By Dave MacNeil
With rubber boots making a splash in recent years on the fashion runways of Europe, I can only imagine what might have been 50 years ago, had my mother not forbid my bold attempt at stylistic relevance.
Growing up, my wardrobe was dominated by hand-me-downs from my older brother, which virtually nullified any hope I harboured of being current, much less stylish. But all that might have changed, when my mother took me to Mary Beaton’s store in Mabou for back-to-school shopping and bought me my first pair of black, red-soled rubber boots when I was 10 years old.
The store, which now houses the Red Shoe Pub, met all my family’s clothing needs in those days, if you don’t count boxes of clothing from relatives in such exotic locales as Hamilton, Ontario. And in the centre of the store there was a bin of those iconic boots, with sizes for all the family. I’m not sure if they were her biggest seller, but the prominence they held in her establishment would indicate their popularity.
When I was a kid, I considered myself neither in the cool crowd, nor counted among the nerds. But the older I get, the more I realize that this may have been wishful thinking. In any event, I saw this purchase as an opportunity to finally make a fashion statement.
The minute I got those boots home I set about to make them the centrepiece of my new look. With Mom otherwise occupied, I raced upstairs to my room, rolled down the tops of those boots and stood in the mirror to admire my handiwork.
I’m not completely sure about the genesis of this look, but I do know that by the time I owned my first pair of these rubber boots, the rolled-down look was fully entrenched. I suspect it may have been motivated by the annoyance of always having the tops of the boots slapping against your shins as you walked, not to mention the noise that made.
For those who really wished to push the fashion envelope, there was something special that elevated this look to another level, and that was to have just the right amount of bovine excrement adorning the folded portion of the boot – not enough to offend the senses, but enough to tell the world that you’ve been in the trenches, or at least in the vicinity of one particular trench.
On the drive home from the store, Mom had made it clear that these boots were not to be worn in the barn, but were simply meant to keep my feet dry at school. However, oblivious to the latest trend in fashion footwear, she hadn’t said anything about rolling them down.
So, the next morning, as I readied myself for school, my mother spied my new boots by the back door.
“David Archibald MacNeil, what did you do to your new boots?”
I froze over my bowl of porridge.
“What do you mean?” I innocently asked.
“You get out here right now and fix these boots.”
“But Mom,” I pleaded. “Everybody wears them that way.”
“Those boots will end up with holes where you folded them, and then what happens when you find yourself in a big puddle?”
“I’ll just stay out of puddles, then,” I reasoned.
“Please explain to me, then, why I just bought you rubber boots so you can keep them dry? How does that make any sense?”
It didn’t make sense, that’s for sure, so I finally relented, and returned my new boots to factory condition, and headed out the door to school – flop, flop, flopping all the way.
As I recalled this brief chapter in my life, I was curious to know if rolled-down rubber boots might still be a look enjoyed in some circles. Sure enough, on the Amazon website I came across the XTRATUF women’s Salmon Sister 15in Legacy Non-marking Slip-resistant Waterproof Neoprene Rubber Rain Fishing Boots.
The most remarkable feature of these boots, other than their unnecessarily long name, is the fact their label appears on the inside of the boot upside-down so that when you roll them down it can be displayed right-side-up.
The price tag on these puppies is $170. Only the right boot is displayed on the website, but I assume they thrown in the left one as well for that price!