Bovver boot

History

The term bovver in the UK developed as a th-fronting slang term (probably Cockney) for "bother", and was used in connection with aggro (aggravation; aggressive behaviour) by skinheads and hooligans in the late 1960s. Heavy steel-toe boots were stereotypically worn by skinheads, and were termed bovver boots. Initially, heavy black army surplus boots were worn, but later, yellow-stitched Dr. Martens were adopted as the boots of choice. Use in football hooliganism was countered by warnings to fans that they would have to remove such boots in order to attend football matches.

Punk rockers were seen in the 1970s to "[stamp] their bovver boots", with the boots being part of their "sartorial expressions of violence and disgust". Punk rockers continued to be associated with bovver boots until the mid-1980s. Punk fashion and the "years of teenage boot-wearing rebellion" since the 1960s gave way to trainers, with the arrival of Britpop in the mid-1990s. In 1998, UK high street chain Boots promoted a ladette cosmetics range with a model "dressed in combat trousers, bovver boots and goggles".

The journalist Laura Barton wrote in The Guardian in 2008: "After years in the wilderness, the bovver boot is back". The journalist Karen Kay wrote in The Express in 2010 that "Dr Martens boots" have been worn by The Clash, The Cure, Madness, Madonna, the Spice Girls, The Sex Pistols, Avril Lavigne and Gwen Stefani.

Cultural references

• Bovver boots were worn by the violent street-gang "The Droogs" in the film A Clockwork Orange (1971)
• The use of the boots in an attack was referenced in the song Down in the Tube Station at Midnight (1978) by The Jam.
• The Nipple Erectors released a song titled "Venus in Bovver Boots". in (1977).
• A pair of Bovver boots were worn in the early 1980s British TV series The Young Ones, by the punk character Vyvyan Basterd.
• Musician PJ Harvey was noted as "appear[ing] immersed in rock 'n' roll" around the time of her album Dry in 1992, due in part to her "leather apparel, hair in a bun and black bovver boots".
• In 2000, the Birmingham Mail referred to broadcaster Jeremy Clarkson as "old bovver boots".
• In the Newsboys song "RSL 1984" from their 2009 album In the Hands of God, lead singer Peter Furler sings about "...the Bovver Boys with their boots shiny red," referencing his encounters with the punk scene in his youth in Australia.
• In 2017, U.S. punk band Rancid (band) released a song titled "Bovver Rock And Roll" on their album Trouble Maker. Lyrically, the song laments early 1970s cultural references.

References

References

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8. Tony Thorne. (3 December 2009). "Jolly Wicked, Actually: 100 Words That Make Us English". Little, Brown Book Group.
9. Fracassini, Camillo. (February 3, 2000). "A spot of bovver as DM boot factory to be closed". [[The Scotsman]].
10. Mortimer, Ruth. (December 1, 2001). "Too bootilicious for your feet: call them what you like -- Dr Martens, Doc Martens, DMs, Docs -- but very few shoes have a youth following like Doc Martens". Brand Strategy.
11. Thompson, James. (June 18, 2012). "Doc Martens bovver boots aim for £200m". [[The Independent]].
12. Gunn, Cathy}}{{dl. (July 2021). "Max hangs up his boots with £200m". [[The Sunday People.
13. (March 14, 2012). "Great Games: Chesterfield 2 Aston Villa 3". [[Birmingham Mail]].
14. (July 2021). "We all rebelled against the {{Sic". [[Western Mail (Wales).
15. Horyn, Cathy. (February 3, 1992). "Harley's Roar On the Runway". [[The Washington Post]].
16. Fallon, James. (May 31, 1993). "The doc is in". Footwear News.
17. Barton, Laura. (June 16, 2008). "After years in the wilderness, the bovver boot is back". [[The Guardian]].
18. Ward, Amanda}}{{dl. (July 2021). "The bad ladettes; They're the girls with Geezer Power and don't give a damn who knows". [[Daily Mirror]].
19. (9 April 2010). "Dr Martens: The bovver boot that became respectable". The Express.
20. Cavanagh, David. (February 25, 1995). "Nemesis in a scarlet dress". [[The Independent]].
21. Young, Graham. (June 29, 2000). "They're in the Army now!". [[Birmingham Mail]].
22. "Newsboys – RSL 1984".