Solovair / Dr Martens

[Mouthfulofquiz]

My dr martens boots are about to die a death. I’ve heard that Solovair is the way to go these days. If you have Solovairs, what’s the sizing like and do you think they are better than your old DMs?

watching with interest because last year pre covid I did that thing where you see someone wearing something gorgeous and chase them down the street like a maniac to ask where they got it, and it was a pair of solovair boots, I can't speak to the sizing but the woman said the quality of them was brilliant.

I think the styles on the website are lovely - I love the brogue boots which would be so good for work (I don’t work in a high heels kind of place!)
Also the shoes...

I don't know about sizing but I would only buy DMs now if you can get the Made In England ones. The others are awful. Shocking quality and you can't break them in!

Solovairs are outstanding quality and no pain breaking them in. They are what DMs used to be many years ago. Worth every penny honestly.

@Mouthfulofquiz

I think the styles on the website are lovely - I love the brogue boots which would be so good for work (I don’t work in a high heels kind of place!) Also the shoes...

the woman I chased down the street had the black brogue boots on. dreamy.

What Abbey says. The quality is so much better, Apparently they are made by the old DM people who did it before the company was sold to do manufacturing in China.

I can feel a purchase coming on!

For those of you that have solovairs, what is the sizing like? I take a 4 in DMs so is it similar for solovairs?

@Mouthfulofquiz

For those of you that have solovairs, what is the sizing like? I take a 4 in DMs so is it similar for solovairs?

Both me and my DH purchased in our regular sizes and they fit fine, your mileage may vary! X

I'm a bit of a boot nerd. Solovair every time.

There are a couple of YouTube channels that have done DM and Solovair side-by-side.

RoseAnvil

and

Devon Reviewer

Whoops

RoseAnvil

Basically:

The owners of Doc Martens got greedy, offshored manufacture, quality plummeted and the brand lost its 'made in UK' cachet that made them a cult item.

Solovair did none of the above, and are a much better boot - and are now 'the' boot among fans of that style of boot.

and tbh they're not miles and miles more expensive than dms are they? I'm being very very good and I hang on to my dms and have them resoled etc. the made in uk pairs I've had since the 90s are completely immortal, although I don't wear them a lot as they're 10 hole and take forever to put on. the modern ones do die eventually even with the best end of life care. when my current everyday ones have gone to Valhalla I will replace them with solovairs.

You may need to go down a size in Solovair. I'm usually a 5, size 4 fit me perfectly.

They didn't take much wearing in. They last really well, and are properly still made in England, by hand, in the factory that made Docs under licence for years. Once Covid restrictions lift, the factory tour is incredibly interesting to go on.

Any problems you have with them will be sorted very quickly by the outstanding customer services team (Matt is a superstar!). Buy direct so you get the best service.

The cherry red 8 eye derby boots are to die for.

Basically, go Solovair! You won't regret it 😃