Anonymous wrote:Mention of Doc Marten’s in the “investment piece” thread has me reviving this thread. I’m in my 50s and lately have really wanted a pair of Made in England 1460s. (My in the know daughter has also pointed me to Solovaire.). But I can’t decide on black vs oxblood red. I have been purging black from my wardrobe because it doesn’t suit me as well anymore and shifting to navy’s, olive greens, and other “autumn” colors, though I’ll always keep my black leather moto. So the warm red would make sense. But a part of my brain is niggling at me that oxblood red might be less versatile and more “daytime/informal.” Lol, they’re Docs.. Clearly I am overthinking! Thoughts if you were going to get just one pair?
I'm the poster in that thread who bought Solovairs. I bought both black and oxblood. If I were only going to buy one pair, it would be black, no question. Black will work with your autumn colors.
FYI, they had a longer-than-I-expected break-in period, but I think I'm the exception rather than the rule on that with Solovairs (based on some Googling and contacting Solovair). I have a high instep and the spot where the tongue is sewn to the rest of the shoe is very stiff. I had to use moleskin, blister bandages, etc. while I broke them in. They fit like a dream in the heels and toes, though. The quality is excellent and now that they are broken in I adore them.
A selling point for me over the MIE Docs was the absence of the Doc yellow stitching. Some people love it because it's iconic, which I get. I just didn't want it. I'd encourage you to at least look at Solovairs.
I secretly wanted Docs in high school and I was afraid I couldn't pull them off. I definitely fell into The Gap in high school. Now I'm 45 and DGAF.