Apparently the 90’s are back in a big way. At least, according to the middle school bus stop and the pre-teen girls who are wearing pretty much the exact outfits I wore in high school. While I don’t really care much about trends – and which ones are ‘back’ or ‘heading out’ – there are some 90’s trends that I never really gave up. Including my Doc Martin boots.
I remember buying these at Nordstrom back in 1995. I had just started college and was DYING for a pair of actual Doc Martins to pair with my bootleg jeans and maxi skirts. To a college kid with little fun money, they were crazy expensive and I wanted to make sure I made the absolute right decision on which pair I purchased. I saved up money from my summer job and bought a pair of classic black 8-hole Doc Martin boots.
And I wore them ALL THE TIME.
College proof, probably around 1998:
First job proof, around 1999 or 2000:
Over the years, I’d give them a little shine when they needed it… but I prefer them to look a little ‘lived in’ and not a shiny, perfect black. I have a very vivid memory of when a boy I was kind-of dating in college decided he was going to shine my boots for me. He had been in the military and he shined the heck out of my boots. Without asking me first. He thought he was doing a nice thing… and I was SO MAD. Anyways, moving on.
I’ve had these boots for almost 30 years now. To be exact, they’d be celebrating their 28th birthday this fall. I haven’t worn them for a couple years, so I decided it was time for a good refresh before I put them back into rotation.
What I used for my Doc Martin refresh:
- Rough and Tumble Leather Remedy Light
- Doc Martens 140CM Replacement Laces
- New Insoles: If you have extra room in your Docs, I love these sheepskin insoles (I use them in my slippers too!). If you don’t have a lot of extra room, but want a more cushy sole, I like these.
I posted a quick little video of giving my old Docs a little massage:
I used the Leather Remedy Light because that’s what I had on hand for my purses. However, over the years I’ve also used conditioning oil like Otter Wax and Kiwi black shoe polish when the color needed a little extra help.
The Leather Remedy Light goes on like a lightweight lotion and gets absorbed into the leather pretty quickly. After it was fully soaked in, I ripped out the old original shoe laces — they were very well used, thin in areas and broken in others. I replaced them with ‘official Doc Martins’ laces off of Amazon and also switched out the old flattened insoles to a new cushier pair.
Here’s the ‘before’ look from a video screenshot:
And boom, it’s like Botox for my boots!
They’re looking pretty dang good for their age, right?! And they’re ready to go stomping around for the next 30 years. Which will totally make me the coolest old lady in the neighborhood.
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Very nice, I wore DM shoes exclusively for a big chunk of the late 80s/ early 90s, and have just lately been eyeing up a new pair.
A true classic.