Dr. Martens Canada asked me to submit an image that represented “first love” which is an appropriate coincidence because my experience of first love was simultaneous with the acquisition of my first new (not second-hand) pair of Dr. Martens, a chunky, 90s-style 1460 quad, their much-worn appearance is recorded here.

The specificity of the boot style is important – as is the motorcycle (his first, a much-loved vintage Honda 400 if I recall correctly). The tightness of the illustration is important, because we both liked to draw, and descriptive detail and obsessive cross-hatching echoes the way we drew then. Everything else is just smudged in, obscured by obsolete technology, remaining only in our brains and perhaps boxes in our parent’s homes.

New Dr. Martens! This time the Triumph 1914 boot, with the plaid flannel lining and the satin ribbon laces. There’s three sets of rivets on this thing and about a million options when it comes to lacing. Still playing around with it. Looking forward to getting some wear onto these, they’re made of a nice soft leather so breaking in is easy.

Wearing it with a new skirt that I got from Jude. I’ve been looking for a knee length wool flared skirt with a lining, and this one fit the bill. It has stars screen printed on it, which would normally be a deal-breaker for me, except the pleating breaks them up into something tolerably abstract. Who is Jude? Here’s the story.

It was a beautiful day in London at the beginning of last week. Things were beginning to look up in a lot of ways – not the least is that my tenancy situation got resolved in my favour. I was cleaning the flat but the sun was too gorgeous to stay inside, so I stepped out, thinking I’d get a hipster coffee and hang out on Brick Lane for a bit.

Feeling good, I was walking tall on top of a wall, and this man yells out to me, “you’re the tallest girl in the world!” We struck up a conversation as we walked down Cheshire street and I gathered he was in the fashion business. Impulsively, he asked me if I wanted to walk with him, and impulsively I did. His name is Jude, he is a total character, and he is like a key that unlocks East London. In just a couple hours, he introduced me to like 30 people – a ton of scenes in quick succession – a basement where his leather workers sew his bags, gossip about rents on Brick Lane, a tattoo parlour where we watched gang members get branded with their area code, a Gypsy-caravan style coffee shop lovingly decorated with mismatched furniture and objects (procuring unique decor is one of Jude’s businesses), and finally, the logical conclusion, an empty alcove with dumpsters in it.

Jude explained that he had convinced the owner of this alcove to rent it to him on the weekends – giving him an impromptu storefront on the ritzier side of Shoreditch, Redchurch Street. He sells his own bags, fine vintage menswear (procured from his connections on Savile Row) and also designer samples for women. So I returned on the weekend, and bought my skirt.

That weekday walk is for Jude what Final Fashion is to me – its a critical part of being entrepreneurial. Its not on the clock, but the practice of doing it keeps possibilities open, makes face time routine and keeps a million loose connections alive. He doesn’t have business cards or a sign. I really dig the informality of his method, and the open quality of it. He is a great example of what Gladwell called a “super connector”. As someone who is working on developing connections in a new city, starting from zero, I’m grateful for the serendipity, and also aware that it really isn’t all that accidental.

If you’re in London, you can visit Jude yourself – he is here on the weekends:

Ever since I won the Dr. Martens design competition in 2009, I’ve been so pleased to stay in touch with the fine folks I met who work for my favourite brand of boots. Stephen Griggs, one of the owners, is a twitter friend and noticed I was moving to London. He invited me to come visit the factory, and of course I jumped in my bouncing soles at the chance.

Wellingborough is a factory town north of London, known for being a boot-making district. Stephen’s family has been in the boot making business for generations, buying the Dr. Martens brand and bringing the boot to Britain in 1960. Since then Dr. Martens has gradually developed from being a manufacturer of serviceable work boots to becoming a major player in the business of culture – producing a rare, iconic item that connects the dots between youth, music, politics, and fashion.

Something tangential and interesting I learned on this trip: Dr. Martens’ fortunes tend to rise in hard times. The business peaked in the 1990s and is now experiencing something of a renaissance. Makes sense – they do offer the ultimate recession-proof footwear.

It was amazing to see my favourite boot get born – but don’t take my word for it, here’s some pictures.

A lot of machining is involved in making a boot – the moulds for the soles are made on a CNC machine – separate moulds have to be made for every size and every style.

The soles are made from rubber pellets like this, fed into the top of a machine that melts them…

and pours them into the moulds. Very hot!

Afterwards the soles are checked on a light table to make sure there’s no stray bubbles. The cavities inside the soles are what gives Dr. Martens their bounce.

The pattern pieces for the shoes are also metal. A skilled technician punches out each pattern piece one at a time, placing them on the hide according to the qualities required for the different parts of the boot, while at the same time trying to keep waste to a minimum. I didn’t get a good picture of how he does this, but its a remarkable skill to see in action – both very careful and very quick. (Update: Neil took a little video of this process).

The sewing line comes next – here stitching on the heel tab.

The triple needle machine connects the toe to the rest of the boot.

Eyelets are fed into the top of a machine that punches the hole and sets the eyelet all at the same time.

This type of boot is called the “Capper”, a reissue of a popular 1980s style with a distinctive white band around the top, leather heel tab, and chunky details… like oversized eyelets.

All of the Dr. Martens that are made in England have gold foil stamps inside the soles. The made in China ones are stamped in black.

The tops of the boots are heated to make the leather supple and then the toe cap is moulded on this machine. I should have taken a video of this – it looks very neat, suddenly a flat piece of leather takes the shape of a foot. (Update: Neil took a video of this).

Here are a bunch of Cappers in various states of completion.

The signature gold stitching connects the insole to the upper.

This machine heat seals the sole to the boot, you can see the flame.

And here they are, the finished Cappers all ready for lacing and packing. It is really incredible to see each step performed all under one roof, and just how much attention and care goes into each and every boot. Now every time I lace up my beloved Made In England Cherry Reds, I’ll be remembering all the skilled hands that put them together.

I brought along company for the trip, Neil, a blog buddy who runs a neat, newish site called Good Clobber that focuses on menswear. Check out his take on the day trip here.

Thanks so much to Stephen and Daniel and everyone at Dr. Martens for making another wish come true. It was a wonderful visit!

Dr. Martens just opened a flagship store at 391 Queen Street West. Canada’s first ever. For anyone who is a devotee of the brand, it stocks the complete current collection. I had the pleasure of attending a little cocktail to celebrate the opening, and courtesy of Dr. Martens picked up a beautiful new pair which are sitting at the bottom of this (long) post.

When I came home, I lined up all of the Dr. Martens I’ve ever owned. I’ve never had the heart to throw any of them out, even though several of them are no longer wearable. Now that I am moving to London (birthplace of the Doctor), I have to throw out a lot of stuff. Before I lay these boots down to rest, I wanted to record them and their stories. Here is my history, in DMs.

The first pair of Dr. Martens I ever owned I got when I was 14 years old. I was visiting my cousins in White Rock, a suburb of Vancouver, and my cousin Sarah and I found them in a thrift store. Even though they fit her better than they fit me, I insisted that I get them, because I knew there was no way my parents would ever give me $150 for a new pair. I had to wear thick socks with them, and I didn’t even really like the colour, but I had been wanting them so much for so long that didn’t matter.

They’re covered in paint because later in life, they became my grubby boots for doing work in. I renovated two studios in these boots.

The second pair of Dr. Martens boots were the ones I really wanted. Using money from my job at McDonalds, I went shopping in Huntsville Ontario at the age of 16. Huntsville was where my exquisite, 16 year old, motorcycle-riding, snowboarding first real boyfriend lived. The 1460 Quads were everything I wanted in a boot – the super-thick sole, and the rounded toe, were the ultimate in 1990s footwear. The matte finished leather was soft as anything.

I wore and wore and wore these boots for the next five years, until the thick sole finally cracked in half. RIP, Quads. Like my first boyfriend, you were a perfect teenage memory and I will always love you.

I bought my third pair of Dr. Martens with my OSAP money, around the corner from the first studio I shared with my ex at Yonge and Wellesly. They were red patent, finished to look like they were blackened and then with the black worn away. They also had two little “knife-holder” buckles on the side that got caught on everything and eventually had to be cut off.

These boots were hell to wear in, but looked flashy and rad at fashion school. I would re-black them occasionally and then rub the black off – I really dig the contrast, you can see it better in the side view. Eventually these developed a lot of small splits over the toe, and the insole totally got unglued and would bunch up and be uncomfortable.

Following the red patent 14 holes, I took a break from Dr. Martens for a four year long fling with Fluevog Bond Girl boots.

If you’ve been following the blog, you know that I won a certain contest. Because the delivery of the contest-winning boots was taking a little longer than anticipated, Doug who handles the marketing for Dr. Martens in North America kindly sent me this pair of classic 1460s, which I wear frequently, and adore. Doug is awesome, and so are his friends – they spontaneously asked me to have dinner with them last night – having dinner with new friends is the best.

And then they came – the contest boots! They get a little shabbier every time I wear them, but more than anything they give me a boost of confidence and colour every time I wear them. I take them out when I’m craving attention. They always get compliments, and I always get to say that I designed them. No really, I did!

Dedication to the brand eventually pays off, because Dr. Martens gifted me another pair when they celebrated their 50th in Toronto. I wanted the classic cherry reds, but I got these instead – so I decided to try another splatter theme with designer Ashley Rowe, who splattered everything and anything for Fall 2010. These boots are extremely hard on the feet but look so sharp, Ashley really took them from a-little-too-gothy to preppy-arty.

Dr. Martens is so incredibly generous. I never expected another gift, but at the store opening they offered and I would never, ever say no to another pair. I knew exactly the ones I wanted – the cherry-red, made in England, classic 1460s. They’re just perfect the way they are, no customization necessary, but I know once they start getting worn in I’m going to black them up to get the classic two-tone effect.

I love Dr. Martens. There really isn’t any other brand I feel the same level of dedication towards, and the best part is that the feeling seems to be mutual. Thanks, Dr. Martens, for keeping me well shod for the better part of my adolescence and adulthood.

How are Dr. Martens like hobbits?  Well, for their fiftieth anniversary, they give the best gifts.  In my case, I gratefully received a pair of zippered, patent red leather 16-holers.  At first, I was a bit intimidated by them, they were so… shiny, slick, snazzy.  When worn with black, they bordered on goth-y.  My current obsession is a mission to embrace colour.  To help me, I enlisted the aid of Ashley Rowe.

Ashley Rowe is a fashion designer whose Fall 2010 collection included a line of original, one-of-a-kind splattered T-shirts.  Each lovingly shot one by one with a watergun full of paint, they are a steal starting at $75. Its fun and spontaneous.  I asked her if it was possible to do boots, and she went for it!  I wanted something preppy-punk, so I asked for blue…

… and white.  I was literally making squeaks and groans with pleasure as Ashley splattered my boots.  So good! Love love love!

These are epic.

I’m wearing

• shirt – Attitude by SEARS
• jeans – Paper Denim & Cloth
• boots – !!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Thank you Dr. Martens, thank you Ashley Rowe!

BONUS GIF: big thank you to rock-it promotions for inviting me out to the Precious Metal Gala, my first perfect opportunity to rock the boots.  It was a fun night of activities for ladies, sponsored by Harley-Davidson with proceeds going to support Rethink Breast Cancer.  I had so much fun, I mostly forgot to take pictures, but I did manage to get three of me, improbably lifting an extremely heavy motorcycle.

What a delightful surprise! On last night’s American Idol contestant Siobhan Magnus wore the Dr. Martens I designed. She looked super cute and sang one of my favourite Shania songs. Thanks so much to everyone who sent me a note about it!

Irene at 69 Vintage Buy the Pound posted this picture of an adorable girl in horned-rim glasses and a colourful vintage dress… wearing my Dr. Martens design, purchased from NEON!  Pretty cool to see my boots on someone who is not a friend… but I am too curious.  Who is this girl with such tremendous taste in footwear?

If you can introduce me to her, or if you’ve bought a pair of boots yourself, email me please – it makes my day to see these out and about.

UPDATE: Mystery solved!  Marie sends me this lovely note:

I came across your posting –  The cool little pixie is Kendra.  My favorite gal pal, my adorable niece, a whimsical angel in my old aunty soul.

My sister and I took her shopping for shoes for her grade 8 grad.  She is has the heart and soul of an artist and when she spied your boots in neon it was love at first sight.  The boots were bought to ground her during her grade 8 grad and also because Kendra had no interest in rocking her grad in heels.  The boots inspired her to support local designers and in the end her dress equally amazing was bought from Freedom Clothes near Dovercourt and Bloor.  All inspiration for the grad came from the boots up.

She is everything that mishevious grin in the picture shows – she is a delight, she is  unique, she is whimsical…

What a beautiful story!   I remember how transformative Dr. Martens were for me when I was younger.  I can’t express how happy it makes me that someone like Kendra fell in love with my boots “at first sight” — and that it inspired her to style her grad outfit with the work of other local designers. Thanks so much Kendra and Marie!

My internet friend Christy Burton (we “met” on Fashion-Incubator) purchased my Dr. Martens design (yes you can get them shipped to the USA) and sent me this picture showing them off on Twitter.  Love her happy face and she says she loves her new boots too!

These new boots have put me in such a good mood I can barely sit still. I should wear them every day! I feel like a superhero.

You can buy the boots here – and if you do, please send me a picture, it makes me so happy to see them being worn!

As announced, my contest-winning design for Dr. Martens is now available for purchase at NEON Clothing here in Toronto (and I understand Montreal as well).  So I’m just wondering, has anyone bought them?  I’d love to see pictures/give shout-outs to fellow boot-owners.  If you are one of the many who expressed the intention to buy them, I’d suggest you do it now, before your size sells out.  Supplies are limited.

Hey look, the Dr. Martens boots I designed are now at NEON in Toronto!

What: Colour Puddle Jump, sizes UK3-UK9, $179 CDN
Where: NEON, 391 Queen Street West, Toronto