Roamers Suede Desert Boots from Amazon
A lot of the apparel featured on this blog is Mod-inspired. With this in mind, I am almost ashamed to admit that I have never owned a pair of classic suede Desert Boots; a staple footwear choice for Mods. However, the reasoning behind my decision in this is sound; I’m an advocate of long-lasting quality footwear, which is why I tend to exclusively buy leather footwear. Suede is easily ruined by water - making it not an ideal choice for the inclement weather that we experience for the best part of the year here in the UK.
However, I’ve been on the hunt for a cheap pair of desert suede boots with the thinking that, if they’re affordable, it won’t matter too much if they eventually get ruined - I can just buy another pair. The first result for ‘Desert Boots’ in Amazon heralded what I was looking for; classic suede desert boots for less than £30.
These boots are made by a brand called ‘Roamers’, which admittedly I’d never heard of. The Amazon retailer who sent them to me was ‘Shoesbyclair’ and cost £22, with a little bit extra for postage.
Within a week, my boots arrived. First impressions where good; they where the right shape and colour and fitted well, however I did avoid taking them out in the rain until they were throughly coated in suede protector spray (costs around £5 from your local cobbler).
The suede upper is soft and flexible; it feels re-enforced in the right places and the stitching is neat and tidy. This type of desert boot has a nice thick crepe sole, which gives you a little more cushioning than other desert boots I’ve seen, however I did fit my pair with an innersole just to give them a nice snug fit.
There’s an important point to make here about the crepe soles. I have previously owned a pair of ebony leather desert boots from Clarks; the apparent originator of the desert boot. I loved this pair of boots but after about six months they were rendered useless, because of the sole: After quite a lot of use, the sole of the Clarks desert boots wore smooth - it had no grip at all. There were quite a few incidents on wet pavements where I lost footing and almost stacked it! The crepe soles on this pair of boots seem to compensate for this issue; they are ridged and textured to provide some extra grip. Will this work and ensure that the sole doesn’t ware away? Only time will tell.
The boots depicted here are only about a week old and haven’t had a great deal of use yet. Suede does ruin easily when wet, so I am expecting them to deteriorate from their box-fresh state in a few months. However, they’re so affordable, I won’t mind picking up another pair as replacements… Judging by the reviews on Amazon, a lot of customers are employing the same strategy.
So there it is, a cheap pair of desert boots that look and feel good. I try not to promote ‘throw-away’ fashion and please don’t expect these to be the best pair of boots you’ll ever own; the price to a small extent does represent the quality, however on the whole I think they’re pretty good.
My pair of Desert Boots cost about £22 and are in ‘Sand’ colour, although you can also find them in brown, black bad blue. Check them out on Amazon here.
