A boot is a type of footwear and a specific type of shoe. Most boots mainly cover the foot and the ankle and extend up the leg, sometimes as far as the knee or even the hip. Most boots have a heel that is clearly distinguishable from the rest of the sole, even if the two are made of one piece. Traditionally made of leather or rubber, modern boots are made from a variety of materials. Boots are worn both for their functionality – protecting the foot and leg from water, snow, mud or hazards or providing additional ankle support for strenuous activities – and for reasons of style and fashion. High-top athletic shoes are generally not considered boots, even though they do cover the ankle, primarily due to the absence of a distinct heel.
History
Early boots consisted of separate leggings, soles, and uppers worn together to provide greater ankle protection than shoes or sandals. Around 1000 B. C. these components were more permanently joined to form a single unit that covered the feet and lower leg, often up to the knee. A type of soft leather ankle boots were worn by nomads in eastern Asia, and carried to China to India and Russia around 1200 to 1500 A. D by Mongol invaders. The Inuit and Aleut natives of Alaska developed traditional winter boots of caribou skin or sealskin featuring decorative touches of seal intestine, dog hair and wolverine fur. 17th century European boots were influenced by military styles, featuring thick soles and turnover tops that were originally designed to protect horse mounted soldiers. In the 1700s, distinctive, knee-high boots worn by Hessian soldiers fighting in the American Revolutionary War influenced the development of the iconic heeled cowboy boots worn by cattlemen in the American west.
Types and uses
Boots designed for walking through the elements may be made of a single closely stitched design (using leather, rubber, canvas, or similar material) to prevent the entry of water, snow, mud or dirt through gaps between the laces and tongue found in other types of shoes. Waterproof gumboots are made in different lengths of uppers. In extreme cases, thigh-boots called waders, worn by anglers, extend to the hip. Such boots may also be insulated for warmth. Most boots sold in retail stores are not actually waterproof.
Speciality boots have been made to temporarily protect steelworkers if they get caught in pools of molten metal, to protect workers from a variety of chemical exposure, and insulated, inflatable boots for use in Antarctica. Most work boots are "laceups" made from leather. Formerly they were usually shod with hobnails and heel- and toe-plates, but now usually with a thick rubber sole, and often with steel toecaps. Work boots (like the popular Dr. Martens) were adopted by skinheads and punks as part of their typical dress and have migrated to more mainstream fashion, including women's wear. As a more rugged alternative to dress shoes, dress boots may be worn (though these can be more formal than shoes).
Boots are normally worn with socks to prevent chafes and blisters, to absorb sweat and to improve the foot's grip inside the boot. Before socks became widely available, footwraps were worn instead.
The best quality tea must have creases like the leathern boot of Tartar horsemen, curl like the dewlap of a mighty bullock, unfold like a mist rising out of a ravine, gleam like a lake touched by a zephyr, and be wet and soft like a fine earth newly swept by rain.
— Lu Yu (d. 804)
Specialty boots have been designed for many different types of sports, particularly riding, skiing and snowboarding, ice-skating, and sporting in wet conditions.
Fashionable boots for women may exhibit all the variations seen in other fashion footwear: tapered or spike heels, platform soles, pointed toes, zipper closures and the like. The popularity of boots as fashion footwear ebbs and flows. They were popular in the 1960s and 1970s, but diminished in popularity towards the end of the 20th century. Today, they are becoming popular, especially designs with a long bootleg. Boot bolo's, boot bracelets, boot straps, boot chains, and boot harnesses, are used to decorate boots.
Boots have their own devotees among boot fetishists, shoe fetishists and foot fetishists. Singer Nancy Sinatra was largely responsible for popularizing the fad of women wearing boots in the late 1960s.
... until the shopkeeper plants his boot in our eyes,
and unties our bone and is finished with the case,
and turns to the next customer, forgetting our face
or how we knelt at the yellow bulb with sighs
like moth wings for a short while in a small place.
— Anne Sexton (1928–1974)
In comic books, many "super-heroes" and/or "super-villains" wear boots as part of their customary outfits.
Boots in idioms
- Boots that are particularly old and well worn are thought of as being tough and strong as expressed by the phrase "tough as old boots."
- One potential fate of a discarded boot is to be used in the construction of a musical instrument known as the "mendoza."
- Tall (high) boots may have a tab, loop or handle at the top known as a bootstrap, allowing one to use fingers or a tool to provide better leverage in getting the boots on. A German legend about a boy lifting himself by his bootstraps into the air, allowing him to fly, has led to the word's metaphorical use in many different contexts, such as "to pull one's self up by one's bootstraps." Further information: bootstrapping and booting
- To "die with one's boots on" means to die while one is still actively involved in work, to go down fighting. Popularized by Wild West movies.
- Boot camp: a colloquial term for the initial recruit training of a new recruit enlisting in a military organization or armed force. In this context, a "boot" is just such a recruit.
- Stormtroopers, skinheads, and other agents of authority or political strongarm tactics are typically referred to by their detractors as "jackbooted thugs," a reference to the hobnailed military jackboot of the WWI German Stormtrooper and later Nazi uniform. Authoritarian rule, either by hostile military forces, or by groups of armed intimidators, is imposed by "jackboot tactics."
- To "give one the boot" means to kick one out (of a job, a club, etc.) or expel one, either literally or figuratively.
- To "put the boot in" is an idiom for inflicting violence on someone.
- "The boot is on the other foot now" means that a situation has become reversed--a previous victor is now losing, for example.
- Wearing "seven-league boots" references a classic children's fairy tale and indicates that a person or company can cover great distances, figuratively or literally, in a single stride.
- To "shake in one's boots" means to be very frightened, and is mostly used sarcastically.
Types of boots
A type of boot can fit into more than one of these categories, and may therefore be mentioned more than once
Forms
- Hip boot
- Knee-high boots
- Thigh-length boots
- Wedge boots
- Chap boots
- Moccasins
Styles
- Chelsea boots
- Desert Boots
- Dress boots
- Cowboy boots
- Fashion boots
- Go-go boots
- Granny boots
- Hessian (boot)
- Mukluks
- Rigger boots
- Russian boots
- Ugg boots
- Wellington boots
- Valenki
Sport boots
- Cowboy boots
- Chelsea boots
- Engineer boots
- Football boots
- Harness boots
- Hiking boots
- Motocross boots
- Motorcycle boots
- Motorcycle cop boots
- Mountaineering boots
- Racing boots
- Ski boots
- Snowboard boots
- Snow boot
- Touring boots
- Waders
- Wetsuit boots
Work boots
- Australian boots
- Combat boots
- Hobnail boots
- Jungle boots
- Cold weather boots
- Hobnailed Jackboots
- Cowboy boots
- Gumboots (mainly workwear)
- Hip boots (waders or fishing boots)
- Wellington boots (rubber or farmer boots)
- Galoshes (overshoes)
- Logger boots
- Rigger boots
- Steel-toe boots (safety boots)
- Tanker boots
- Snow boots
Equestrian Boots
- Cavalry Jackboots
- Riding Boots
- Field Boots
- Dress Boots
- Hunt Boots
- Top Boots
- Paddock Boots
- Jodhpur Boots
- Postillion Boots
- Cowboy boots
- Hessian Boots
Military Boots
- Desert Boots
- Wellington boots
- Combat boots
- Jump boots (paratrooper boots)
- Cavalry Jackboots
- Hobnailed Jackboots
- Jungle boots
Brands
- Blundstones
- Chukka boots
- Doc Martens
- Hush Puppies
- Meindl
- Merrell boots
- R. M. Williams
- Rocky
- Georgia Boot
- Durango
- Sorel
- Timberland
- Tony Lama
- UGG Australia
- Warmbat
- Wolverine World Wide
- Foster Footwear
Licensed
- Caterpillar
- Harley-Davidson
- Patagonia Footwear
- Xtratuf
Boot accessories
- Spats
- Boot jack
- Boot hooks