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Horse or Harley? What are these boots what I have bought?

Edward

Bartender
Messages
25,084
Location
London, UK
So, this morning a couple of things have arrived, including this box:

Uploaded22April2010002.jpg


For one glorious moment I thought it might be my Aero Bootlegger, which is on the way, but no, it turned out to be a pair of boots I bought recently on eBay. To try to keep concise what is actually a fairly convoluted story... I an slowly putting together a dieselpunk costume, which will be based largely around a pair of tan riding britches and a black Panzerwrap. I had originally intended to use a pair of lower-cut, black lace-up boots and team them with a pair of black leather gaiters (Zulu / Boer War style), but finding the latter at a sensible price doesn't seem possible. So, next best thing - a pair of black riding boots. These cropped up at the right price - I paid twenty quid for them. They were advertised as "equestrian / riding boots", but I'm not convinced... They were being sold by someone who isn't a specialist; none of their other items were in this category. Going by the photos, I judged them to be motorcycle boots - the chrome back-zip, the buckle arrangement around the ankle, and the additional leather panels over the top of the foot are all classic bike-boot features. The red panel on the interior around the top is very much like a lot of Lewis boots I have seen, though I'm pretty sure these aren't Lewis, given the lack of the brand, and I've never seen a Lewis model with the internal buckle arrangement at the top, as opposed to something on the exterior.

They're a good fit on me, though I suspect with anything less snug than riding britches and of a substantial heft (jeans, for instance), I'd have to wear them under the trouser.

The boot:

Uploaded22April2010003.jpg


I just realised I didn't get a shot of the outer angle of either before the camera battery died.... damn. Typically Lewis look, though, with two buckles; one on the front in the manner of an engineer boot, another round the back of the heel.

A few scuffs here and there, that I think will disappear once I apply a nice coat of black boot polish:

Uploaded22April2010004.jpg

Uploaded22April2010005.jpg


Soles are leather. I'll have the rubber heel-pieces replaced, though I think with the soles I could get away with just a rubber overlay on them, they don't look worn enough to require replacement any time soon:

Uploaded22April2010006.jpg

Uploaded22April2010007.jpg


Rear view, showing CLIX marked zipper:

Uploaded22April2010009.jpg


Inner view, showing that inner-top strap, which I presume is designed to keep a long sock or trousers from riding up/ down while on the back of a bike:

Uploaded22April2010010.jpg


Close-up of printed information on the inner red panel - no apparent brand name here:

Uploaded22April2010012.jpg


They arrived with half a dozen magazine supplements from the mid-late seventies rolled up inside:

Uploaded22April2010008.jpg


I wonder is that coincidental, or does it give some kind of indication as to how long they have been in storage?
 

pipvh

Practically Family
Messages
644
Location
England
Nice boots! They certainly look like Aviakit/Lewis Leathers.

Could have done with Noel Edmunds' grinning mug, though... that barnet has haunted me for years.
 

MisterCairo

I'll Lock Up
Messages
7,005
Location
Gads Hill, Ontario
I vote Harley. Any riding boots I've bought don't require inner straps for one's leggings, as most function-specific riding trousers, jodhpurs, etc., I've come across either have straps to go under the foot or are calf-tight to prevent ride up.

Harley or horse, of course, they'll look great in a steam punk outfit!
 

Stearmen

I'll Lock Up
Messages
7,202
Motor Officer

They look for all the world like a nice pair of vintage Motor Officer boots. That would be motorcycle Cops. In most Police Departments in the states, officers are required to perches their own boots. So you get a lot of different boots, though, if one Cop finds a good boot, then the other tend to go for it! Those boots, may have been custom made by a local boot maker, very common up to the early 90s. I had one who wanted to make me a pair in the 80s, even though I am not a Cop, I think he wanted $150, to rich for my blood, now I wish I had taken him up on it. They are defiantly not Harley! If they were, they would be well marked inside, sole and on the hardware. Harley lets you know in no uncertain terms that it is their product!
 

Edward

Bartender
Messages
25,084
Location
London, UK
Oh yes, not Harley brand - I was riffing on the alliteration of the letter H, a la Horse & Hound... ;) They're certainly far too sleek in design for a Harley - at least, any Harley boots I've ever seen were much more in the vein of an engineer-style boot.

Having hunted around online, I'm leaning to the view that they might have been a police-issue item. They're definitely bike boots, in the style of Lewis, but without any branding that would lead me to the conclusion that they are Lewis. Also, I've never seen any Lewis absent the top, outer strap and with the arrangement these have. Lewis stuff was taken as an "inspiration" for so many other brands back in the day, too....

The clincher, overall style aside, that these are bike boots was the discovery of the four little screw holes in the right boot and that these at one point would have held a kick-start plate....

I'd love to know if anyone could ID a specific maker - those top calf-straps seem a fairly distinctive thing to me. I'm pretty chuffed with them, overall. Going custom, I could probably do with just a tiny bit more space in the calf (only a centimetre, or half inch at most), but for what I will be wearing these with (riding britches), I don't foresee any problems with fit. I can probably gain a fraction extra space too by taking out the calfstraps - they sit as a separate piece held in a little loop, so can be taken in and out without any damage. Especially chuffed at the price when I saw similar condition, 70s era Lewis boots, several pairs at that, selling for around GBP150!!
 

laotou

One of the Regulars
Messages
158
Location
Worldwide. Base Camp Colorado
Edward, you poor fellow, to be stuck with those, horrible, horrible boots.
I feel so sorry for you. Because I am a kind and generous, philanthropist (and because they are my size) I'll send someone over to dispose of them right away.
 

Edward

Bartender
Messages
25,084
Location
London, UK
laotou said:
Edward, you poor fellow, to be stuck with those, horrible, horrible boots.
I feel so sorry for you. Because I am a kind and generous, philanthropist (and because they are my size) I'll send someone over to dispose of them right away.

lol
 

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