subject: Boot - Control Cable - China Power Cable [print this page] Types and uses Types and uses
A pair of "classic" black leather Doc Martens.
Russian army boots
A pair of kneehigh boots in white leather with 6 cm (2.36") stiletto heels
Boots designed for walking through the elements may be made of a single closely-stitched design (using leather, rubber, canvas, or similar material) to prevent the entry of water, snow, mud or dirt through the gaps left between the laces and the tongue in other types of shoes. Simple waterproof gumboots are made in different lengths of uppers. In extreme cases, thigh-boots called waders, worn by anglers, end at the hip level of the wearer. Such boots may also be insulated for warmth. Most boots commonly sold in retail stores are not actually waterproof.
Speciality boots have been made to temporarily protect steelworkers if they get caught in pools of molten metal; to protect chemical workers from a wide variety of chemical exposure; and there are insulated, inflatable, boots designed for walking in the Antarctic continent. However, most work boots are "laceups" made from leather; formerly they were usually shod with hobnails and heel- and toe-plates, but now usually with a thick rubber sole, and often with steel toecaps. Work boots (like the popular Dr. Martens) were adopted by skinheads and punks as part of their typical dress and have migrated to more mainstream fashion, including women's wear. As a more rugged alternative to dress shoes, dress boots may be worn (though these can also be more formal than shoes).
Specialty boots have been designed for many different types of sports, particularly riding, skiing and snowboarding, Ice skating, and sporting in wet conditions.
Fashionable boots for women may all the variations seen in other fashion footwear: tapered or spike heels, platform soles, pointed toes, zipper closures and the like. The popularity of boots as fashion footwear ebbs and flows. They were popular in the 1960s and 1970s, but diminished in popularity towards the end of the 20th century. Today, they are becoming popular, especially designs that have a long bootleg.
Boots have their own devotees among boot fetishists, shoe fetishists and foot fetishists. Singer Nancy Sinatra was largely responsible for popularizing the fad of women wearing boots in the late 1960s.
Boots in idioms
A pair of tall riding boots
Boots, particularly those worn as protective footwear by workers (work boots) have a reputation for being as hard-wearing as their owners, hence the commonly used simile "tough as old boots".
One potential fate of a discarded boot is to be used in the construction of a musical instrument known as the "mendoza".
Tall boots may have a tab, loop or handle at the top known as a bootstrap, allowing one to use fingers or a tool to provide better leverage in getting the boots on. A German legend about a boy lifting himself by his bootstraps into the air, allowing him to fly, has led to the word's metaphorical use in many different contexts, such as "to pull yourself up by your bootstraps."
Further information: bootstrappingandbooting
Calfhigh leather boots with stiletto heel (Le Silla).
To "die with one's boots on" means to die from violence as opposed to from natural causes (to "die in bed"); hence Boot Hill as a popular name for Wild West cemeteries.
Boot camp: a colloquial term for the initial recruit training of a new recruit enlisting in a military organization.
Stormtroopers, skinheads, and other agents of authority or political strongarm tactics are typically referred to by their detractors as "jackbooted thugs," a reference to the tall riding or military-style boot of the Nazi uniform. Authoritarian rule, either by hostile military forces, or by groups of armed intimidators, is imposed by "jackboot tactics."
The "boot", in British English, Australian English and New Zealand English, refers to the storage area of a car termed the "trunk" in American English.
To "give someone the boot" means to kick them out (of a job, a club, etc.), either literally or figuratively.
To "put the boot off" someone's chin.
"The boot is on the other foot now" means that a situation has become reversed -- a previous victor is now losing, for example.
"Boot" also became a command in early computing, to mean starting up the computer or putting a program into the memory. It is still used today.
Wearing "seven-league boots" references a classic children's fairy tale and indicates that a person or company can cover great distances, figuratively or literally, in a single stride.
Boots may also be use as a beer drinking device which one will fill up the boot and drink from it. The most recent notable boot use in the 2006 movie Beerfest using a glass yard with a boot shaped bulb at the end known as "Das Boot", a reference to the 1981 movie, Das Boot, although "Das Boot" means "The Boat," not "The Boot."
To "shake in one's boots" means to be very frightened, and is mostly used sarcastically.
An insult in the British English language. Eg "She is a smelly boot!"
Types of boots
A pair of Gothic boots
Boot hooks (left) and a bootjack (right) are sometimes required to put on or take off some types of boots
A type of boot can fit into more than one of these categories, and may therefore be mentioned more than once
Forms
Hip boot
Knee-high boots
Thigh-length boots
Wedge boots
Chap boots
Styles
Chelsea boots
Dress boots
Cowboy boots
Go-go boots
Hessian (boot)
Mukluks
Rigger boots
Wellington boots
Valenki
Sport boots
Football boots
Hiking boots
Motorcycle boots
Engineer boots
Harness boots
Racing boots
Touring boots
Motocross boots
Motorcycle cop boots
Mountaineering boots
R.M. Williams elastic side riding boots
Riding boots
Cowboy boots
Chelsea Boots
Ski boots and Snowboard boots
Skates:
Ice skates
Figure skates
Roller skates
Inline skates
Waders (footwear)
Work boots
Australian boots
Combat boots
Hobnail boots
Jump boots (paratrooper boots)
Jungle boots
Cold weather boots
Jackboots
Cowboy boots
Gumboots (mainly workwear)
Hip boots (waders or fishing boots)
Wellington boots (rubber or farmer boots)
Galoshes (overshoes)
Logger boots
Rigger boots
Shearers moccasins
Steel-toe boots (safety boots)
Tanker boots
Brands
Blundstones
Chukka boots
Doc Martens
R. M. Williams
Redback footwear
Rocky
Georgia Boot
Durango
Sorel
Timberland
Tony Lama
Ugg boots
Meindl
Boot accessories
Spats
Boot jack
Boot hooks
See also
Boot fetishism
Shoe fetishism
Kinky boots
Boot cut
External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Boots
Footwear History
The History of Boots (Archive copy at the Internet Archive)
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