The man who made us wear Dr.Martens.

..is 69 today. He is, of course, far better known as lead guitarist with the one of the biggest bands in history. But Pete Townshend was possibly an even greater influence through footwear than he was through music. Around 1967, Pete rebelled against the foppish, flowery fashions of the day and started wearing very plain proletarian attire including Dr. Marten boots. Gradually, they caught on, particularly among skinheads and by the 1970s and the whole world has worn them ever since. Most of my school wore them but you had to get them from Holt’s in Camden Town and they had to be genuine DMs. There were similar boots around at the time called Majordomos but, no, they were a mere….substitute.