Wow, these kids sound like the new beatniks.
"The club members cite libertine writers like Hunter S. Thompson and Jack Kerouac as heroes,"
and there's Jack..
Tangent, I really enjoyed reading On the Road
$150 doc martens seem like good value to me. They last about 5-8 years at the rate I wear through them, or about $20-30 per year. Certainly more efficient than any sneakers.
There’s countless of alternatives to boots/shows that aren’t name-brand Doc Martens with that aesthetic.
Personally, I just shop at the clearance sections or sales (ive never seen doc martens there ime)
I always feel like a fool if i drop money on something expensive.
From reading On The Road, I just remember that they were always broke, drunk, drugs and chasing experiences and not aesthetics. at least thats what I took out from the book
I got a $220 pair of redwings in good shape for $12.
I've worn them up mountains a couple times (OMG don't, they're so damn heavy, it was such a bad idea), while tiling floors or drywalling or doing other DIY housework, building a fence, moving house, working on cars, bicycling (not the best, but they're OK for a quick ride), around town in general, to the office, everywhere. Haven't babied them a bit. Snow, rain, I make sure they don't sit around totally soaked after I'm done, but I don't shy away from wearing them in those conditions.
They still look plenty presentable for slightly-fancy-casual, a hair below smart-casual, which is about the "highest" wear they were suited for to begin with.
Meanwhile, the cloth sneakers I used to buy would look like shit after maybe 80 wears, and be trash no later than 200.
They're also my most comfortable shoes that aren't house-slippers. It's like they're part of my foot. After the ~2-week break-in period, anyway :-)
I've sworn off sneakers entirely though. Unless you're buying sneakers for a specific athletic purpose, I think sneakers as a default footware is something of a scam. They're all built to fall apart after months, maybe a year or two max. They're usually made with fabric instead of leather, with thin and soft rubber soles. Even the ones made with leather still have thin soles that wear out fast. I've never had nor heard of a pair of sneakers that didn't disintegrate before two years of daily use.
As for the broke, drunk and drugs lifestyle, I think dependable boots are a great choice. Even if nothing else in your life is stable, at least you can rely on your boots.
It’s something you can’t understand unless you actually buy and wear a pair of well-made boots or shoes.
A mall store pair of leather boots might weigh 1-1.5 lbs because it’s made of bad leather, EVA foam, and adhesives. A pair of well made boots, one boot will weigh almost 2 lbs because they use good leather uppers, real rubber or leather soles, a steel shank, and cork footbed.
A $300 pair of boots with last 5x longer than a $100 pair of boots if you take care of them and don’t wear them daily.
Generally at least once a week on this very website. And on reddit. And on something awful.
The original factory still makes boots, they aren't quite as "cool" though. The people at your Communist reading group might not even heard of the brand.
Btw, there are still a lot of manufacturers operating out of this region of Britain: Barker, Church's, Cheany, Edward Green...some of these are way too expensive, they are often handmade (and tbh, probably not worth it)...but there are options.
You're right that I don't care for the style of their UK made boots. I like their brown burnished leather "crazy horse" boots, or ones styled similar. Their UK made boots seem to all be black, red, white, or brown but suede (which I don't consider durable.) These are bolder / punkish designs which I don't care for.
If you can suggest an American brand that holds up to Doc Martens, maybe I'll buy those in a few years instead. But I think most boots are made in China or some other country with exploitative labor.