♂♀ welfare-state boot (pollonium style)

☺ Welfare State shoes made with courts, votes, universal benefits, thick cotton canvas & moulded sole. Supplies are usually from Slovakia with a back-up supplier in Portugal.

In contrast, boots like this were the uniform of the French Foreign Legion and the style is still called Pollonium or similar after the French makers - an international firm is trying to sell shoes like this as a beatnik fashion accessory with linings, brands and floppy turned-over uppers. But these are simply canvas shoes made in a democratic welfare state.

There is a removable bungee foam insole. French Foreign Legion versions had a hemp or matted insole, but a good quality bungee foam insole should be OK for city use.

The default colour is grey-green, but others are available: simply dye them with dylon.

♣ Transported by road in tightly-packed cartons rather than individual shoe boxes. This makes the shoes slightly crumpled when you first wear them but saves pollution.

♦♣ Vegan and so environmentally friendly. The soles of these boots are not compost-able.

These shoes are also available to try-on at VCross, 73 Caledonian Road London N1 9BT two blocks east of Kings Cross Station, facing east, a hundred yards up Caledonian Road. Google map: http://tinyurl.com/vcross .
Size 48 out of stock.