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.

Mod clothing is great, but let’s be honest, it’s expensive. As a niche style, it seems some brands can get away with charging an arm and a leg for their garments.

However, rest assured, a solution is at hand: There are a few brands out there making Mod clobber for affordable prices. One of these key brands is the British label, Warrior.

Mod Wear (www.modwear.co.uk) is a relatively new website that offers lots of gear from Warrior and some other really nice Mod inspired brands at affordable prices. Importantly, Mod Wear had a great idea and came to us - ‘own a whole Mod Outfit for less than £100’. This ethos is exactly why this blog exists. Why not take a look at the outfit below and head over to the site for more info…

The Harrington Jacket is the essential staring place for a Mod look. The pictures from the Warrior website aren’t brilliant, but as luck may have it, I snapped a few of their items at a trade show last year.

I believe the Warrior Harrington is available in a few different colours from Mod Wear for only £23.95 - a very good price for a classic jacket. Check it out here.

Next up, you’re going to need a classic shirt to go under the jacket. How about this classic SKAville short sleeved, button down plaid shirt.

This shirt is only £19.99 and has lots of nice details, including full pleat down the back. Check out the image below - you can make out the red colour variation on the far right along with some other shirts from Warrior. Find this shirt at Mod Wear here.

Of course, you’ll need something to tuck your shirt into. How about a pair of Sta Prest trousers for only £24.99?

Burgundy trousers are very much ‘in’ right now (I think in part because Woody in This Is England ‘88 donned a pair). I can’t vouch for the quality of these yet because I haven’t got my hands on a pair and I don’t have a better photo at the moment, but you can find more details on Mod Wear here.

Finally, you’re going to need a pair of shoes to sit at the bottom of your Sta Prests. Most archetypal of the Mod footwear is the desert boot, and Warrior offer a suede pair for only £29.99 find them on the site here.

And here they are on the shelf…

So, let’s take a look at the shopping list and see if we came in under a hundred quid.

Harrington Jacket - £23.95

Plaid Shirt - £19.99

Sta Prest Trousers - £24.99

Desert Boots - £29.99

Total - £98.92

And not only have we come in at under one hundred pounds, the kind people at Mod Wear have provided Good Clobber readers with a discount code that gives you free delivery! Simply enter the following code at the checkout: ‘GoodClobber1’.

Thanks very much to Mod Wear for the images and discount code.

Last month I was idly flicking through a copy of Esquire magazine at the barbers. I came across a full page article that made me smile broadly. In this picture piece, many of the views and quirks that Good Clobber holds true where highlighted in an accurate and amusing fashion.

Essentially, the piece compares two looks; the first, ‘Modern Man circa 2011’ and the other ‘Dane Bowers circa 2002’. Very amusing. Click on the image below for a big picture that you can read in detail (might take a little while to load).

Some of my favorite observations are: “The trousers of choice are faded boot cut, replete with trademark fraying, muddied hem dragging behind.” Very true; there’s nothing good or practical about baggy or boot-legged trousers, avoid at all costs.

And… “A straightforward desert boot offers casual comfort while still getting you past the bouncers’ shoe policy”. Again, spot on. Find yourself a good pair of desert boots in a dark shade and they’ll work for ninety per cent of situations. Need some ideas? Check out here, here and here.

Vitally, Esquire are recommending that you get yourself a button-down shirt and tuck it in. I could not agree more. Check out here for a good button-down and make sure it’s tucked in - at least on every week day.

Finally, Esquire have made an effort to recommend affordable products to update your look - well done chaps, that’s what we like. However, I think they’re leaning a little more on the pricey side of a reasonable budget.

Thanks to Esquire