My Doc Martens are busted - please help
Advice on how to fix 'vegan leather' boots
Hello and welcome back to Patched.
In between my regular newsletter I send out Patched - a series where people ask me a fashion (or fashion-adjacent) question, and I reply with a short letter from an anti-capitalist perspective.
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The title Patched is a reminder that at this critical time we need repair and regeneration as well as analysis. I will keep unpicking and unravelling the fashion industry but Patched makes space to explore mending - finding solutions to both personal and structural problems.
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Don't forget that I have a new book coming out and would love you to pre-order it: CHARITY SHOP WORLD: AN INVESTIGATION INTO COMMUNITY, CONSUMPTION AND WASTE
Tansy Hoskins
This month the conundrum is from me! Here is the issue:
I got a secondhand pair of vegan Doc Marten boots back in February 2023. Because they are vegan "leather" the lacquer finish was already chipped. I did not mind a bit of chipping, but after a couple of years of heavy use, they look too bashed in for my taste. I asked a friend who is really into Dr Marten's if they knew how to fix them and they said ask chatgpt. This left me so dispirited that I gave up for a while.
When I first got them, they looked like this.
I then made an unwise attempt at gluing down some of the lacquer which went really badly and just made it patchy and lumpy.
Time to bring in an expert!
With some very hot weather and a public holiday on the horizon, I decided it was time to finally fix my DMs and document the process in the hope that it's useful for more people.
I reached out to Annie Purdy - Footwear Designer, Maker, Storyteller of Soles - and asked for some help. [Find Annie's Insta here.]
Annie explained that because the vegan “leather” is basically a plastic coating, when it flakes it means the top layer is breaking down - which is not something you can properly re-lacquer. She recommended that I try out a flexible shoe paint, or a vinyl/leather repair paint to seal the surface again. I went for Angelus paint which cost £5.95.
The plan was not to try and get the original finish back but to give the boots a fresh new finish that I'll be happy wearing. I won't wear leather because I am completely opposed to the cruelty implicit in the industrial farming of animals and the horrific, toxic nature of leather production, so it's important I can repair my non-leather boots.
Time to peel off as much of the flaking lacquer as possible
Peeling off all the flaking bits and lightly sanding the surface smooth is essential. Someone else might have gone further than I did, but I chose to preserve the bits of original lacquer that were still intact as I like the colour.
Painting is the fun bit
Sat outside on a very hot day, the paint dried super fast:
The results!
One boot after one coat.... Two boots after two coats
Thank you Annie Purdy for the great advice.
Hopefully you agree this was a successful Patched experiment.
Back next month with another letter which is currently being researched.
In solidarity, Tansy.
p.s. I'm teaching Intro to Information Security on the 11th June and you're invited. This is a great 2 hour online class for anyone worried about being trolled or harassed online, or who'd like to work with a whistleblower or sensitive information but doesn’t know where to start.
I've taught this class to students, researchers and civil society groups - you'll go from muddling along online, to implementing a solid introductory foundation in information security to protect yourself and the people you communicate with:
Book Here: https://tcij.org/scheduled-training/intro-to-information-security-for-journalists-6/
p.p.s. I also saved another pair of my shoes this weekend by stitching blossom onto the toe holes and then adding an extra flower to make it look more purposeful.
