X". "I've resisted these for thirty-five years. Why did I wear them today?".
15. Web site: Alexander . Philip . 20 Dark Secrets About Hey Arnold You Really Don't Want To Know . The Gamer . November 8, 2017 .
    1. 11 - 'Down And Out', One night Sid is ambushed by the same assailants, who end up stealing his beloved beatle boots.
    .
16. Web site: Costuming TOS Boots. The Trek BBS. February 17, 2014.