Eleven degrees of separation

Last year Matt was seen wearing the iconic All Saints Layer Boots (see below).

Along with the Paul Smith shirt, they set a trend of being easily obtainable off-the-peg items – which went out of stock the moment they were identified!
I managed to nab pretty much the last pair in the south of England before the scramble was on to find them.

Lots of people missed out on them, so the hunt was on for something that could be worn as a next-best option.

First up was the River Island Double-Eyelet boots, which had the distinctive layered leather ankle. Unlike the All Saints boots, they also had a second set of eyelets (as their name would suggest) which some people found distracting.

The also had a distracting zip on the instep of the boot, which made them easy to slip on and off without fussing with the laces.

Nevertheless, they were the best alternative, and as you can see from the comparison photo (see right), they certainly filled the hole left by the All Saints originals.

These had just come onto the River Island range, so were widely available and easy to find. However, they have now been discontinued.

So what alternatives are there now to the All Saints alternatives?

River Island Double Eyelet Boots

Although I have a pair of actual All Saints Layer Boot (see right), I am now terrified of wearing them!

Firstly due to their scarcity; and secondly because they have real smooth leather soles, so the potential of falling arse over tit is quite high!

Let it not be said I don’t stand by what I publish – so I thought I might go and seek out a pair of the River Island next-best option that I recommended as an Alternative.

It was one of my clients, Peter Lack, who first drew them to everyone’s attention, so a big thanks to him for sharing his find with us all.

I was going up to central London today anyways, so I took a little trip down Oxford Street to see what I could find. This is the most perfect place to buy shoes, as this is the street cited in The Hitch-Hiker’s Guide To The Galaxy in the short film about the Shoe Event Horizon . . . .

I found the flagship River Island store (see above) and went to the footwear department. I was surprised to see that there are a number of similar boots on offer.

I have listed their individual product codes here, as their website is flash-based so I am unable to provide direct links to the shoes concerned.

Its worth looking at the Military Lace Up Boot (code 245950); the Leather Military Boot (code 242717); the Military Zip Boot (code 246409).

But two caught my eye: the Distressed Military Boot (code 242172) (see below, right) and the Double Eyelet Boot (code 243710) (see below, left), which I recommended previously.

I ask for them in a size 10 and after a bit of scrabbling around (one of them was part of the display) they found a matching pair!

I tried them on (see above – out with Ten, in with Eleven!) and they were a good, comfortable fit. They also have a rubber sole, so less likely to be slippery on wet or shiny surfaces.

All Saints Boots - the alternatives

Since starting this blog, I have been contacted by a number of people seeking to begin or complete their Eleven outfits.

As I have outlined, many of the items making up the costume are off the peg and at the time of filming were relatively easy to obtain.
But that’s only if you were looking at the right moment, which has annoying passed most of us by.

One of these was the All Saints Boots, which apparently were a personal choice by Matt Smith himself. Now discontinued (I only got mine by the skin of my teeth), they are however, part of the trends and fashions that were seen in the 2009/2010 season, and were not as a concept exclusive to All Saints.

These hob-nail style boots, with pre-worn leather and waxed laces have been included in the collections of some other high street retailers, though to varying designs.

Below are some of the boots found by other cosplayers, which may prove to be more readily available and form a reasonable next-best option if you didn’t manage to grab the All Saints boots at the time.

Boulden Boots found on AldoShoes.com

These boots are reasonably priced and at present available in both the UK and the US. They come in a choice of Black (see above) or Dark Brown (see below).