Bring ‘em back: Doc Martens

Please, ignore the pasty ankle swath.

I have no qualms about cleaning out my closet. Whenever I feel particularly productive, which inexplicably, often coincides with looming paper deadlines, I hunker down and sort through the novelty T-shirts, faded jeans and items whose elastic has transformed into some kind of crackly, limp mess.

My lack of remorse has a lot to do with the fact that my mom puts these clothes out to pasture. That is, she packs them up in Balikbayan boxes and sends them to her relatives in the Philippes. From there, the fate of my veteran wardrobe lies in their hands.

There are a few things I haven’t been able to part with, though. Jeans I swear I’ll be able to fit into again, pea coats that will never go out of style, and, you guessed it, my two pairs of Doc Martens that have been in my custody since middle school.

Let’s be honest, though. I probably wore each pair a total of five times.

Why?
1. They’re sort of uncomfortable.
2. I’m a lifelong flip-flop enthusiast. My feet want to be free!
3. The only circumstances that cause me to spend more than 5 seconds putting on footwear entail ice rinks and … well, that’s it.

So what convinced me to unearth them from the closet in my parents’ house after 15 years?

A combination of cold weather, the increasing popularity of what I call Depression-era shoes (the hyper-popular but slightly more refined leather boots I see all the cool kids on campus wear), the cold and wet weather of late, and most importantly, the fact that I’m an adult.

My fast-approaching 28th birthday has convinced me that flip-flops are no longer appropriate to top off a rather fetching outfit of dark jeans, nice sweater and leather jacket. Amiright?

In closing — Doc Martens. Retro yet timeless. Gettin’ older.

Let’s do this.

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