When choosing your boots as an alternative person looking to mosh and bash heads at a few rowdy UK festivals you have to keep an open mind as to your options. This article will be a down to Earth guide on everything you need to consider when paralysed by the wave of useless information out there.
Things To Look For
One of the most important things you should look at on a boot is how the sole is attached to the upper, since this is where most footwear fails. The pinnacle of boots is considered to be Goodyear welted or storm welted construction: stitching that attaches upper, welt, and sole in a way that allows resoling, which dramatically extends lifespan. If that’s too pricey, look for good stitch work, strong glue only in secondary joints, and soles that are at least thick enough to handle gravel, concrete, and crowd crush. Glued shoes can work too (particularly on shoes trying to be waterproof) but they must be from a reputable brand with many good reviews.
Other fine qualities to find:
- Repairability: being able to resole a shoe is usually better than having a strong initial construction, unless your upper is garbage and would wear out before the joint.
- Leather quality: full grain or thick upper leather resists abrasions, which is particularly important in mosh pits and surviving festivals. I know you’re not maintaining your boots so the thicker the leather the better.
- Reinforced stitching: especially around heel, toe, and where the boot bends.
- Sole Material: a sole with grip that won’t wear out quickly. Vibram outsoles are renowned for their durability and grip, with different rubber types for different situations.
- Comfort and break‑in: no boot survives if you refuse to wear it until it fits your foot. If your boot hasn’t broken in within two months, you probably got the wrong size.
- Lining: some boots will come with comfortable or waterproof linings. Personally I like all of my shoes to be waterproof, but if you’re a particularly sweaty fella you may want to avoid.
So which brands are reliable? Here is a table of the ones we’ll cover to save you some time:
| Brand / Category | Price | Helgrave Score |
|---|---|---|
| General Snob Boots (GYW) | 💀💀💀💀💀 | 🤍 |
| Thursday Boot Company | 💀💀 | 🤍🤍🤍 |
| William Lennon & CO | 💀💀 | 🤍🤍🤍🤍 |
| New Rock | 💀💀💀 | 🤍🤍🤍 |
| Dr. Martens | 💀💀 | 🤍 |
| Solovair / Gripfast | 💀💀💀 | 🤍🤍🤍 |
| Demonia Cult | 💀💀💀 | 🤍🤍 |
| Belleville / Military | 💀💀 | 🤍🤍🤍🤍 |
High End Goodyear Welt Boots – eg. Red Wing
The Goodyear welt community would turn their nose up at me for writing this, but most are pretty overpriced for our purposes (they can be £300+ easily). Folk in the alternative scene are notoriously impoverished from buying tickets and abusing substances, so I generally wouldn’t recommend the investment in boots alone. That being said, they are probably the best quality you can get and would survive most mosh pits with ease, just don’t expect them to stay so pretty.
Thursday Boot Company
These guys have a great ethos, setting reasonable prices for decent Goodyear welted boots. They look incredible (especially the matte ones) and on top of that they offer free UK delivery over a certain price. They don’t do seasonal sales as a rule but they do offer factory seconds for a discount if you can find one in your size.
William Lennon & CO
A niche answer to the boot question. These boots are made the old fashioned way in Derbyshire and can be customised to your liking if you’ve got the scrip. I cheekily asked if they would do a student discount while I was in uni and they actually offered me one, so props there. If you’re looking to support an independent trader with your cash this is the one.
New Rocks
These boots have the best alternative / punk rock look out of the box in my opinion, with each one looking wildly different to the last. They’re bold, loud, style‑first, platform, chains, wings, metal. Genuine statement boots.
From what I’ve heard though, sometimes the durability side slips. Zippers or buckles break; some soles come undone. There’s seemingly mixed quality control. Some pairs last years; others show wear fast. If you want them, aim to get a good pair, inspect stitching, avoid over‑promised hardware, and be ready to superglue them back together. Buyer beware, but many still love them for performance + style.
Dr. Martens
I used to love Docs, particularly my old burgundy ones that were a size too big for me and were built like a tank. Times change though. Docs these days still look great but are made of thin leather that I find to form sharp edges that dig into your skin and wear out quickly, and the soles aren’t that great compared to Vibram rubber either. Some boots wear through at heels, develop holes (especially around zips) after months of heavy wear. Personally I would skip these, but if you’re set on a pair go for the “Made in England” ones off of Vinted or Ebay, or buy in a sale and be ready to use the warranty if you need it later.
Solovair / Gripfast
Dr. Martens more authentic cousin. These are built like they used to, the exact same silhouette and sole construction, literally in the same factory. They have the same old English quality and moshpit survivability of Docs before they went overseas without top massive of a price increase.
Demonia
I think these shoes are built like wet tissue paper, but they do look cool when you first get them.
Platforms, extreme looks, dramatic silhouettes. If you want heads turning, they do the job. If you want boots you can stand in for 12‑hour gig nights, they may suffer. Many folks report soles peeling, glue joints failing, hardware weakening. If you buy Demonia, buy with the idea that modifications / repairs will be part of the experience, not an afterthought.
Belleville / Military Surplus
This one is a bit out of left field but it’s what I’m currently rocking.
Military boots are designed to be comfortable walking, standing, sprinting in for long distances and to take a beating while doing it. Mine are made by Belleville and are completely waterproof with Vibram rubber soles, so I can rely on theme in any scenario be it Hell or high water.
They won’t look very alternative out of the box, but that’s nothing a little light modification won’t fix. Add spikes, bat wing accessories, paint or dye, and these boots will be ready to kick a concert’s ass.
Conclusion
The boot you choose will depend on your preferences, but if you want a definitive answer I would default to getting some Belles and gothifying them yourself for the perfect blend of aesthetics and function when demolishing some poor soul in the pit.
Note: Don’t go for steel toe caps, you’re only going to get some 7 foot dude step on you and guillotine your toes off. Modern tech allows for other strong materials, usually a form of sturdy plastic, to act as toe protection instead without the potential of turning against you in a French revolutionary fashion.