Fit For a Duke

By Celeste Kaufman

Rain boots, wellies, or galoshes, whatever you want to call them, it's the time of year again when they start popping up all over campus. We see them in plain colors, fun patterns, even sporting designer (or "designer") logos. They're paired with jeans, tights and even leggings. They're used to make an outfit stand out or just thrown on to protect the feet from the growing puddles on the sidewalk. With such a myriad usage for them today, Wellies are sure to have an interesting history.

The story of rain boots begins with the Duke of Wellington in the early nineteenth century. He called upon his favorite shoemaker to reinvent the Hessian boot into a simpler version that was more practical than its heavily detailed influence. The new style quickly became a craze among English gentlemen. With the invention of rubber came the version we associate with the name today, which was first introduced to the public in 1853. Now, with the added allure of waterproof footwear, the popularity of Wellington boots soared. This was also the quality that attracted the attention of the Army in both World Wars. Many soldiers' feet had been suffering from lack of protection, and this waterproof alternative saved many a life.

Rain boots were never really used for fashion until the twenties when a wave of rebellious young girls wore them to protect their newly exposed legs. They wore them loose and unbuttoned and the sound of the rubber flapping against their ankles announced their arrival minutes before they came into sight. Hence the term "flapper" was born. After this brief venture into the fashion forefront, Wellies faded back into the background for a number of decades.

It wasn't until the uber-icon Princess Di was spotted wearing a pair of green Wellies that the trend burst on the scene again. However, this was again fairly short-lived. The recent surge of Wellie interest began back in 2005 when designers included them in their Spring collections. Perhaps the introduction of funky-patterned rain boots in Europe was deemed too bold by civilians, because it took them years to catch on. Now, not a rainy day goes by without seeing hundreds of different varieties just walking the block of Emerson's campus, all thanks to some Duke with a shoe fetish.