Abovver boot is a type ofboot that has been associated withviolence. Such boots are generally of sturdy design and may besteel-toed. They have been considered asoffensive weapons used byhooligans for kicking opponents whilestreet fighting.[1][2] The boots became known in the late 1960s in theUnited Kingdom, and continue to be a fashion statement associated with rebellion.
The termbovver in the UK developed as ath-fronting slang term (probablyCockney) for "bother", and was used in connection withaggro (aggravation; aggressive behaviour) byskinheads andhooligans in the late 1960s.[3][4][5][6] Heavysteel-toe boots were stereotypically worn by skinheads, and were termed bovver boots.[1][5][7] Initially, heavy blackarmy surplus boots were worn, but later, yellow-stitchedDr. Martens were adopted as the boots of choice.[8][9][10][11][12] Use infootball hooliganism was countered by warnings to fans that they would have to remove such boots in order to attend football matches.[13]
Punk rockers were seen in the 1970s to "[stamp] their bovver boots",[14] with the boots being part of their "sartorial expressions of violence and disgust".[15] Punk rockers continued to be associated with bovver boots until the mid-1980s.[16]Punk fashion and the "years of teenage boot-wearing rebellion" since the 1960s gave way totrainers, with the arrival ofBritpop in the mid-1990s.[17] In 1998, UK high street chainBoots promoted aladette cosmetics range with a model "dressed in combat trousers, bovver boots and goggles".[18]
A pair of Bovver boots were worn in the early 1980s British TV seriesThe Young Ones, by thepunk character Vyvyan Basterd.[10]
MusicianPJ Harvey was noted as "appear[ing] immersed inrock 'n' roll" around the time of her albumDry in 1992, due in part to her "leather apparel, hair in a bun and black bovver boots".[20]
In 2017, U.S. punk bandRancid (band) released a song titled "Bovver Rock And Roll" on their albumTrouble Maker. Lyrically, the song laments early 1970s cultural references.
