Bovver boot explained

Bovver boots
Type:Footwear
Material:Leather
Location:United Kingdom
Manufacturer:Dr. Martens, Grinders, Solovair and others

A bovver boot is a type of boot that has been associated with violence. Such boots are generally of sturdy design and may be steel-toed. They have been considered as offensive weapons used by hooligans for kicking opponents while street fighting.[1] [2] The boots became known in the late 1960s in the United Kingdom, and continue to be a fashion statement associated with rebellion.

History

The term bovver in the UK developed as a th-fronting slang term (probably Cockney) for "bother", and was used in connection with aggro (aggravation; aggressive behaviour) by skinheads and hooligans in the late 1960s.[3] [4] [5] [6] Heavy steel-toe boots were stereotypically worn by skinheads, and were termed bovver boots.[7] Initially, heavy black army surplus boots were worn, but later, yellow-stitched Dr. Martens were adopted as the boots of choice.[8] [9] [10] [11] [12] Use in football hooliganism was countered by warnings to fans that they would have to remove such boots in order to attend football matches.[13]

Punk rockers were seen in the 1970s to "[stamp] their bovver boots",[14] with the boots being part of their "sartorial expressions of violence and disgust".[15] Punk rockers continued to be associated with bovver boots until the mid-1980s.[16] Punk fashion and the "years of teenage boot-wearing rebellion" since the 1960s gave way to trainers, with the arrival of Britpop in the mid-1990s.[17] In 1998, UK high street chain Boots promoted a ladette cosmetics range with a model "dressed in combat trousers, bovver boots and goggles".[18]

The journalist Laura Barton wrote in The Guardian in 2008: "After years in the wilderness, the bovver boot is back". The journalist Karen Kay wrote in The Express in 2010 that "Dr Martens boots" have been worn by The Clash, The Cure, Madness, Madonna, the Spice Girls, The Sex Pistols, Avril Lavigne and Gwen Stefani.[19]

Cultural references

See also

Notes and References

  1. Book: Paul Beale. Eric Partridge. Shorter Slang Dictionary. 4 March 2013. 2 April 2004. Routledge. 978-0-203-38007-9. 27.
  2. Book: Wordsworth Editions, Limited. Concise English Dictionary. 4 March 2013. 1 January 2007. Wordsworth Editions. 978-1-84022-497-9. 106.
  3. Book: Miriam A. Locher. Jürg Strässler. Standards and Norms in the English Language. 4 March 2013. 27 August 2008. Walter de Gruyter. 978-3-11-020698-2. 54.
  4. Book: Allied Chambers. The Chambers Dictionary. 4 March 2013. 1998. Allied Publishers. 978-81-86062-25-8. 189.
  5. Book: Tony Thorne. Dictionary of Contemporary Slang. 4 March 2013. 1 January 2009. A&C Black. 978-1-4081-0220-6. 151.
  6. Book: Jonathan Bernstein. Knickers in a Twist: A Dictionary of British Slang. 4 March 2013. 30 July 2012. Canongate Books. 978-0-85786-945-6. 12–.
  7. Book: Eric Partridge. Tom Dalzell. Terry Victor. The Concise New Partridge Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English. 4 March 2013. 2008. Taylor & Francis Group. 978-0-415-21259-5. 85.
  8. Book: Tony Thorne. Jolly Wicked, Actually: 100 Words That Make Us English. 4 March 2013. 3 December 2009. Little, Brown Book Group. 978-0-7481-1478-8. 44–45.
  9. News: A spot of bovver as DM boot factory to be closed . https://web.archive.org/web/20140611025802/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-18725420.html . dead . June 11, 2014 . . February 3, 2000 . March 4, 2013 . Fracassini, Camillo.
  10. News: Too bootilicious for your feet: call them what you like -- Dr Martens, Doc Martens, DMs, Docs -- but very few shoes have a youth following like Doc Martens . https://web.archive.org/web/20130403120330/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-80848008.html . dead . April 3, 2013 . Brand Strategy . December 1, 2001 . March 4, 2013 . Mortimer, Ruth.
  11. News: Doc Martens bovver boots aim for £200m . https://web.archive.org/web/20120620202241/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/doc-martens-bovver-boots-aim-for-200m-7857384.html . dead . June 20, 2012 . . June 18, 2012 . March 4, 2013 . Thompson, James.
  12. News: Max hangs up his boots with £200m . . March 31, 1996 . Gunn, Cathy.
  13. News: Great Games: Chesterfield 2 Aston Villa 3 . . March 14, 2012 . March 4, 2013.
  14. News: We all rebelled against the to get our teenage kicks, but has much changed? . . December 6, 2007 .
  15. News: Harley's Roar On the Runway . https://web.archive.org/web/20140611025844/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-988764.html . dead . June 11, 2014 . . February 3, 1992 . March 4, 2013 . Horyn, Cathy.
  16. News: The doc is in . https://web.archive.org/web/20130403104553/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-14124625.html . dead . April 3, 2013 . Footwear News . May 31, 1993 . March 4, 2013 . Fallon, James.
  17. News: After years in the wilderness, the bovver boot is back . . June 16, 2008 . March 4, 2013 . Barton, Laura . Laura Barton.
  18. News: The bad ladettes; They're the girls with Geezer Power and don't give a damn who knows . . May 1, 1998 . Ward, Amanda.
  19. Web site: Kay. Karen. Dr Martens: The bovver boot that became respectable. 9 April 2010 . The Express. 18 May 2015.
  20. News: Nemesis in a scarlet dress . . February 25, 1995 . March 4, 2013 . Cavanagh, David.
  21. News: They're in the Army now! . https://web.archive.org/web/20160413121456/https://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-17643255.html . dead . April 13, 2016 . . June 29, 2000 . March 4, 2013 . Young, Graham.

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