Wellington Boot

Wellington Boot

The Wellington boot, also known as a wellie, a topboot, a gumboot, or a rubber boot, is a type of boot based upon Hessian boots. It was worn and popularised by Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington and fashionable among the British aristocracy in the early 19th century.

Wellington boots are waterproof and are most often made from Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC) a halogenated polymer. They are usually worn when walking on wet or muddy ground, or to protect the wearer from heavy showers. They are generally just below knee-high.

The first Duke of Wellington instructed his shoemaker, Hoby of St. James' Street, London, to modify the 18th century Hessian boot. The resulting new boot designed in soft calfskin leather had the trim removed and was cut more closely around the leg. The heels were low cut, stacked around an inch, and the boot stopped at mid-calf. It was hard wearing for battle yet comfortable for the evening. The Iron Duke didn't know what he'd started??he boot was dubbed the Wellington and the name has stuck ever since. The Duke can be seen wearing the boots, which are tasseled, in an 1815 portrait by James Lonsdale.[1]

The boots quickly caught on with patriotic British gentlemen eager to emulate their war hero. Considered fashionable and foppish in the best circles and worn by dandies, such as Beau Brummell, they remained the main fashion for men through the 1840s. In the 1850s they were more commonly made in the calf high version and in the 1860s they were both superseded by the ankle boot, except for riding.

These boots were at first made of leather. However in 1852, Hiram Hutchinson met Charles Goodyear who had just invented the vulcanization process for natural rubber. While Goodyear decided to manufacture tyres, Hutchinson bought the patent to manufacture footwear and moved to France to establish "A l'Aigle" in 1853 ("To the Eagle", to honour his home country. The company today is simply called "AIGLE", "Eagle"). In a country where 95% of the population were working on fields with wooden clogs as it had been for generations, the introduction of the Wellington type rubber boot became a success: farmers will be able to come back home with clean dry feet.

Production of the Wellington boot was dramatically boosted with the advent of World War I due to the demand for a sturdy boot suitable for the conditions in flooded trenches. Making the wellington boot a functional necessity.

Again the Wellington boot played an important contribution during World War II. At the outbreak of war in September 1939, although trench warfare was not a feature of the war, the wellington still played an important role. Those forces assigned the task of clearing Holland of the enemy had to work in terrible flooded conditions.

By the end of the war the wellington had become popular among men, women and children for wear in wet weather. The boot had developed to become far roomier with a thick sole and rounded toe. Also, with the rationing of that time, labourers began to use them for daily work.

Wellington boots are waterproof and are most often made from rubber or a synthetic equivalent. They are usually worn when walking on very wet or muddy ground, or to protect the wearer from industrial chemicals and they are traditionally knee-height.

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