Fur Wen Bin Ich Gemacht, Doctor Maertens?

You’ve seen her. I’ve seen her. We’ve all seen her. Septum piercing? Hair dyed bright red? Baggy cargo pants? Dark, batlike, long sleeves? Oh, and don’t forget, her yellow-stitched Dr. Martens. I’ve seen him. You’ve seen him. We’ve all seen him. Straight black slacks? Brown wool v-neck? Leather and silver belt? Dark, slim, sunglasses on at night? Oh, and with those yellow-stitched leather oxfords! Courtesy, of course, of Doctor Maertens. The nation has seen them. History has seen them. We’ve all seen them. Started with ambivalent intentions? Now, marches angrily through the streets? Identifiable by notable physical characteristics such as a shaved head and well… Dr. Martens. 

Source: @lievink9 (Instagram)

Across the United States, many groups have laid claim to popular shoe brand, Dr. Martens, as a staple of their identity. The 1960s - the decade in which the Dr. Martens boots took the form we know and love - were a time of social revolution, metamorphosis, and upheaval; these changes took a tangible form in evolving fashion. With young radicals searching for a way to wear their pride, many eyes turned towards the German-founded shoe brand. To understand who these groups are and why they chose to adopt these leather-bound symbols, we first need to know the history of the brand.

So, Dr. Martens were made for -  excuse my French - Nazis. Wait. No. Record scratch. That’s not right. You heard it here first, folks; unequivocally, Dr. Martens were not made for the Nazi Party. Across the internet I’d seen that sensationalized myth so many times that even I believed it until I started my research. So why is this fallacy so widespread? Well, to the credit of the gossip, Doctor Klaus Maertens was indeed a German medic and soldier. In 1945, at the age of 25, he injured his foot in a skiing accident. Finding that his army-issued shoes were too uncomfortable to recover in, Doctor Maertens invented a boot with an air-cushioned sole. Shortly after, he patented his design and went into business with his friend Dr. Herbert Funk, a mechanical engineer. In its humble beginnings, the classic leather boots were made with discarded wartime materials.

Source: Fashion Model Directory

By 1947, the shoes were in full production, often being used to garden or as menial work boots. In 1960s England, the Grigg family - reputable shoemakers, known for their functionality - bought the patent for Doctor Maertens’s boots. The Grigg family added all the little hallmarks of the modern day Dr. Martens, notably the famous yellow stitch. Now that we all know its background, take a moment to pause and ask yourself, who do I think would resonate with the brand? 

As you might’ve guessed from my introduction to its history, that's right, actual Nazis. Or rather, as the nomenclature would go, Neo-Nazis. In England and the United States, we commonly refer to the modern group of Nazism idealists as skinheads. Well, if that's the case, why did I initially reference them as having ambivalent beginnings? Initially, skinheads weren’t mutually inclusive with the prefix “racist”. The skinheads originated in the 1960s in poor neighborhoods in London, England. They were founded on the basis of rejecting the counterculture movement of the 1960s - a movement which preached peace and love.

In protest against the counterculture or hippie movement, the skinheads adopted a style and culture of aggression, intimidation, and overhandly heavy, dark fashion. Prominent in skinhead fashion were the heavy-duty stompers, Dr. Martens. Having just become popularized in England and being associated with Nazi Germany, many antisemitic and racist skinheads adopted the boots as a centerpiece of their outward expression. Notably, the utilitarian boots were popular amongst the working-class, which was the group's foundational population. As time has passed, the skinheads have become an increasingly hateful political group, but it is worth noting that not all skinheads hold white supremist values. Skinheads are just one group whose history is intertwined with the brand, but not all Dr. Martens loving counter-culture movements hold their same values. 

Source: Dazed Digitial

On the other side of the spectrum, the punk community has incorporated Dr. Martens as a focal point of their style. The history of punk, grunge, and Dr. Martens boils down to the influence of music. In the 1970s, the British punk brand, The Sex Pistols, took the stage by storm. Though punk music was already popular in England and the United States, The Sex Pistols are largely historically credited as shaping the punk subculture. Down to the spiky hair, leather jackets, and ripped jeans, The Sex Pistols set the standard for punk fashion. Importantly included in that were, you guessed it, Dr. Martens. These Londoners changed punk fashion forever, their fingerprints still found on youth 50 years later.

Punk musicians like Pete Townshend of The Who, Sid Vicious and Johnny Rotten of the Sex Pistols, and Joe Strummer of The Clash, set the fashion standard for all punk fans at the time. So, why were these bands wearing Dr. Martens in the first place? The punk subculture was based on some of the same foundational beliefs as the skinheads (hear me out). Just as the skinheads were anti-authoritary and warring against the hippie movement, so too were members of the punk subculture. Differentially, the punk community had a more heavy emphasis on non-conformity and anti-corruption/corporation ideals. Both the skinheads and the punk community were groups built from the working class, a people often associated with Dr. Martens. The boots simply became a part of the uniform for the punk community and their blue-collar roots. 

Pete Townshend of The Who at the Omni Coliseum in Atlanta, Georgia, 1975. Source: Tom Hill/WireImage

Perhaps the most noticeable consumers of Dr. Martens in the last few years is the LGBTQ community. Taking a chapter from the punk book, Dr. Martens came to be important within the queer community as a symbol of defiance against the condemnation of heteronormative society. Just as the skinheads and punk groups wore Dr. Martens in protest of some aspect of popular culture, so did the LGBTQ community. Though the gay liberation movement was not foundational for the adoption of Dr. Martens as a symbol of resistance, they enforced it. Historians have noted Dr. Martens as a part of the “uniform” for the gay rights protests of the 1980s. In the early 2000s, queer bands like Tegan and Sara and Limp Wrist popularized Dr. Martens in niche gay pop culture. Dr. Martens became a common symbol amongst queer communities like dykes on bikes, leather gays, and the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence. Now, Dr. Martens have become so ingrained in the LGBTQ community that they are considered visible identifiers of its members. A boy with a septum piercing may not be in the community, but a boy with a septum piercing and Dr. Martens? Well, the proof is in the pudding, Your Honor. To my lovely readers, please know I say that in good humor, not as an assertion of fact. 

Source: Stephen Mayes

Well, we have our facts all straightened out. We know three big groups who wear Doctor Martens and we know why. So, let’s answer our titular question; who did you make these boots for, Doctor Maertens? Oh, wait, were you expecting me to give an objective answer? No, your guess is as good as mine. Were I to hedge one though, I would say that Doctor Maertens was just a man who made some comfortable leather boots so his foot could heal and then some British men added yellow stitching to it and now here we are. Boots made for the working class that are now unattainably expensive for many of the people in it. Dr. Martens were never meant to mean anything, they were never made for anyone in particular. Like all fashion, like all things in our lives, they only have the meaning and status we assign them. If you aren’t a skinhead, or punk, or queer, or this, or that, you can still wear the boots because they are comfortable and they are cute.