Something a little different for today.
On a recent trip to London for a concert my wife and I paid
a trip to Camden Market. While there we popped into a large store selling Dr.
Martens in all their current varieties.
If you don’t know them, Dr. Martens are fairly utilitarian,
unisex footwear popular with the young and the not-so-young. I’ve worn ‘Docs’
on and off for most of my adult life. They are comfortable, hard-wearing and used
to be fairly affordable before they became fashionable. I still wear them on the
bike in the summer months and, in fact, on this occasion, coincidentally, both
of us happened to have a pair on.
The store was much as you’d expect, so I wandered away a
bit as my wife browsed the merchandise and right at the back came across a room
set up with a smallish stage and sound equipment. That would be unusual enough
in a shoe shop, but it was the glass cases around the perimeter that really caught
my eye.
These appeared to form some sort of museum exhibit and were
full of memorabilia and footwear showing how Dr. Martens were synonymous with,
and an integral part of the British music scene from the 70s onwards, and in particular,
the early punk scene.
The items on the Sex Pistols and, particularly, The
Clash must be worth a small fortune to collectors of such things.
I spent a happy ten minutes or so wandering around looking
at the exhibits and internally reliving parts of my misspent youth. After that,
I didn’t feel so bad about being dragged around the shops.
“Always wear shoes that are good for running or fighting” -
Joe Strummer / The Clash
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