the.com/desert boot
The shoe a soldier wore in Burma, then taught the whole world to slouch.
means A low, lace-up suede ankle boot with a soft crepe rubber sole, casual and unstructured.
from From English 'desert' (via Old French from Latin 'desertum,' an abandoned place) plus 'boot.' The name is literal: British officers in North Africa during the Second World War admired the rough suede chukka boots sold in Cairo bazaars, themselves inspired by footwear worn by South African soldiers. Nathan Clark, of the Clarks shoemaking family, saw them while serving in Burma and brought the design back to England, launching the 'desert boot' commercially in the late 1940s — and the name stuck to its sandy battlefield roots.
- war origin
- Inspired by boots British officers bought in Cairo bazaars
- clark's icon
- Nathan Clark launched it in 1949, family doubted it
- crepe sole
- Springy gum rubber, terrible in rain, beloved anyway
- mod uniform
- Adopted by 1960s mods, beatniks, and Steve McQueen
- two eyelets
- Just two lace holes, an exercise in doing less
clarks desert boot — iconic ankle boot design created by clarks in 1950, worn globally for 70+ years
crepe sole desert boot — the original crepe rubber sole specification that defines the category, popularized in post-wwii british army