You will have seen recently that Chelsea boots are having “a second,” as trend folks prefer to say. The laceless, ankle-length boots with elasticated gussets have been round for the reason that mid-Nineteenth century, when Queen Victoria’s shoemaker made her a pair for strolling and horseback using. The type dipped out of trend following WWI however got here roaring again within the Nineteen Sixties because of the mods and the British invasion, whose suited and booted members had been recognized to hang around on the King’s Highway in Chelsea. Groovy child, yeah! For the reason that swinging ‘60s, Chelsea boots, make a resurgence each decade or two. And as soon as once more, there are herds of them.

For years, I’ve been sporting a square-toe type from Blundstone, often called mannequin #1306. It has the whole lot I personally search for in a Chelsea: dressy sufficient to put on with a sportcoat, however rugged sufficient to tromp by means of mud or snow. A fast wipe down, a little bit of Nikwax, and slightly buff with a rag, and we’re again in enterprise. However recently, my trusty pair of “loopy horse” Blundstones have been wanting drained certainly. The elastic sides are frayed (I’ve tried snipping and even burning the perimeters), the toes deeply scuffed, and the heels visibly worn down. And since Blundstones’ soft soles are glued on, most cobblers refuse to resole them. It’s time to put these boots out to pasture.

Within the intervening years since I picked up my favourite pair of Chelseas, it appears they’ve gotten highly regarded, and I’m slightly put out. At a current banquet, one visitor nearly walked out sporting one other’s black round-toe blunnies–fortunately, my pair was too beat as much as get confused with the others. The loss of life knell got here for me when Max Berlinger known as Blundstones “the defining type of the early 2020s” in an article for the New York Occasions—a certain signal that that they had reached pique ubiquity. So I started to perform a little looking out on-line for a substitute pair.

However I had a number of standards. Ideally, I wished to spend lower than $500, which dominated out  Trickers, Husbands, Church buildings, and Crockett and Jones. And there have been some aesthetic points I wished to keep away from. After assembly up with a buddy who was sporting a pair of Prada Chelsea boots with elongated toes, I couldn’t shake the concept they regarded slightly phallic. 

So I made a decision to take a look at one thing extra hard-wearing, an old-school British model primarily based out of Northampton, known as Solovair. The corporate’s styling is sort of equivalent to Dr. Martens, however the pull tab on the again of their footwear is inexperienced, and the leather-based is much less plastic-y. Most significantly, the rubber lug soles are Goodyear welted, which suggests when the soles put on down, I can placed on new ones. Solovair solely makes one type of Chelsea known as the Seller Boot—which is available in a wide range of colours and finishes—from shiny black to rugged scotch grain in a medium brown. They’re chunky with out being full-on Bottega stompers, and the marginally upturned toe makes them appear to be they’re already in movement. I assumed they’d pair fantastically with denims and a chore coat or a blouson, however they may look misplaced peaking out beneath a pair of grey flannels. And in a school city like Cambridge, the place Blundstones and Dr. Martens are in all places, had been the Solovairs had been slightly samey? My search continued.

On eBay, I discovered a pair of black, RM Williams (Gardener mannequin) that appeared like an ideal match. Made in Australia of a single minimize of leather-based, these boots had been slick however nonetheless rugged sufficient to truly stay in—at residence with a Barbour or a go well with–or perhaps each on the similar time a la Anglo-Italian’s Jake Grantham! And since they had been pre-owned, I might truly afford these footwear and I wouldn’t should child them. However once they arrived, I discovered the boots had been a bit too massive; with my insoles added, they had been a smidge too tight. As a result of Chelsea boots are laceless, you don’t have a lot room for changes. Reluctantly, I despatched them again.

Just a few new, direct-to-consumer manufacturers have caught my eye. Possibly the Chelsea market simply wanted to be disrupted? My first thought was Spanish model Morjas, who makes a really shapely Chelsea, however transport to the UK (the place I presently stay) would imply incurring each VAT and customs from His Majesty. I additionally took a have a look at  Thursday Boots, who’ve a good repute on Styleforum for high quality building. They arrive in a variety of types and supplies, however there’s one thing slightly too macho about their advertising and marketing, with names like: “The Cavalier,” “The Duke,” and “The Legend.” Rakoh, an American startup making their boots outdoors Florence, additionally popped up on my radar. (Full disclosure: they despatched me a pair in espresso brown, which I’ve been sporting for the previous few days). The styling is on level–almond toe, medium heel–and they’re by far the lightest Chelsea boots I’ve tried on. However I started to really feel that they had been a bit too good for my functions, not the kind of shoe I’d need to should wipe canine crap off after a stroll within the park with my collie. In my 30’s, I’m confronting the truth that my way of life is much less like Keith Richards’ and extra like Queen Victoria’s, and I would like a Chelsea boot to match.

Ultimately, I gave up and settled on shopping for one other pair of square-toed Blundstones in the identical coloration because the pair I had. If it ain’t broke … However then I found that Blundstone has come out with a fancier model of the “costume” Chelsea. A part of their so-called heritage assortment, the mannequin #152 is sleeker than its chubbier, round-toe cousin, and even has a Goodyear welted rubber sole. This was it, my perfect Chelsea boot, good for any event or sort of climate, and beneath funds. Now if solely it got here in brown.