The boots in the picture are all from the Clarks Originals collection. I don’t think I ever owned a pair of desert boots. Wallabees were popular when I was a teenager, and I didn’t like those at all, so I think I went straight from school shoes to Dr Martens. I think my Dad might have worn a sandy-coloured pair though, in the ’70s.
I feel as though I should love the Liberty print pair (top right) on principle (Liberty print shoes!), but they’re not quite my cup of tea. The gold filigree suede ones (top left), on the other hand… I have a bit of a thing for filigree suede at the moment. I also like what happens when you make a desert boot taller.
London College of Fashion have a course on how to make desert boots, which I have of course been coveting for some years. Sadly I don’t have £535, or the extra £200 it would cost to travel into London on ten consecutive Monday evenings. One day, perhaps I’ll have both the funds and the time when their Summer School comes around.
But I’m thinking that if I do decide to order a pair of polystyrene lasts, these are the kind of boots that I’ll attempt to make. In lovely fabrics, of course.
Making boots! wow, I couldn’t even get my head around that, they do look comfy though!