Introduction
Entry: The iconic U-shape smiling
If right at this moment, you’d lower your head and focus on the ground; perhaps you’re in a jammed subway coach, or at a corner within a busy cafe; I’d say you’re somewhat likely to see that style of boots: They usually comes with thick and white outsoles, and on the upper of the shoes, carries an obvious U shape stitching line, making them almost a steady, quiet smirk.
Well friends, here we go, this is called the Mocassin boots, or put it simply, the moc-toes; people often wise says man ages like fine wine, the moc-toe are pretty much the same.
So, here are the questions: the moc toe boot is a blue collar footwear born in mud, wood shavings, and motor oil, how did it became a popular icon of fashion even until this day? And it is out of what reason there are large numbers of fellows who’re wiling to throw hundreds or thousand bucks, just for a pair of...leather boots?
Tell you what, the answer may be buried in that U-shape stitching line.
Its Origin and History: From Forest hunting to Modern city
Shall we say, its legend begins by the hands of the Native American tribes, specifically speaking, the Algonquian-speaking Powhatans.
The indigenous Powhatan hunters are arguably the first group of people who invented the Moc-toe. They wore softly leather made Moc-toe to move around in the forests. Traditional moccasins are the boots that were not designed with rough, stiffy out soles, and its collar leather surround the feet serves almost like socks. This design ensures the hunters to sense the stones and dead branches on the ground; not only making the steps stealthy, and also protecting the feet in long, tiring journey. This was exactly the prototype of the Moc Toe—— Comfort and functionality being the top priority., with the iconic U-shape stichtings on the upper.
The Industrial outburst in the 50s：The “divinely protector of the blue collar class ”
When the time reaches the 1950s; After the WWII, the United States entered a period of infrastructural blooming. As the skyscrapers risen from the ground while the grids were built throughout the continent. The workers are in demand of a pair of boot, not only can it protects the toes, but also functioning as an anti-slip footwear to withstand the high altitude steal beams.
Therefore, it was exactly under such condition, the brand Red Wing, and later on other American footwear enterprises, trying to combine the old moccasin design and the modern industrial shoe-making. Therefore in 1952, the legendary model 877 (8 inches boots) had being introduced, follow after by the model 875（6 inches boots）.
And these modern products are no longer the soft hunter boots, but a “tank” that were made with rough oily-tanned leathers and ruggy rubber out soles. This means a lot to the factory workers and hunters who work under specific conditions. And so, the most notable fact would be that iconic U shape stitching outlook still being preserved, due to it’s design provides extra strengths to protect the toes when clashes hits through; A flat bottom design is also introduced to prevent the dirt from being accumulated beneath the out sole. Back in old days,wearing moc-toes were perhaps not for a sense of fashion, but more likely to serve somebody to support one’s family.
The alternation in identity: From factory to Shinjuku
What’s interestingly, the Moc Toe Boot did not just fade away when American manufacturing went downward, instead, the moc-toe embraces its rejuvenation in Japan. Started from the 80s and 90s, the Japanese youth were “deadly keening” to such type of the Moc toe boots, and its style were then being renamed as “Amekaji” by the Japanese. Following the Moc toe boots, similar styles of Amekaji outfits also went popular, and the feature elements are usually cargo pants, safari jackets&shirts, or scarf in retro style. It became a wave of Asian fashion squashing through the entire East Asian continent, and, such fashion still remains popular even until these days. The charm of moc toe boot, is because it represents an organized form of wildness in masculinity, and a bizzare delicacy rebelled against the Conventional definition. Nowadays, not only on the street of the Brooklyn in New York, or on the pavement of the rd. Julu in Shanghai, The moc toe has become an entry ticket to the heritage style. Labeling it no longer only belongs to the workers, but also to the designers, barristers, programmers, literally, to everybody.
The Anatomy of a Moc-toe: The beauty of the structure
So here we dive into the crucial part: the stitching is the key, within that U-shape stitching line.
When referring to the stitching technique, there are usually two ways.
First way, the Pinched/Stitch Down：This is the most classic form. Bending a piece of leather upward, making it as a three-dimensional spine, and seal it out from scratch, however, such technique demands great leather quality of its elasticity and strenghs.
Second way, is called “the piped”: The craftsmen inserts a narrow leather strip (piping) into the seam between two pieces of leather, then stitch them together. In this way the footwear looks more delicate, and the technique enhanced the water-proof capability within the seam. And this seam will be served like a wall, making the shoe roomy, and it serves as a buffer when you kicked on something rough.
Out soles：Why are some in white?
The white out sole is another classic icon of some moc toe boot variants besides the icon of U shape upper. We call such design the Wedge Sole. The wedge soles are usually made with crepe or specialty rubber compound. But why is it flat and..white?
- Comfort： The wedge sole is flat, so it means there are no differences in altitude on the shoe heels. This means the sole of your feet can touch on the ground fully, and this will levitate the pressures. This is a great news to somebody who needs to stand all day, as wearing it feels like you’re stepping on a mattress
- Safety： Walking on the steal beam of a construction site: The footwear with heels are easy to be stuck and make you fall, but a wedge sole keeps you stand steadily with dignity.
- Trace less： This soft wedge is designed for indoor activities, so it does not leave any traits on the floor.
Therefore, even though the wedge sole may be less durable, but the reciprocation like walking on a mattress, is what military boots could not compare.
The Shoe Last: The philosophy of tolerance
Many men's boots (such as Chelsea boots) pursues a sleek silhouette, but it ended up squeezes your toes. But the Moc toe boots are different, its shoe lasts are designed to be extra tolerant. The high roomy toe box allows your toes to stretch with freedom and liberty, that means you can even wear woolen socks in winter. With such liberal experiences with shoes, after getting used to it, it will be hard to re-adapt the shoes with pointed toes.
Differences between Moc Toe types
| Features | Wedge Sole | Lug Sole (Vibram) |
| Visual Effect | Classic, Casual, Light |
Tough, Outdoor, Tech-wear looking |
sensation |
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (Excellent buffer) |
⭐⭐⭐ (Tough, break in period is needed) |
Friction |
Ground，Concrete floor |
Mountainous paths, snowland, muddy terrain |
Durability |
Weak (the sole consumes like your eraser) |
Extremely strong (Very durable) |
Occasion |
Urban commuting, hourly long standing |
Hiking, Camping, hazardous weather |
Classic brand and prototypes: Choose your first ally
On this field, there are several few names which you cannot really miss out. As you’re choosing footwear, you’re also choosing a, what we called “shoe character”.
1. Red Wing Heritage：The stubborn backbone
If you ask 10 people of what do you recommend for moc toe boot? 9 people will tell you, go for Red Wing 875 as a no brainer.
- Character： It is the flagship in the industry, but it is also a well-known “ankle breaker” The leathers of Red Wing（Like Oro Legacy) are known for its roughness.
- Experience： the first one or two weeks of wearing the boots, you may feel the solid pain over your ankles; this is what we known as the break-in period. Yet, this is also ceremonial: once your temperamental and sweat had tamed the leathers, it will become your second layer of skin. The older the boots are, more classic it is. And you will see the color changing from mandarin yellow to mesmerizing sugary color.
2. Thorogood：The gentle practitioner
If you don’t want the break-in period, wanting that right out of box level comfort, Thorogood is highly recommended.
- Character： The same product with American heritage, Thorogood though, is more like a nice guy with warmth.
- Experience： It’s leather are relatively softer, and its padding design are excellent, features a built-in arch support. A lot of American blue collar workers now choose Thorogood way often, due to it’s comfortableness, zero break-in period.
3. White’s & Danner：The High-enders of outdoor moc toe boots
- White’s Boots： The rolls-royesin boot fields. They’ve built in extremely exaggerated arch support and extremely solid materials. Their Perry series can be looked at it as an advance level of Moc-Toe, with ruggy outlook.
- Danner：The Bull Run series are pretty eye-catching. Danner combines the genes of the outdoor boots, but they purposely made it lighter, more modern, so this is the perfect match for those who hates boot being over weights.
Red Wing vs. Thorogood
|
Brands |
Red Wing ( model 875) |
Thorogood (1957 series) |
| origin |
Made in USA |
Made in USA |
Break-In |
Painful. The leathers are rough,and it takes time to mingle |
Comfortable. The leathers are Soft, and paddings are amazing, break in periods are short to none. |
| Shape |
Relatively tilting upward, the upper is three dimensional and the style looks retro |
Relatively flat，and the shoe body may be more streamlined. |
| Padding |
Usually without padding |
Soft padding built in with shock-absorption |
| Price |
High (Usually $300+) |
Fair price (Usually $200-$250) |
| Patina |
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (The aged effect is exceptionally beautiful and full of charms) |
⭐⭐⭐⭐ (The aged effect are also looking nice but lesser) |
| We suggest you if... |
You are pursuing for ultimate vintage experience, suitable for those who aren’t afraid of pains. |
You are pursuing practical function, comfortableness being the priority, and people demands daily commuting |
The Moc Toe Boot outfit guidelines: How to not wearing like a bum?
1. The Heritage Look
Considering this the type of outfits that will never go wrong.
- Pants： You need an original color Raw Denim, but the key is to cuff your pant legs. We strongly recommend to showcase your boot shafts, presenting that quality leathers, but not letting the pant legs piled on the upper! (Cause it’ll make your legs visually looks short)
- Tops： A flannel shirt, a denim jacket, or a Henley T shirt would be fabulous.
- Vibe： You’ll be looking like a tough dude who will do the wood chopping work on the hill, or somebody who modifies his own motorcycles in the garage.
2. Modern Casual
Wanna be more casual instead of heavy looking?
- Pants：You can put on chinos, military greenish cargo pants. When it comes to colors, khaki, olive green, and brownish red are the top killers.
- Tops：A Plain color hoodies, or even a casual style suit jacket would be awesome.
- Vibes： A sense of urban style of causal, knowing what one is persisting, and not blindly following the trends.
3. The “No-man zone” of the visual apocalypse
Please, NO skinny jeans or any skinny pants!
If you wear a skinny pants that wrap your calf, and when others are looking at you, they will first see a human shape Micky-mouse due to that moc-toe by itself is large enough to be eye-catching.
The key of not looking like a bum while having this pair of boots on your feets, is to be aware of the visual balances. Because Moc toe is a pair of heavy-looking boots, thus pants are strongly suggested not to be light-looking. Well, here are our suggestions:
Recommendations： So strongly recommend to select straight, regular, or tapered pants. With this specific type of outfit, you’ll be needing the pant legs to provide some width to cover up the shaft.
Different Outlooks
| Visual Effects | Stars of rating | Note |
| Perfect | ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ | Cuff the pant legs, show the boot shaft, this is the text-book level outfit |
| Tough | ⭐⭐⭐⭐ | The military green and brown matches fabulously, making you look 100% hardcore. |
| Gentle | ⭐⭐⭐⭐ |
Suitable for a Friday casual style, The pant mediates the wilderness of the boots |
| Adventurous | ⭐⭐ |
Difficult to master, and it easily makes you “Micky-mouse” looking |
| Apocalypse | ⭐ | Visual effect will turn out to be you stepping on two bricks, strongly not recommend. |
Boot maintenance：Some necessary ceremony which is needed
Owning a pair of moc toe boot is just the beginning, it marks your relations with the boots has just started. The leather needs to breath, and it require their own liquor.
1. Leather maintenance：Trust me, it will be joyful
You don’t need to do the shoe maintenance like those formal leather shoes, instead, moc toe boots are the type of the shoes which is easy to clean. Here is what you’d do:
- Brushing： Every time after you went back home, you may want to use the horsehair brush to wipe up the dust on it, because the dust will dry up the oils in the boot leathers.
- Washing：If your boots are stained by the dirt, we recommend to use the Saddle Soap for washing.
- Oiling： Every few month, you could apply some mink oil over the leathers. When you looking at the leather greedily absorbs the oil you’ve applied on, that sort of satisfactory are indescribable, as the color of the boots darkened.
2. Sole replacement：The secret to the longevity of boots
Most of the high quality moc toe boots adopt the technique of Goodyear Welt. Put it simply.
This is a technique seal the sole and upper all together, in stead of gluing them. So that means, even if your soles looks consumed (usually takes around 1-2 years), you don’t have to toss the boots away. Instead, you can find a shoemaker, he will take a good care of the shoes. A qualified moc toe boot should accompany you more than 10 years, enduring the sole-changing operations around 3-4 times.
Ending: The witness of time
So when you put your Moc-toes on, you’re not only wearing a pair of boots but, a deceleration against the modern concept of everything being alternative and replaceable.
So go, the paths are beneath your soles.
Q1: Are Moc-toe waterproof?
Most of the classic Moc Toe（Like Red Wing 875）are water repellent, because the oil-tanned leathers by itself carries waterproof capability. Which is to say, mild rains are fine to withstand, yet the moc-toe aren’t rain boots, that means the water may seep in from the stitching line if the moc-toes are soaked in the water for long. We recommend to apply waterproof spray if you’re living in a densely rainy or snowy area.
Q2: Can I wear Moc-toe during the summer time?
This is a brave question to ask. Objectively speaking, full-leather footwear are naturally Inferior in comparison with sneakers when it comes to breathability. So it will deifnitely Be warm during the summer time, However if you wear moc-toes for biking, or if you’re Staying in AC rooms the whole day, then it shall be cool, In fact, many loyal fans wear Moc-toe even during the above 90 degree summer time, and so they need to wear shorts to give it a balance.
Q3: What are the sizes should I consider?
Most of the American work boots are slightly larger(Especially the Red Wing). We recommend to order your moc-toe that the size should be (.5-1 inches) smaller comparing with your Nike/Adidas. The best solution is to bring a pair of thick socks with you, and try them in the offline store.
Q4: What if I have a white sole and its getting blurred?
This is a question which we almost have no solution to resolve. So the old-birds in the field will usually tell you to embrace its beauty: A dark out sole by itself is a part of the beauty of these boots. If is too clean, it lacks a sort of sensation, like you’re a new-bee, or something...