Solovair v doctor martens.

Anyone tried both?
Is one wider than the other?

Didn’t know Solovair existed to be honest. I have very wide feet and Docs have always been great though – boots, not shoes

@zippykona – NPS/Solovair make shoes/boots on different lasts, they are not all the same. They’re also quite generous sizing, I usually wear 11.5 but am size 11 in NPS

Have a look here

https://uk.nps-solovair.com/

https://uk.nps-solovair.com/pages/our-last-shapes-explained

Solovair are better quality and actually UK made apparently. Only a small percentage of DM’s still are and quality can be really poor. Solovairs can easily be resoled,  DM’s it’s possible but not straightforward.

Son1 has a pair of each – in a 9 (43), the Solvair look a little narrower. I have not tested this since I can’t be bothered to unlace them and try them on! Solvair are made in Northampton. I have very narrow feet and personally, I prefer Cheaney 125 last. DM’s a re too wide for me.

Do the solovair have the bellows tongue?
My current DMS don’t and you get wet feet if splashed.

My other half bought Solovair for a while, but has gone to Lanx boots – she likes handmade and British-made, they might be worth a look.

My current DMS don’t and you get wet feet if splashed.

Is this before of after you’ve drilled hundreds of holes in them? :-)

The only pair of Solovair I’ve had wore out far quicker than any DMs I’ve owned (I’ve used DMs at work for about 30 years now, apart from that one excursion). I bought an extra pair of soles at the same time as the shoes… which my local cobbler refused to use to resole them, as they will only fit their own. So that was a waste. Back to DMs for me.

(I didn’t notice any particular difference in widths, btw)

Which reminds me, the current pair are starting to wear the heel down… time to start checking out the sales :)

Solovair size up big. Prob half a size as above. Love mine and they have lasted ages.

Solovair made in the old DM factory in Wollaston. AFAIK on the original machines and lasts.

Solovair made in the old DM factory in Wollaston. AFAIK on the original machines and lasts.

I am pretty sure you have that the wrong way round. Solovair make boots in their factory and at one point some of the boots they made were DMs?

What period did Docs become a premium product?

I know they’ve been expensive for a long time now but back in the 70s and 80’s pretty much every lad wore them. From the poorest to the richest kid. They were just standard uniform from Yeomans, along with the canvas rucksack and snorkel parka.

What period did Docs become a premium product?

I think when they became a ladies fashion item. See far more ladies than men in them these
days.

I want my boots back.

IME having worn docs for 40 years the last 5 years or so the quality has been very variable and also different models seem to be made on different lasts with some wide andsome narrow

I have now given up on them.  they just don’t last long

Solovair was originally founded in 1881 as a cooperative known as the Northamptonshire Productive Society (NPS)[3], which is the name of the parent company of Solovair.

Shoe manufacturer R. Griggs Group Ltd. had the patent to produce Dr. Martens boots but not the technology. In 1960 Griggs and NPS collaborated to create a boot using a Solovair sole and a Griggs upper, and the result was the now iconic Dr. Martens boot. The first pair left the NPS factory in 1960. NPS Shoes continued to make footwear under licence until the mid 1990s called ‘Dr Martens made by Solovair’. They trademarked the name Solovair in 1995[4] and now make their own air-cushioned boot using the same lasts and leather cutters and machines used to create the first original Dr. Martens suspension soles in the UK.

I’ve just taken a punt on these for £95. They have the commando sole which is the only thing I’ve found the grips to rocks at low tide.

https://www.office.co.uk/view/product/office_catalog/1,41/7205852801080?srsltid=Ad5pg_H_5sTe4Ry4MO0O304rdeJBlAzIxVG2XWZ4IX074JAfRwOnUa5IVLk

Having worn Doc’s on and off over the years I was disappointed with the quality of the last pair I bought. The glue around the stitching on the sole failed rendering them sieves after around 10 months and the the leather itself started to crack where it creased at the heel. To give this some context, these were a pair of three hole ankle boots which have led an extremely sheltered life as autumn/winter work shoes for my role as a (sadly now) largely office based inpatient mental health nurse. Email sent to DM at the time the stitching failed went unanswered.

I recently discovered a store called north shoes. They frequently have loake seconds which if you’ve had before you’ll know it’s nigh on impossible to work out why they’ve been graded a second and it’s always merely a cosmetic blemish or scuff. The seconds are a bargain if they have what you want in your size, and if you aren’t in a rush then keep checking for their sale. No idea when their next will be but back in January I stocked up on multiple pairs of boots and shoes from loake’s 1880 range for just £60 a pair. Now have several pairs of bedale boots in the wardrobe…. It’s cheaper than resoling them.

Recently bought a pair of DM shoes blindly and on trust. I already have 3prs of boots, newest about 20yrs old and still good On checking I saw the new shoes were Made in Vietnam. The leather creases up on top of the foot and squeezes the polish out, making them look absolutely knackered. £90 and proper pissed off with them. I haven’t moaned to DM yet, but will now. I’d say avoid sadly.

You ask when did DMs become a premium product? I reckon around the time gullible people started paying 3 figure sums for Donkey Jackets ! My dad wore one for work digging peat by hand his whole working life . He’d have a fit if he knew what they cost now 🙄
As for DMs my first pair back in 1969 / 70 in my skinhead days cost next to nothing 🙄

We’ve been issued Solovair shoes at work for over 20 years. Before that it was DM’s and the change was seen as a downgrade.

The quality has definitely gone up and down over the 24 years I’ve been wearing them, with the earlier shoes having better ankle padding and softer, thicker leather. They had a really dodgy patch where the leather felt like plastic and they cracked within weeks before falling apart but my current pair seem better. I’m normally size 11 but can fit into 10.5 in Solovair.