Because the vegan shoes would 'canibalize' the sales of the regular one, just like cheap knock-offs, but with a legit nametag. The superior quality can be explained, too. If they will cost a lot just to keep the price alignement, why not spend more on quality? The best PU leather (maybe not...), the best in-sole etc.
I’ve never seen a cat want to be by its owner so much. Your cat loves you man, and that’s in my eyes a sign of a great person. Thanks for all the I formative videos bro!
@@RoseAnvil I'm not impressed by any of them ,, the variations are likely just because of local availability and pricing of materials... I have had "pleather" such as that in furniture.. it always looks disgusting in short order as the outer layer peels off the fabric backing and the way it shows separation after light handling isn't a good sign.
@@lillatracy6229 Yeah, I hope he does a left-and-right wear comparison of the 1460 models. That wrinkly plastic texture layer is going to peel in short order.
Love the video. As someone who already bought this boot it was nice to see that a “vegan boot” isn’t just all fluff. Would love to see more videos on vegan brands and how they compare.
Even as a vegan I would never buy these. Way more sustainable and environmentally friendly to buy a good quality used pair. EDIT: I left this comment a year ago and never noticed it got any replies. But, to anyone arguing with my point or claiming I'm not a vegan because of it...that is fine and I do not care.
That's the case always no matter the material. Secondhand will always be better environmentally than new. And more affordable majority of the time as well. I am also vegan and own a few pre-owned pairs of leather shoes/boots, but I also have had a pair of vegan docs for 3 years which I love. If I do decide to buy new it's vegan, pre-owned though it doesn't matter because the damage has already been done.
@@Shirlyswirly As I see it, buying used leather is equivalent to eating unwanted/leftover meat. Would you eat meat if it was going to be thrown away otherwise? Maybe you would; I don't know, but I don't think you could call yourself vegan if you did.
@@morganmitchell4017 meat is a one time thing thats just ingested into the body and leaves it, plus there are rarely situations where this happens. Whereas second hand buying is reusing and re homing something to lengthen its lifespan and reduce buying new things, in an effort to lower the production rate. I'm not a vegan but thats sorta how I see it.
@@morganmitchell4017 yeah meat actually doesn't gell with my body, so my veganism is because of 3 reasons, abuse of animals environmental concerns and health...so eating left over meat wouldn't make sense at all but buying used shoes does
@@michalovesanime You realise that by buying second hand leather, you're increasing the market for the new stuff? Not only that, but by wearing leather you're helping to normalise its use. I'm not trying to "gatekeep" or win an argument, I just want you to think twice.
"vegan leather" is usually just plastic, thus not biodegradable. as someone who's veggie for the environment: if you're concerned with ethical consumption you should buy leather second hand
the thing with shoes though is that usually leather shoes "break" to the owners feet shape and walking style... and it might be unhealthy for feet of the next owner :(
Not to mention that it's an incredible waste to eat an animal's meat but not use its other body parts in whatever way you can. In one of her Little House books, Laura Ingalls Wilder mentioned that whenever they slaughtered a pig, they would use every part for something. (The one I remember most is that they would make a balloon out of the bladder.) And people are going to continue eating meat (myself included) whether you like it or not, so if you don't want to directly support meat production then buying real leather secondhand is definitely the best course for the environment.
@@hotwax9376 Vegans aren't eating animal meat. But yeah, if the animal is already dead, use every part and avoid waste. I try to avoid animal products as much as I can, but if I do buy them, it is 2nd hand. Even as brand new shoes as donations at a goodwill can be found, extremely inexpensive.
I’ve had the vegan Chelsea doc martens for about five years now. Early on the sole inserts wore down and replaced them with dr. Scholl insoles. They were fairly comfortable to begin with, didn’t need much breaking in. However, in this 5th year the outer vegan leather layer has started peeling very badly.
I’m guessing that because the vegan leather doesn’t breathe they needed a felt midsole to help absorb moisture & the wool felt also helps control stink.
I just love the whole spin on plastic, by calling ti vegan. Growing up, you could always tell the poor kids because they had plastic shoes. Now you can spot the hipster.
You can make leather-like (like, extremely leather-like) material from fungus and micro bacteria. A lot more durable than other faux leather, and far more environmentally friendly.
@M - mushroom leather is still in its infancy, pineapple leather is actually pretty decent and is showing up in vegan shoes pretty often. If I'm not wrong doc martens is planning on a mushroom leather boot
I have an issue with the term “vegan leather” to begin with. It used to just be called fake leather or pleather, and I feel like calling it vegan is a marketing ploy more than anything; it makes it seem like it’s a fancier material than pleather when in reality they’re the same thing, but one sounds more classy (and can then be sold for more money). Same thing goes for vegan suede, it’s all just lower quality, cheaper imitations of natural materials, but calling it “vegan leather” instead of just “fake leather” makes it seem like it’s a higher quality material.
yeah, it annoys me to no end. Hate blatant marketing speech. Another favourite of mine is "made from premium materials". Such as? Where do they come from? etc...
Vegan does carry limitations that pleather and fake leather doesn't. For example, you could use glue made from animals in pleather or fake leather, but you could not use that same glue in vegan leather.
I couldn't help but notice your supervisor/ OSHA representative perched on your desk ensuring that the work is done properly and safely! Very cute and qualified!
I bought some and was actually angry because they were the most uncomfortable shoes I'd ever worn. I just hated them. BUT after leaving them in the closet for months, I decided to make myself wear them for a while to be sure they wouldn't get better. Sure enough they became amazingly comfortable. And they did a great job of protecting my feet in a motorcycle accident.
Seeing the terrible abrasion resistance of those, you were super lucky that your feet didn't got caught catching the wheel :O Mike is right... drop these stop pushing your luck...!
Yeah, me too. Cows are just insanely environmentally unfriendly, requiring clear deforested land, lots of hay and water and they produce a huge quantities of greenhouse gasses. You could probably wear through half a dozen vegan shoes for every one pair of real leather shoes and have the same environmental impact. Would be interesting to know the actual numbers for comparison.
@@Foomandoonian On the other hand real leather will biodegrade , and not just sit around in a landfill. Not sure how much industrial waste is generated making the vegan shoes as well. Micro plastics in our water is a big deal.
@@chasecolton3391 it's not a one time use of plastic, I personally think that our main problem with the plastic that will sit in a landfill is all the forks, bottles, bags, etc that we create just for a one time use vs a pair of boots that will last 5+ years as I read in one comment in the top.
i had the vegan ones, they lasted me 4.5 years of wearing them dayly as my only pair of shoes. they were quite comfortable from the first day on. the thing that finally failed was the sole which basically broke in half at some point. the upper is pretty durable, they had some small holes from sitting on the ground with crossed legs quite often, but no cracks or tearing. the sweating you get from them is prettty bad tho. i got a used pair of leather docs (not the smooth, but idk which leather specifically, looks more natural and is quite thick) yesterday in very good condition. i'm curious to see how long they will last.
I've never heard of shoes worn daily that last more than two years. I guess if you sit around or drive around all day like a lazy police officer. My Doc Martin's lasted two days. Not really a boot at all. More like a Slipper with laces. I kept them for a month because they cost so much. Cardboard Insoles. Doc Martin is an enemy to all humans. A company that only exists because of lying ignorant idiots that give them money. They stole my 60 dollars back in the eighties. And a month of misery. That's damages. And I think I can prove that in any court!!!
I had leather MIE ones for about 6 years but eventually the same thing happened; the sole hardened and then cracked right across the foot, leaving them unwearable, sad bc the upper was still okay :c
Also, synthetic and vegan aren't the same because vegan means that the entire product doesn't contain animal products while synthetic can use rabbit skin glue or so
Ive been wearing the same pair of vegan docs for 8 years, and they still look great. The sole finally gave out and broke last week, but ya, they literally lasted me 8 years! Biggest issue with them is that the "leather" never gets that nice worn in look of a regular doc, they always look new.
@@neilchapman5145 I'm super curious what your occupation is for your shoes to last 6 months lol. I've owned a lot of cheap shoes in my life and they all lasted well over 2 years.
For your swatches, (Abrasion Test) If you put small springs on each side connected to a contraption, you would be able to provide equal pressure to each swatch, thus make your tests more consistent. Just an idea. Every Swatch would for sure have to be the same length.
I would also love some Toaster-specific content! He looks like one of my Devon Rex cats. These cats have two speeds: chill AF or possessed by demons haha I find both my boys are very chill when they get to be around one of their humans.
I do have a video in the works that purple is going to sponsor. I’m going to make toaster the most expensive cat bed in the world ha ha I’ll make sure to talk about him in that video.
I wanted to comment that I'm mostly here for the cat, and ask his name, but found it haha. I like the name Toaster, I love weird names for cats haha. Also yes, I thought he was bald too... Maybe he's a rescue?
I watch your videos because I like your enthusiasm for longevity and quality, which is something we need to return to in all our manufacturing. As a Vegan who is studying a Masters in Sustainable Development this a very difficult issue. Plastics support the oil industry, is harmful to our oceans, and harmful to our health in the form of micro-plastics. Leather supports the meat/dairy industry, therefore involves animal cruelty, and livestock is also one of the largest contributors to climate change (after oil). Have you thought about reviewing plant based shoes? For example Wills Vegan Work Boots are made from plants and manufactured in Europe (meaning proper pay and working conditions). The Reebok Forever Floatride GROW are also a plant based runner (sneaker in American). Adidas do the Parley range which is made from recycled plastics also. Just a thought as it might be an interesting comparison. Thanks for the video, I appreciate your curiosity and knowledge in the production of quality products.
I sincerely hope that we can have durable plant based shoes Because, yea. Not every country still has normal farming, but industrial farming, which is renowned for animal cruelty.
I'd love to see truly sustainable vegan alternatives, I'm an industrial design student and boy is it difficult to manage a sound craddle-to-craddle design when the majority of the cruelty-free (human and animal obv) alternatives are either plastics and thus not sustainable in the long run (even with recycling), or just waaaaay too expensive for the projects budget.
@@matildas3177 I said it almost every time, and I'll say it again. Capitalism sucks. And the system it has made sucks. Just imagine what we could already have done if people were just less uptight about money.
@@matildas3177 Access to materials at a reasonable price so that students like you can push the boundaries of sustainable design is crucial. Can only hope that the sustainable fashion movement continues to grow and forces the hand of major manufactures to invest in further developing sustainable materials. Upcycling will be key in the future too.
I've been wearing the 1460 vegan boots for 7 years now, almost every single day every winter and autumn. The only thing that has happened to far was the synthetic leather part on the ankles starting to peel off (But I never used any sorf of conditioner on the boots for 7 years so I think that's fair. ) Last year I met someone who didn't believe my docs were vegan and tried to inspect them very closely and still didn't believe me so I had to show him dr martens has a vegan range... I think they are stylish, durable and for me comfortable since I never had to break them in. I definitely recommend them.
@@lonerider6175 I had the same thing with my vegan ones. I think the sole is multilayered plastics conjoined with heat, and have heard that it is a common area for docs to break. I doubt it is done on purpose - not long ago they used to provide a lifetime warranty, so it would be pretty self destructive
Same here, wore my vegan docs for 3 years almost every single day, and multiple times a week for the next two. The sole is starting to wear pretty badly now, but the vegan leather is no more worn than I’d expect
They don't make docs like they used to, it's such a shame. I know of people who've got pairs they bought decades ago that are still going strong, now they don't last anywhere near as long. I will say though, I've had mine for about 4 years now (the hard leather type, not soft leather) and while I don't wear them every single day, they're doing great other than a couple of particularly bad scuffs and wear on the soles. It's just a shame that the quality has gone down while the price has increased :/
Leather is more a "coproduct" than a byproduct of the meat industry, the skin is factored into the process, the animals are raised just as much for their leather as they are for meat. main goal is to make as much profit from the creature as possible, they are living money making machines to the farmer. Leather is an animal product, produced to meet consumer demand like any other product animals are raised and slaughtered for
I would agree if at least a majority of hides were turned into leather. I know especially in the sheep industry the sell of their hides were expected to be the real source of profit. However, now there is very little demand outside of China for sheep hides. So, most sheep hides can't even be given away, and do end up being trashed. The beef industry has also seen a server reduction in demand for cow hides (albeit now as drastic as the sheep industry). Meaning that what use to be a coproduct is becoming more of a waste product everyday.
The hide is very cheap out of the cow i think, and by this i mean the process to make it usable is probably far more expensive than the hide itself and the money from the sold leather doesnt go to the rancher or the people that raise the cow, they just sell the hide, i quickly looked up some numbers and apparently the leather (the hide alone should be a huge lot less money) in general from a single cow can be around $600 while the meat can be $2500-$3000, and if you think thats too cheap for leather since boots are $150 think about that in general in the clothing industry stuff costs to produce between 10%-30% of retail price, lets say dr marteens are on the higher tier so the leather you see on those boots can be worth well under $10 maybe even $5(but ofc there is always some waste so closer to $10). So is definitely a byproduct. EDIT: seems like i was a bit off on leather prices, the one i mentioned apparently is a very premium leather, chrome tanned leather is $2 per sf, so a whole cow's is $100 meaning the hide is maybe $20 or even less?
My daughter has been wearing her vegan DM boots for almost 3 years. They've actually held up and worn in quite nicely (to my surprise). Her only "complaint" is that they went through a period where they were a bit "squeaky" and that embarrassed her, heheheh :)
Thanks for the comparison! I think it would really interested to check out some the other vegan leathers on the market. Particularly made from natural ingredients. Check out Bohema No. 3 Boots (cactus leather!) Good Guys Don’t Wear Leather - Blaze (apple leather!) And Nae - Noah Piñatex (pineapple leather!)
I’m plant based in terms of diet, skincare, and beauty. The one thing I won’t do anymore is vegan boots. They really don’t last as long, and I felt even more guilty about clogging up landfill than I did about wearing leather...
They do if you get good quality. Have you tried vegetarian shoes airseal range? They're made in the same factory as Solivair which Rose and Anvil really rated when they reviewed them.
@@zmuzzy101 even if they last just as long they're still plastic that doesnt decompose. Still much more environmentally consciousness to buy leather secondhand
@@soymilkman there's more in depth information in other comments but I'm not sure that's the case. Leather doesn't just decompose especially the kind of leather in doc martens which is chrome tanned with a plastic costing. Also I'd rather plastic the dead animal flesh any day of the week but that's just me. Leather is worse for the environment even when compared to plastic based vegan materials. The best of both worlds though are things like pinatex, mushroom leather and cactus leather. Biodegradable, extremely environmentally friendly too.
zmuzzy101 okay but if you consider that when made into boots, and worn for years, then sold, them worn, them sold. They will have been constantly used by the time the fabric has decomposed. I agree that other forms like you suggested are better. But buying second hand real leather is much better than this fake one.
My experience with "vegan" leather is it is either considerablly cheaper, or considerablly more expensive. If it's made from material like PU then it's cheaper, but if it's made using alternative materials then the price goes up fast. This is only my anicodtal experience.
Michael Thompson ya not all fake leather’s are bad one saved my ass in a motorcycle accident I was able to survive sliding down the pavement so I didn’t reach my skin lol
I've been wearing martens 1920 for the most part of past 20 years. I noticed the quality and endurance fell a lot few years ago, when they stopped putting foam into the sole holes. Coincidentially (or is it? ;) it was the time when I noticed there is no longer made in uk mark on the bottom, replaced by made in china.
I've been daily wearing a pair of vegan docs for the past 2 years and had a few basic leather docs before. My take on them is that they get hot AF in summer, a lot more than the leather ones, and they age differently (arguably not as beautifully) than the leather ones. They're also more resistant in my experience, mostly because doc's cheap leather tends to crack really quickly in dry weather while vegan leather doesn't change with weather (and lesser abrasion resistance is real but not a real issue, abrasion marks are there but they do not compromise the boot). The sole is weak as with most docs, no noticeable difference. They make an annoying squeaky noise for the first month or so. I would say that there's pros and cons to the vegan version. I'd like the leather ones to be as durable and care free as the vegan ones, I'd like the vegan ones to be as breathable and organically aging as the leather ones. It's really up to personal preference IMO.
How did you care for the shoes? I've heard about people just using a cloth to wipe the dirt and people that use exactly the same means as they would with real leather
Did you care well (conditioning/polishing) for the real leather Doc Martens? If they were cracking early on it may have been a sign of ill care for the boots.
@@Coolman-nu2lm I certainly wasn't overly careful with them but I did care and greased them regularly (obviously not enough). I don't know how they would fare with a real thorough care but for me these were just shoes. I care for them a minimum, they care for me a minimum. I did follow up on my end of the bargain, they didn't. Repeatedly.
I have my vegans 1460 for 10 years now! My mom's bought them for me when I was in high school. Not that she picked vegan on purpose - we don't usually have Docs in common shops in our country, this was the only pair. What can I say - they're as good as new. Only the sole is much thinner. Not a crack, not a major scratch.
It seems to degrade so quickly, no break down completely, just peeling and cracking to the point where it can’t be fixed. This is a great video and I’m a new subscriber!
I had a pair of vegan Solovairs about a year and a half ago, which were pretty much my daily boot, and they were without a doubt some of the WORST boots I've ever had. In less than seven months, the wrinkles on the upper had gotten so bad, that it didn't take long for it to completely wear through. In less than seven months, they had grown absolutely useless. Not to mention the fact that the insole and lining was quite literally falling off by the end, to the point where I could scrape pieces of if I wiggled my toes. Thinking that this was just a one-off issue, I was able to bring them back to the shop and, foolishly, instead of asking for the money back, got a replacement pair, which lasted about six months before breaking in the same place. This thorough disappointment was what prompted me to 'go big or go home' and invest in a pair of Crispi hiking boots instead.
Where I live, South Africa in a semi desert, just leave it outside in the summer. No car needed. I lost a pack of crayons to the sun. The stains are still on the concrete outside our old house :')
Can I please add that the first vegan DMs were really soft. Mine lasted 9 years and still looked pretty good because the pleather didn’t crack. They were also waterproof. The modern ones are terrible. Very hard. The “rub off” coating literally does rub off and looks like paint. As an x skin head ( in my 50s) I’ve really seen the quality changes. I am preferring to buy second hand leather these days before anyone jumps. Definitely better for the world. Thank you for the great videos.
@@geministargazer9830 my real leather docs lasted 2 years before they completely ripped open. I can't wear them on a rainy day anymore so I guess it's just a bunch of nonsense that leather lasts long.
thank you, I have good leather shoes, that I've owned and been able to care for....and have resoled, for over 10 years. Your information has made me feel less "guilty" about owning leather, and buying leather. Taking care of your shoes and boots is "old fashioned" but if you find a good cobbler/shoe shining place, those shoes can last a lifetime.
I’ve had my vegan docs for 5+ years, wearing them them to work (working on my feet for 8+ hours) and can honestly say, they still look new, it’s so strange! There’s some gentle scratches, but no real visible wear or tear except for the inside of the shoe, which has moulded unto the shape of my foot over the course of time.
Bought a pair of leather doc's in 1990 never polished them and worked in the printing industry where ink, thinners and turps were spilt on them on a daily basis, poor things only lasted 10 years until the soul was gone. People bag doc's out but I never had a problem with them. With me getting 10 years from a pair I would not buy anything but real leather for boots, even my thongs/flip flops are made from camel leather. Wood and leather are more sustainable than any plastic or man made martial and they are biodegradable.
cloudylemonade, that's my experience too. I've had my vegan docs about four years and they're still fighting fit. They're the only shoes I wear. I just don't get what other people are reporting on this.
found a geniune HeaTona coat crafted somewhere around 1952. Leather and sheepskin. LASTED 68 YEARS AND IS STILL IN EXCELENT CONDITION! And above all, it's a kids coat. Can you imagine? Back then, all clothes would be tailored by profesionals or family members, even a kids coat would be made to last years and to be passed down generations. Clothes were an investment. Nowadays, Fast fashion has taken over and we are supporting poverty to keep up to date with the ever-changing fashion trends. Fashion trends would last a decade, now they change every season! All because of the indroduction to cheap, fast fashion clothing. As a kid, kids clothing is especially poorly made. I can not find a good wool and leather kid's coat, properly tailored to last years that wasn't tailored long, long ago. Even the small tailoring businesses in my area fighting the massive wave of fast fashion clothing seem to always run out of business fast. It feels like no one even cares about quality any more. I don't think anyone realises that clothes can and should last decades! I think we should buy less and when we do buy, buy only clothing tailored to last a lifetime or sew it ourselves. Because of all the op shops asking for no more donations, I presume people start to head in the right direction, by cleaning out their wardrobes so it only has what they need. But then go out and buy more. And then get sick of what they had in their wardrobe and give it to opshops, creating an endless cycle which is only contributing to fast fashion even more! If clothes were an investment, people would not just "get bored of their wardrobe" and our op shops would not be flooded with clothes that inevetibly have to be thrown out. As consumers, we can make any change we want, even if it doesn't seem like it. Anyways, thanks for listening to me ranting if you made it this far.
l completely agree! For those who do get bored of their wardrobes though, I must admit I feel that itch sometimes, I think it’s completely beneficial to purchase good quality clothing items secondhand as an alternative to feeding the monstrous fast fashion business. I briefly fell victim to fast fashion years ago when I didn’t know any better, and quickly found it to be an overall bad experience because the quality was genuinely horrific and the poor designs and fit made most things unwearable. There’s enough higher quality clothing at excellent prices in the secondhand sphere to feed anyone’s fashion itch, to me the breadth of the secondhand market makes the fast fashion industry seem all the more ridiculous and useless. Those who cycle through their wardrobe quickly do not necessarily have to be a bad thing, as long as they’re purchasing good quality pieces and/or shopping secondhand.
Thank you for your rent! I have a similar one, too. I once was in a shopping area and got into a clothes shop with cheap/affordable things. The quality was also quite low, on some of them the seems were undone or there were pieces of thread "sticking out", because of the handling. The shop was pretty big, but there were maybe 3 customers inside. While looking at the quantity of things there, I kept thinking that their style would be out of fashion in about a couple of months, and even if people bought them, they wouldn't last too much and the stuff will end up in a landfill. And, if people don't buy them, they will still end up in a landfill. And there were many such shops there. I felt very sad for our planet, thinking about the amount of raw materials needed to make all those clothes (in general, synthetic fibers), which would end discarded too quickly. It's like using materials for a brief stint as clothes and then for producing more garbage. I don't know what the solution is (producing less? producing quality stuff, from quality materials, and not caring about the fact that next year it won't be in fashion any more?). I do understand that many people can't afford expensive things, so there is a lot of temptation to buy cheap. A friend of mine bought a 3 dollars sweater (it was new), she only got to wear it once, because it came undone, she had to discard it...
I've seen that throughout my childhood, clothes have gone down in quality. I have clothes from when I was 3, 4, and 5, and they are in good condition. Nowadays, if i buy a shirt i get maybe 3 years out of it, tops
In my area there is not much of an opportunity to shop secondhand and still get good pieces for reasonable prices. In Berlin, vintage shops and thrifting is so on trend and something mostly done by the rich kids or tourists, that it is just ridiculously overpriced. I found that a good alternative is looking for stuff on eBay or depop - and sometimes buy fast fashion. My mother teached me how to spot good Quality items, how to always look for certain materials and to always look at the stitching. I still have and wear tops that I bought 6-7 years ago, when I was still in school. And I've been looking at the coming trends and ask myself what I really would want to wear. I'm always on the hunt for nice fitting pullovers with a turtleneck for example, which is a pain in the ass in these days because almost every knit you come across is partly or a 100 percent made our of acrylic or polyester. Long story, but what I'm trying to say is that sometimes it is enough just to buy conscious of our own consume and ask ourselves what would be worth the investment and what would last. And just ask ourselves the question "Do I really need it?" before buying.
My grandma (born in the 1930's) says clothing is much better made now, in that it can be washed all the time and doesn't need to be repaired constantly. Synthetics fabrics tend to be really tough. I do agree though that certain types of clothing were sometimes better made than now (like coats and shoes). The thing is, clothing was sometimes made cheaply back then too, it just hasn't survived. The only old clothing we can find today was so well made it's survived! Confirmation bias, eh? I don't like fast fashion either though. It's so difficult to find women's clothing with functional pockets in them. I bought jeans a few years ago that had fake pockets sewn in! They weren't even cheap :( I buy men's shoes because I find they're cheaper, better made, and because I have wide feet for a woman.
I have the Vegan ones for about a month now and they are doing good. I wear them about 5 times a week and they stand up pretty good. They do crease a bit but you can put shoe molders in them. Overall great boot. Great vid!!
I have the vegan boots and to be honest I am quite amazed by their durability. I live in England so over the course of 3 years (since I have the pair) I have probably worn them for roughly 20 months every single day. They still look new and there's nothing I can criticize about them.
I appreciate that you included the video of you cutting the boot in half even though you had the boot already cut on your table. That was satisfying ASMR.
@@howardbaxter2514 With these Docs its the exact same. Both have a very similar plastic coating on the outside. I find especially with better quality vegan leathers its best to polish them as it protects them and weather proofs them. My brand of choice is Vegetarian Shoes.
Raquel Pujadas Domínguez whether or not polyurethane is plastic seems to be a commonly debated topic, but it is a synthetic made from oil and does not biodegrade which is what most people are meaning when they call it plastic. (Plastic is more of a shortcut word or public use word, not something with a necessarily strict definition)
Since you asked for our thoughts, here are some observations and thoughts I had during the video :) Not all regular Martens boots have the full-length inserts. And there are other changes in their appearances as well - I learned this when at one point a couple of years ago I had 3 pairs of 8-eye black patent Docs in my possession for a short time. It started as a simple repurchase of my old pair that I wore to pieces, but what arrived disappointed me by its slight differences in appearance. This resulted in me purchasing another pair from another distributor (all 3 were genuine), which looked different, again - from both of the previous pairs. I wish I have taken pictures, but at that time I wasn't interested, only disappointed. There was one difference that stood out to me: all were manufactured in different countries. This recognition resulted in me checking TONS of eBay listings (and even asking sellers to let me know the manufacturing country if it wasn't visible in the pictures) and coming up with conclusions - and after some returning and reselling, I finally managed to buy a new pair that I liked :P I noticed that while a model produced in one country had short inserts like the vegan boots shown in the video, another one made in another country had a full-length insert (my 14-eye vegan Martens have full-length inserts, unlike those of the one you cut). Another (more significant) difference - and the one that caused my disappointment, is that boots produced in different countries looked slightly different also on the outside: one was more rounded at the toes, the other had the slightest bit of a trapesoid shape. One's sole was curling up slightly at the front, while another had its full sole touching the ground. One was thinner in the middle, while another was bulkier in the middle and wider at the anke. This latter also caused noticeable differences in how they fit despite them being all the same size (the thinner one was almost a bit too tight to be comfortable, while the thickest felt like my feet were swimming in them! This was super strange because I have been wearing UK size 6 Docs for 20+ years and I never had fitting issues). Oh, and the colour of the yellow stitches was also not consistent - one was lighter, another closer to ochre. I wouldn't say these differences are necessarily down to country/factory, they might also differ from model to model, or even from year to year, but I believe the most logical explanation seems to be that there are slight differences in the machines and materials used in the different factories/countries (I have no clue if they have multiple factories per country). As for wear-resistence: so far I am super happy with how my Vegan Docs held up! I've spent years longing to buy a pair of these, but I didn't want to pay that high price because of my bad previous experiences with synthetic leather. One day sometime over 3 years ago I finally caved in to a reasonably good deal (14-eye vegan Docs are no longer in production, and they weren't already back then, so it wasn't easy to track one down) and bought a (slightly used!) pair - and now, having owned and worn them quite frequently (I would say at least 4 days a week on average - including summer), my experiences are the same, if not even better than with the old ones - including those (now very long ago) times when all Docs were produced in the UK. I've been wearing Doc Martens boots since the late 1990s, and have owned who knows how many pairs of their leather boots, and after 3 years I've always had at least minor rips formed from the creases that appear where the toes bend (and often also a sole partially or fully broken in two. I must have a weird, or at least very active way of walking :P ). With my vegan pair, while the grooves/wrinkling on the surface that you also pointed out scared me at first (and they do form quickly, and are there to stay), during these 3 years they never developed into massively deeper ridges that then grow into rips on the leather ones. (I'm happy to take picture of how they look like now if that's something you are interested in) On a side note, about cows and leather: I don't actually think people who say they don't support leather are thinking that there are cows that are raised and then killed solely for leather production. That just fails any possible logic to me (why toss the meat that some people would eat?). What I think these people are rather saying, is that cows are killed in general, and that's what they don't support. They won't be supporting killing them for meat or gelatine production either, their issue is not only with leather. At least that's how I think and how my mind works.
@Beautiful Things Are Love and Dreams What a complete load of bs, stop trying to fearmonger people into your beliefs, if what you believe is actually honorable people will follow it without this kind of disgusting lie.
Hey man, been watching since the beginning and I throughly enjoy the quality and content of the videos you make. I got into leather working as a hobby about a year ago and it has turned into more of a really small business model to grow. I do wallets and small bags right now but I really would love to play with possibly making some boots and/or shoes. So your videos are a tremendous informative resource for knowledge on doing that and trying to understand what makes a great boot the best it can be. I just wanted to thank you for putting your time and effort into making such greatly produced videos and it seems there are a lot of other ppl that enjoy them just as much! I’m happy to say that you have inspired me in continuing on with the leather work and with working on some preliminary design concepts for how I plan to attempt to create some foot wear! Lol. Maybe once I get some done you can cut them in half and give me some honest feedback! On another note, I’m sure doing these boot videos take up a lot of time and behind the scenes work, just curious if you plan to do more of the wallet disassembling stuff also? I understand that you should spend more time on what brings in the most viewers and all that. I was just wondering because I do enjoy that content also. Thanks again!!
Thank you for this video!! I had vegan Doc Martens and wore them for 6 years through and only had to stop wearing them cos i literally wore out the sole, i got small holes where the "wide" part of the foot is, but i honestly always get that with any shoe, sneakers and such always tear in those places after a few months. I am so happy to see that it's actually a really good shoe and maybe my review helps for your research! I was honestly surprised cos no other shoe has ever lasted me that long with such constant wear! the faux leather also stays soo beautiful even now, it never chipped or anything. Honestly, I was surprised too to what level vegan leather has come!
As a vegan I am glad Doc Martens provides me with an option as otherwise I would never buy their leather boots. I like how you reserve the right to be wrong. Vegans don’t eat meat either so your point about leather being a byproduct of the meat industry is not something a vegan respects. We want the meat production to end too not just the leather. For me there is only the vegan leather option. Nice to see they do not rip as easily and that the sole is better. Thanks for the review!
Faux leather can still contain animal products, such as in the dye. It's not made for being vegan, but as a cheap real leather alternative. Vegan leather is designed specifically to be vegan.
So it's just expensive rubbish leather alternative? I mean ,,fake leather'' shoes are at least much cheaper than real deal which matter for some. Also, on personal note, vegan leather just sound ridicules. Why vegan have to name everything as VEGAN (put name of any meat product). I guess I'm wearing only Animal Leaf boots.
I've had my vegan Docs for a few years now and the only thing that is starting to wear of a tiny bit is the rubber sole.. which is the same one as on the leather boots. I wear them like 70% of the time per year. I'm never getting sweaty feat unless it's summer time. And I love that they still look quite new instead of having developed a patina.
I had the vegan boots for three years. The "leather" still looked fine, however the soles fell apart before anything other than crinkles could happen to the leather. I was super frustrated and of course Dr. Martens didn't care at all.
Suggestion: Could you maybe take a look at those UGGs, that are made more like classical men boots, like the HANNEN TL or like the HALFDAN? Great review btw.
There's no misconception, even if it's a biproduct of meat, buying leather is still making extra money to the meat industry. It's simple market, a lot of people don't want to buy leather, to not enrich the meat industry further.
I've had vegan docs for 2 years and taken them in the mud, rain, etc and they have held up. I clean them off and they look as good as new! No problems with the 'leather' so far.
Oh that was interesting. But having a wool felt midsole makes the boots no longer vegan. I'm excited for the dr martins crocs! And Toaster is so stinkin cute in his harness!
@@walruslatte6080 there's others materials that can be used instead of wool. I personally don't buy polyester or other synthetic materials but try to stick with cotton. But I agree that some vegans don't think ethical
Im a vegan (not a strikt one) and i prefer good quality leather for the same reasons as you already told. Its just important to consume very conscious and not too much. But its fully okay to buy a piece here and there where leather as a material makes sense and with the intention(and not intention only you also need to do it not only want to do it) to use it a looong time. Also second hand is always a good idea.
I owned that exact pair of vegan Martens, and I found this video suuuper interesting ! First off I just want to comment on what you said at 5:16 : Vegan boots make sense because vegans don't eat meat either. It's a consistency issue, if you don't eat meat but buy leather you're still giving money to theses industries you criticize ... I agree with you that they're overpriced. I could forgive the price if there was some research (there has been some interesting work done with leather from fruit skin for instance) and an actual effort to make them as sustainable as possible, cause these things come with a cost. But it looks like it's essentially plastic-derivated materials and it's produced in Vietnam :( Other than that, from my experience, they're quite hard to "break" in the beginning, they definitely hurt my feet for a couple months. I've had them for over two years now, and they have a few wrinkles. The outsoles worn off more than I expected under one side the heels, which is a bit disappointing. I have no complains on the faux-leather's quality though, it's pretty solid and requires no kind of treatment. I actually got the side of my boot griped by an escaltor once but it didn't even rip , it just left a tiny scratch.
On the point of leather supporting the meat industry, it is a contentious one for me because there's no "right answer". There's leather, a byproduct of the meat industry, therefore supporting that industry. Or pleather, plastic, made from oil. Both require natural habitats to be destroyed, both have environmental impact, but at the end of the day, leather tends to last longer than pleather, meaning that environmental impact is spread out, and when I'm done with the leather, if it's high quality its more likely to survive to be passed onto someone else via charity shops, and at the very least it will decompose. No real way to get shoes without harming animals :(
@@emj7336 I get this, I do. I just don't like the idea of wearing dead animals on my feet. It makes me feel uncomfortable, and I just can't do it. Would feel like I was wearing a dead cst skin shoe. I just don't want to, I love cows too much and I am very visual.
@@juulvandijk5041 I definitely appreciate that. It's hard that there's no fully ethical way to get shoes, or clothes really either. You can either wear plastic, cotton (the majority of which is picked in China through forced labour), fibres from animals (especially silk where the silk worm dies in production), or linen which may be the most ethical option but isn't really suitable for cold weather or very comfortable. Ethics have never been the focus of manufacturers, but these days we cause even more damage than ever before
@@emj7336 I try to get my clothes second hand, or when I do buy new, make sure I wear it till it's completely off. We also do clothes swap with friends. When I buy shoes I wear them till they're completely off. I think that altho it's all very unethical, the most unethical is fast fashion. Buy stuff you need, buy second hand first and use it till you can't use it anymore! That's what I try to do.
If you did a video discussing leather alternatives vs real leather that would be really cool (one that comes to mind is pineapple leather), would be cool to get your perspective on those from any research you can do on them
i wrote a report for uni on animal leather and pu leather and how "vegan" leather is just green washing. Im interested if you can get cactus derived leather and do a video on your thoughts on it. The company is from mexico and is called desserto.
It's just my personal experience but Everytime i see someone mention "vegan leather" over the internet they always hail it as a revolutionary, eco-friendly and cruelty free new product.
I'd like to read you report I know there are a lot of products in the market that are made out of some kind of "cactus" but the leather one is intriguing to me
I have thoses, bought them for 50$ on Vinted 3 year ago, i wear them 1 time a weak and they didnt mooved at all, it is honestly one of my favourit product
This is one of the most helpful videos. I’m a vegan but I’m always open to learning/adapting if an animal product is better for the environment than a vegan/plastic based one. I’ve always had problems with docs (soles splitting lengthwise, cracking, etc.) but I love the look so much that I’m always looking for the best option. I’d love to see a side by side wear comparison.
buying real leather is 100% more environmentally friendly than buying fake leather that's plastic. if you don't use the leather of a cow that's slaughtered then that skin is going to be rotting/creates wastes. by using it you are recycling it to something that lasts up to decades in wear. if you buy fake leather 1. you create new plastic 2. it is not biodegradeable 3. you will need more new fake leather items throughout your life because they will not last like real leather would
@@Sabrina-sx9fl Most leather used by industry isn't from cows that would have been slaughtered anyway. We produce so much leather nowadays that cows get slaughtered simply for this reason. Otherwise I agree with you, real leather is way more durable. I have second hand real leather Doc Martens, I got them for less than half the price and they were barely worn:)
@@mariat.7118 the guy in the video exactly talked about this and said 99% of leather is sourced from meat byproducts/waste, did you happen to miss that part? :)
@@Sabrina-sx9fl Well, I actually didn´t listen that carefully, I was quite tired when I watched this video ;) Hoever I did have other information about this issue but I`ll check it again. But what I know for sure is most leather is produced in countries like india and bangladhesh with a lot of ctruelty towards both animals and humans with toxic chemicals used. And at the end of the day you still pay the industry. (I hope that makes sence, I`m not a native speaker and I might have messed up some sentences...)
The Felix Rub Off leather is a form of microfiber PVC. I asked their customer service about it. As for Vegan DMs in general, I love my pair. I've been wearing them for nearly 8 years now practically daily. Some minor flaws in the leather but they still look great! I usually just have them for city wear but I've worn them hiking a few times.
@7:23 Yes, but it supports said industry because they don't sell "Junk in the trunk" for free. It is a complex topic because at some point in the supply chain someone makes money from killing animals. E. g. the same company that sells vegan burger patties is involved in selling the meat patties. 🤔
I have completely given up on fake leather. I've owned enough boots and bags that look like trash after a month or two because the top layer rubs off. Last fall I got a fairly affordable real leather bag, and it looks the same now as when I got it, and unlike in the past, I feel no need to replace it soon. As far as I'm concerned, it seems literally indestructible and I'm very glad I made the choice to upgrade! Even if the interior is better, my concern over the wear of that top layer would keep me from spending money on these!!
My vegan docs are going strong after 5 years. No scratches or anything, I wear them everywhere and they’ve been to plenty gigs! Also - I think people don’t want to wear an animal altogether, by product of the meat industry or not
Thank you for this review, I've been looking forward to you reviewing the vegan docs. I have been considering buying them for a while, I will definitely take the wrinkling into account! I was surprised how easily the glued bit of the sole came apart, that's the bit I find goes first when I wear cheap fake leather boots. Perhaps this might be apparent in your wearing side by side future video? If they've started making vegan boots from plant-based leather instead of plastic leather it would be really interesting for you to review them and compare to these! Edit: apparently the vegan shoes made by the brand 'Will's Vegan Shoes' are made from plants! Would be great if you could review something like those! :)
I didn't really come away with the feeling that "faux leather sucks". Infact these tests actually showed me that vegan docs are propably more reliable than i thought. I have worn my leather docs for a good 5 years by now, and the leather is completely fine. Sure it looks a bit worn and creasy but i don't mind too much. The only thing that has been tricky has actually been the sole, which I've had to glue back in place. So i'm pretty on board with the idea of a pair of docs with leather that might break twice as fast, but soles that are more reliable. Infact this video convinced me i might just have get a pair of vegan docs.
Rose seems to be very good in being objective with this reviews. Vegan leather has impressed me, despite my initial thoughts on them. I still don't think I would go for them though.
I requested this from the first video you had on docs. Glad you finally did them. The ones I bought my girlfriend are still holding strong! Even after some metal shows
It’s not what we buy, it’s the amount we buy. Any buying places an increased demand on limited resources. Make do and mend is the best approach in my opinion.
Don't miss out on some of the highest quality REAL leather camera harnesses that we hand make in the USA here - bit.ly/463nlqo
Dr Martens vegan vs Solovair vegan 🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻
Docs aren't priced by their cost of materials.
They're priced based on the nametag.
Good point
Because the vegan shoes would 'canibalize' the sales of the regular one, just like cheap knock-offs, but with a legit nametag.
The superior quality can be explained, too. If they will cost a lot just to keep the price alignement, why not spend more on quality? The best PU leather (maybe not...), the best in-sole etc.
Like Converse, which fall apart after touching water once.
You could say that about almost literally any well-established product.
Trashkov like all brands!
I’ve never seen a cat want to be by its owner so much. Your cat loves you man, and that’s in my eyes a sign of a great person. Thanks for all the I formative videos bro!
Devon Rex and Sphynx breeds are like this. They adore their owners.
This video was suggested to me. Came for the boot knowledge, stayed for the cat.
@Dirtyd23 girlfriends can be replaced but that cat is special
Bangle cats love there owners I have a bangle cat
Still needs a harness on it tho! 😁
Every time
Your cat sits on the shoebox in front of you for attention it makes my day. So cute! Pet it! Pet it!!!
"I miss cutting up Doc Martens. It's so easy" oh the SHADE
Ha ha ha but it’s true!
@@RoseAnvil I'm not impressed by any of them ,, the variations are likely just because of local availability and pricing of materials... I have had "pleather" such as that in furniture.. it always looks disgusting in short order as the outer layer peels off the fabric backing and the way it shows separation after light handling isn't a good sign.
Rose Anvil 😂❤️
🤣🤣
@@lillatracy6229 Yeah, I hope he does a left-and-right wear comparison of the 1460 models. That wrinkly plastic texture layer is going to peel in short order.
Why not wear one of each at the same time and see how they hold up. They look close enough that you do it for a month without looking strange.
yes!
He does say he wants to do this at the end of the video
Good idea.
Although I always do my main kicking with my right foot.
(Pub fights etc)
So that would prob take more wear for me.
@@biscuitsalive are you Irish 😂
Jens Roßbroich XD. Bristolian.
(With Irish blood in me)
Love the video. As someone who already bought this boot it was nice to see that a “vegan boot” isn’t just all fluff. Would love to see more videos on vegan brands and how they compare.
How well did the pleather age?
Even as a vegan I would never buy these. Way more sustainable and environmentally friendly to buy a good quality used pair.
EDIT: I left this comment a year ago and never noticed it got any replies. But, to anyone arguing with my point or claiming I'm not a vegan because of it...that is fine and I do not care.
That's the case always no matter the material. Secondhand will always be better environmentally than new. And more affordable majority of the time as well. I am also vegan and own a few pre-owned pairs of leather shoes/boots, but I also have had a pair of vegan docs for 3 years which I love. If I do decide to buy new it's vegan, pre-owned though it doesn't matter because the damage has already been done.
@@Shirlyswirly As I see it, buying used leather is equivalent to eating unwanted/leftover meat. Would you eat meat if it was going to be thrown away otherwise? Maybe you would; I don't know, but I don't think you could call yourself vegan if you did.
@@morganmitchell4017 meat is a one time thing thats just ingested into the body and leaves it, plus there are rarely situations where this happens. Whereas second hand buying is reusing and re homing something to lengthen its lifespan and reduce buying new things, in an effort to lower the production rate. I'm not a vegan but thats sorta how I see it.
@@morganmitchell4017 yeah meat actually doesn't gell with my body, so my veganism is because of 3 reasons, abuse of animals environmental concerns and health...so eating left over meat wouldn't make sense at all but buying used shoes does
@@michalovesanime You realise that by buying second hand leather, you're increasing the market for the new stuff? Not only that, but by wearing leather you're helping to normalise its use. I'm not trying to "gatekeep" or win an argument, I just want you to think twice.
"vegan leather" is usually just plastic, thus not biodegradable. as someone who's veggie for the environment: if you're concerned with ethical consumption you should buy leather second hand
the thing with shoes though is that usually leather shoes "break" to the owners feet shape and walking style... and it might be unhealthy for feet of the next owner :(
@@katie98711 They can remold if necessary.
Not to mention that it's an incredible waste to eat an animal's meat but not use its other body parts in whatever way you can. In one of her Little House books, Laura Ingalls Wilder mentioned that whenever they slaughtered a pig, they would use every part for something. (The one I remember most is that they would make a balloon out of the bladder.) And people are going to continue eating meat (myself included) whether you like it or not, so if you don't want to directly support meat production then buying real leather secondhand is definitely the best course for the environment.
@@hotwax9376 Vegans aren't eating animal meat. But yeah, if the animal is already dead, use every part and avoid waste. I try to avoid animal products as much as I can, but if I do buy them, it is 2nd hand. Even as brand new shoes as donations at a goodwill can be found, extremely inexpensive.
The idea of wearing dead skin is juste disgusting.
I’ve had the vegan Chelsea doc martens for about five years now. Early on the sole inserts wore down and replaced them with dr. Scholl insoles. They were fairly comfortable to begin with, didn’t need much breaking in. However, in this 5th year the outer vegan leather layer has started peeling very badly.
sa-me
super dissapointing
Have you found any better alternatives?
I’m guessing that because the vegan leather doesn’t breathe they needed a felt midsole to help absorb moisture & the wool felt also helps control stink.
I just love the whole spin on plastic, by calling ti vegan. Growing up, you could always tell the poor kids because they had plastic shoes. Now you can spot the hipster.
No, among Asian leather Docs have felt midsole
interesting guess
Except it wouldn't be wool. The boot isn't made with any animal products.
There is vegan leather which breaths, vegan leather is not the same as fake leather I think
You can make leather-like (like, extremely leather-like) material from fungus and micro bacteria. A lot more durable than other faux leather, and far more environmentally friendly.
But you are killing plants to make them. That’s cruel
@@PibrochPonder I'm assuming this is sarcastic.
@@PibrochPonder you must have had to kill your brain cells in order to type that comment.
No
@M - mushroom leather is still in its infancy, pineapple leather is actually pretty decent and is showing up in vegan shoes pretty often. If I'm not wrong doc martens is planning on a mushroom leather boot
I have mine 3 years. Black and cherry versions - still going strong and no issues. Love them
I have an issue with the term “vegan leather” to begin with. It used to just be called fake leather or pleather, and I feel like calling it vegan is a marketing ploy more than anything; it makes it seem like it’s a fancier material than pleather when in reality they’re the same thing, but one sounds more classy (and can then be sold for more money). Same thing goes for vegan suede, it’s all just lower quality, cheaper imitations of natural materials, but calling it “vegan leather” instead of just “fake leather” makes it seem like it’s a higher quality material.
yeah, it annoys me to no end. Hate blatant marketing speech. Another favourite of mine is "made from premium materials". Such as? Where do they come from? etc...
Vegan does carry limitations that pleather and fake leather doesn't. For example, you could use glue made from animals in pleather or fake leather, but you could not use that same glue in vegan leather.
@@shadowscall7758 yeah but I bet all the pleather makers rubbed their hands with glee when they realised they could market it as vegan
Also, “vegan” makes it seem like it’s better for animals/the environment than real leather, which it is most definitely not.
Sadly the metrosexuals and other plonks fall for this. The power of capitalism.
I couldn't help but notice your supervisor/ OSHA representative perched on your desk ensuring that the work is done properly and safely!
Very cute and qualified!
I don't know... They were asleep on the job at some points there.
@@lindiemoon also known as deep cat contemplation… very qualified and professional!!!
I bought some and was actually angry because they were the most uncomfortable shoes I'd ever worn. I just hated them. BUT after leaving them in the closet for months, I decided to make myself wear them for a while to be sure they wouldn't get better. Sure enough they became amazingly comfortable. And they did a great job of protecting my feet in a motorcycle accident.
My guy, get bike boots. There is no reason to ride in a shitty boot that is not made for it.
Seeing the terrible abrasion resistance of those, you were super lucky that your feet didn't got caught catching the wheel :O Mike is right... drop these stop pushing your luck...!
@@jas_bataille I think it's a bit unlikely that they were sliding across sandpaper for 30+ seconds in their accident
@@aarontimm No, just hot asphalt and potentially the wheels of the bike as Jas suggested.
I wouldn’t mind learning the environmental implications of fake leather.
Yeah, me too. Cows are just insanely environmentally unfriendly, requiring clear deforested land, lots of hay and water and they produce a huge quantities of greenhouse gasses. You could probably wear through half a dozen vegan shoes for every one pair of real leather shoes and have the same environmental impact. Would be interesting to know the actual numbers for comparison.
@@Foomandoonian On the other hand real leather will biodegrade , and not just sit around in a landfill. Not sure how much industrial waste is generated making the vegan shoes as well. Micro plastics in our water is a big deal.
@@chasecolton3391 it's not a one time use of plastic, I personally think that our main problem with the plastic that will sit in a landfill is all the forks, bottles, bags, etc that we create just for a one time use vs a pair of boots that will last 5+ years as I read in one comment in the top.
@@chasecolton3391 Very fair point!
@@diegobarrantes5467 tangent: synthetic clothes you put in the washing machine is another big source of microplastics in water
That cat's a paid actor. Prove me wrong.
Nah... when my husband sits down to the ham radio, our younger girl cat whines to be let in so she can sit on his desk with him.
we cant because youre right
Or the cat is held prisoner and being scoped by a sniper?
Fake mews
i had the vegan ones, they lasted me 4.5 years of wearing them dayly as my only pair of shoes. they were quite comfortable from the first day on. the thing that finally failed was the sole which basically broke in half at some point. the upper is pretty durable, they had some small holes from sitting on the ground with crossed legs quite often, but no cracks or tearing.
the sweating you get from them is prettty bad tho.
i got a used pair of leather docs (not the smooth, but idk which leather specifically, looks more natural and is quite thick) yesterday in very good condition. i'm curious to see how long they will last.
I’ve had my leather docs for almost 3 years they still stiff as a board
I've never heard of shoes worn daily that last more than two years. I guess if you sit around or drive around all day like a lazy police officer. My Doc Martin's lasted two days. Not really a boot at all. More like a Slipper with laces. I kept them for a month because they cost so much. Cardboard Insoles. Doc Martin is an enemy to all humans. A company that only exists because of lying ignorant idiots that give them money. They stole my 60 dollars back in the eighties. And a month of misery. That's damages. And I think I can prove that in any court!!!
I had leather MIE ones for about 6 years but eventually the same thing happened; the sole hardened and then cracked right across the foot, leaving them unwearable, sad bc the upper was still okay :c
I wore the plastic ones as my daily shoes for a little under a year and the toe already started to crack and the heel unhooked from the sole.
@@saccharineserf7316 You can get the soles replaced fairly easily I'd think, right?
How are you able to ignore the kitty when it's sitting right in front of you??
At least I greeted him with a “oh hello” when he came back to the table
He said in another comment that every time there's a cut when toasters around he's usually petting him
@@ebinecksdee9872 Thank you, I needed the closure.
when did companies start saying “vegan leather” instead of just saying synthetic?
Synthetic doesn't mean leather-like. Why does the word "vegan" bother you ?
When they started to attract vegan consumers
Tiphaine Arnould can you point out where i said the word vegan bothers me? next time don’t get so triggered when someone asks a simple question ok?
@@nope66755 And why do you get angry when I, also, asked a simple question ? Don't pretend that the term "vegan" doesn't trigger a lot a people lol
Also, synthetic and vegan aren't the same because vegan means that the entire product doesn't contain animal products while synthetic can use rabbit skin glue or so
Ive been wearing the same pair of vegan docs for 8 years, and they still look great. The sole finally gave out and broke last week, but ya, they literally lasted me 8 years! Biggest issue with them is that the "leather" never gets that nice worn in look of a regular doc, they always look new.
My average shoe life span is six months, I’m guessing these plastic boots would last about 3 months with me
thats believable
@@loplop019 lol. 8 years? Same boots for 8 years. Let that sink in.
@@drunkbillygoat maybe they don't walk much, if I didn't have to go to work, my shoes would last forever
@@neilchapman5145 I'm super curious what your occupation is for your shoes to last 6 months lol. I've owned a lot of cheap shoes in my life and they all lasted well over 2 years.
That cat harness is the cutest thing I've ever seen he looks like a little alchemist baby
If only vegan leather was literally plant based. It'll be interesting to know out it'll turn out
No, its made out of sintetic material
There are some out there. None have become main stream yet, but it's a thing. Pleather still has a lower carbon footprint than leather, though.
amanda motekaityte that’s why op said ”if only”
There are tons of different kinds of artificial leather, some of them are plant based, in a way or another.
Stella McCartney developes some leather made of mushrooms, it's pretty interesting
For your swatches, (Abrasion Test) If you put small springs on each side connected to a contraption, you would be able to provide equal pressure to each swatch, thus make your tests more consistent. Just an idea. Every Swatch would for sure have to be the same length.
We need a video dedicated to Toaster. What’s his story? Wasn’t he hairless? Such a chill cat.
I would also love some Toaster-specific content! He looks like one of my Devon Rex cats. These cats have two speeds: chill AF or possessed by demons haha I find both my boys are very chill when they get to be around one of their humans.
I thought you meant cutting toaster open in half
I do have a video in the works that purple is going to sponsor. I’m going to make toaster the most expensive cat bed in the world ha ha I’ll make sure to talk about him in that video.
I wanted to comment that I'm mostly here for the cat, and ask his name, but found it haha.
I like the name Toaster, I love weird names for cats haha.
Also yes, I thought he was bald too... Maybe he's a rescue?
@@rooziej my daughter named her first cat Toaster 12 or so years ago. His little buddy was named Evinrude.
I watch your videos because I like your enthusiasm for longevity and quality, which is something we need to return to in all our manufacturing. As a Vegan who is studying a Masters in Sustainable Development this a very difficult issue. Plastics support the oil industry, is harmful to our oceans, and harmful to our health in the form of micro-plastics. Leather supports the meat/dairy industry, therefore involves animal cruelty, and livestock is also one of the largest contributors to climate change (after oil). Have you thought about reviewing plant based shoes? For example Wills Vegan Work Boots are made from plants and manufactured in Europe (meaning proper pay and working conditions). The Reebok Forever Floatride GROW are also a plant based runner (sneaker in American). Adidas do the Parley range which is made from recycled plastics also. Just a thought as it might be an interesting comparison. Thanks for the video, I appreciate your curiosity and knowledge in the production of quality products.
I sincerely hope that we can have durable plant based shoes
Because, yea. Not every country still has normal farming, but industrial farming, which is renowned for animal cruelty.
I'd love to see truly sustainable vegan alternatives, I'm an industrial design student and boy is it difficult to manage a sound craddle-to-craddle design when the majority of the cruelty-free (human and animal obv) alternatives are either plastics and thus not sustainable in the long run (even with recycling), or just waaaaay too expensive for the projects budget.
@@matildas3177 I said it almost every time, and I'll say it again.
Capitalism sucks. And the system it has made sucks. Just imagine what we could already have done if people were just less uptight about money.
@@matildas3177 Access to materials at a reasonable price so that students like you can push the boundaries of sustainable design is crucial. Can only hope that the sustainable fashion movement continues to grow and forces the hand of major manufactures to invest in further developing sustainable materials. Upcycling will be key in the future too.
Matilda S mushroom based leather is a thing. I think there are manufacture at least in Bandung, Indonesia and one in the US as far as i know
I've been wearing the 1460 vegan boots for 7 years now, almost every single day every winter and autumn. The only thing that has happened to far was the synthetic leather part on the ankles starting to peel off (But I never used any sorf of conditioner on the boots for 7 years so I think that's fair. ) Last year I met someone who didn't believe my docs were vegan and tried to inspect them very closely and still didn't believe me so I had to show him dr martens has a vegan range... I think they are stylish, durable and for me comfortable since I never had to break them in. I definitely recommend them.
I don't think you can condition fake leather
Ok this is really surprising. I was skeptical to the vegan since I never had a pair.
Wore the vegan DMs for 3 years 5 days a week at a warehouse job, the soles wore out before the boot material
This got me thinking.. Did they deliberately made the soles to wear out faster?
@@lonerider6175 I had the same thing with my vegan ones. I think the sole is multilayered plastics conjoined with heat, and have heard that it is a common area for docs to break. I doubt it is done on purpose - not long ago they used to provide a lifetime warranty, so it would be pretty self destructive
Same here, wore my vegan docs for 3 years almost every single day, and multiple times a week for the next two. The sole is starting to wear pretty badly now, but the vegan leather is no more worn than I’d expect
I am having the same experience! Had my vegan pair for more than a year and a half now and the soles are starting to wear out.
They don't make docs like they used to, it's such a shame. I know of people who've got pairs they bought decades ago that are still going strong, now they don't last anywhere near as long. I will say though, I've had mine for about 4 years now (the hard leather type, not soft leather) and while I don't wear them every single day, they're doing great other than a couple of particularly bad scuffs and wear on the soles. It's just a shame that the quality has gone down while the price has increased :/
Leather is more a "coproduct" than a byproduct of the meat industry, the skin is factored into the process, the animals are raised just as much for their leather as they are for meat. main goal is to make as much profit from the creature as possible, they are living money making machines to the farmer. Leather is an animal product, produced to meet consumer demand like any other product animals are raised and slaughtered for
I would agree if at least a majority of hides were turned into leather. I know especially in the sheep industry the sell of their hides were expected to be the real source of profit. However, now there is very little demand outside of China for sheep hides. So, most sheep hides can't even be given away, and do end up being trashed. The beef industry has also seen a server reduction in demand for cow hides (albeit now as drastic as the sheep industry). Meaning that what use to be a coproduct is becoming more of a waste product everyday.
A cow still is the best method to turn grass into steak, the hides just keep it all together
Lol!
The hide is very cheap out of the cow i think, and by this i mean the process to make it usable is probably far more expensive than the hide itself and the money from the sold leather doesnt go to the rancher or the people that raise the cow, they just sell the hide, i quickly looked up some numbers and apparently the leather (the hide alone should be a huge lot less money) in general from a single cow can be around $600 while the meat can be $2500-$3000, and if you think thats too cheap for leather since boots are $150 think about that in general in the clothing industry stuff costs to produce between 10%-30% of retail price, lets say dr marteens are on the higher tier so the leather you see on those boots can be worth well under $10 maybe even $5(but ofc there is always some waste so closer to $10). So is definitely a byproduct. EDIT: seems like i was a bit off on leather prices, the one i mentioned apparently is a very premium leather, chrome tanned leather is $2 per sf, so a whole cow's is $100 meaning the hide is maybe $20 or even less?
thank you
My daughter has been wearing her vegan DM boots for almost 3 years. They've actually held up and worn in quite nicely (to my surprise). Her only "complaint" is that they went through a period where they were a bit "squeaky" and that embarrassed her, heheheh :)
Why everyone acting like the cat isn't just there for the box?
What cat?
I love how calm the cat is, and how he is "just there"
i love his gun holster
Thanks for the comparison! I think it would really interested to check out some the other vegan leathers on the market. Particularly made from natural ingredients. Check out Bohema No. 3 Boots (cactus leather!) Good Guys Don’t Wear Leather - Blaze (apple leather!) And Nae - Noah Piñatex (pineapple leather!)
I will say it's funny that the smooths look more plastic than the vegan ones
For real though ha ha
Well they are plastic on top of shitty leather so it makes sense. Agree it's funny though
I’m plant based in terms of diet, skincare, and beauty. The one thing I won’t do anymore is vegan boots. They really don’t last as long, and I felt even more guilty about clogging up landfill than I did about wearing leather...
They do if you get good quality. Have you tried vegetarian shoes airseal range? They're made in the same factory as Solivair which Rose and Anvil really rated when they reviewed them.
@@zmuzzy101 even if they last just as long they're still plastic that doesnt decompose. Still much more environmentally consciousness to buy leather secondhand
@@soymilkman there's more in depth information in other comments but I'm not sure that's the case. Leather doesn't just decompose especially the kind of leather in doc martens which is chrome tanned with a plastic costing. Also I'd rather plastic the dead animal flesh any day of the week but that's just me. Leather is worse for the environment even when compared to plastic based vegan materials. The best of both worlds though are things like pinatex, mushroom leather and cactus leather. Biodegradable, extremely environmentally friendly too.
zmuzzy101 okay but if you consider that when made into boots, and worn for years, then sold, them worn, them sold. They will have been constantly used by the time the fabric has decomposed. I agree that other forms like you suggested are better. But buying second hand real leather is much better than this fake one.
Second hand is one of the best ways to go. There's also a ton of brands using recicled leather nowadays.
Discovered you a week ago and now I have seen 5 of your videos. You’re doing something right. 👍
That cat is a trip. Lol. Literally falling asleep as it sits there listening to you talk. :)
That seems to be a common theme in my life
@@RoseAnvil I Dunno man. You have 105k subscribers that disagree. 😁👍
My experience with "vegan" leather is it is either considerablly cheaper, or considerablly more expensive. If it's made from material like PU then it's cheaper, but if it's made using alternative materials then the price goes up fast. This is only my anicodtal experience.
Michael Thompson ya not all fake leather’s are bad one saved my ass in a motorcycle accident I was able to survive sliding down the pavement so I didn’t reach my skin lol
@@granty304 what was the fake leather brand?
Some "eco" leathers are made using leather shavings which brings the price up pretty close to actual leather
You have to wonder their thoughts, be more environmentally friendly, but they forget it's made from oil. HAHA
Which other materials?
I've been wearing martens 1920 for the most part of past 20 years. I noticed the quality and endurance fell a lot few years ago, when they stopped putting foam into the sole holes. Coincidentially (or is it? ;) it was the time when I noticed there is no longer made in uk mark on the bottom, replaced by made in china.
I've been daily wearing a pair of vegan docs for the past 2 years and had a few basic leather docs before. My take on them is that they get hot AF in summer, a lot more than the leather ones, and they age differently (arguably not as beautifully) than the leather ones. They're also more resistant in my experience, mostly because doc's cheap leather tends to crack really quickly in dry weather while vegan leather doesn't change with weather (and lesser abrasion resistance is real but not a real issue, abrasion marks are there but they do not compromise the boot). The sole is weak as with most docs, no noticeable difference. They make an annoying squeaky noise for the first month or so.
I would say that there's pros and cons to the vegan version. I'd like the leather ones to be as durable and care free as the vegan ones, I'd like the vegan ones to be as breathable and organically aging as the leather ones. It's really up to personal preference IMO.
How did you care for the shoes? I've heard about people just using a cloth to wipe the dirt and people that use exactly the same means as they would with real leather
@@whynotiris5515 vegan leather doesn't care about grease and leather care. Don't bother using those. Wipe them clean and it should be fine.
Did you care well (conditioning/polishing) for the real leather Doc Martens? If they were cracking early on it may have been a sign of ill care for the boots.
@@Coolman-nu2lm I certainly wasn't overly careful with them but I did care and greased them regularly (obviously not enough). I don't know how they would fare with a real thorough care but for me these were just shoes. I care for them a minimum, they care for me a minimum. I did follow up on my end of the bargain, they didn't. Repeatedly.
I have my vegans 1460 for 10 years now! My mom's bought them for me when I was in high school. Not that she picked vegan on purpose - we don't usually have Docs in common shops in our country, this was the only pair. What can I say - they're as good as new. Only the sole is much thinner. Not a crack, not a major scratch.
It seems to degrade so quickly, no break down completely, just peeling and cracking to the point where it can’t be fixed. This is a great video and I’m a new subscriber!
I like how the cat is so attentive, just listening and watching.
why is the cat *SeMi-nAkEd*
love it
Ya he is a devon rex, his name is toaster
Rose Anvil you deadass named your cat toaster? That’s so cute imma cry
@@RoseAnvilare you allergic to cats?
I had a pair of vegan Solovairs about a year and a half ago, which were pretty much my daily boot, and they were without a doubt some of the WORST boots I've ever had. In less than seven months, the wrinkles on the upper had gotten so bad, that it didn't take long for it to completely wear through. In less than seven months, they had grown absolutely useless. Not to mention the fact that the insole and lining was quite literally falling off by the end, to the point where I could scrape pieces of if I wiggled my toes.
Thinking that this was just a one-off issue, I was able to bring them back to the shop and, foolishly, instead of asking for the money back, got a replacement pair, which lasted about six months before breaking in the same place.
This thorough disappointment was what prompted me to 'go big or go home' and invest in a pair of Crispi hiking boots instead.
Hair dryer heat test. See if they would melt if left in a car during the summer.
Where I live, South Africa in a semi desert, just leave it outside in the summer. No car needed.
I lost a pack of crayons to the sun. The stains are still on the concrete outside our old house :')
@@elvingearmasterirma7241 🤣 damn. Didn't think the karoo was hectic like that
@@potatopotatoeOG The sun is a right bugger.
Heatstroke is no joke
Yes, the cat has it's own leather camera harness. Rose Anvil is that cool.
Can I please add that the first vegan DMs were really soft. Mine lasted 9 years and still looked pretty good because the pleather didn’t crack. They were also waterproof. The modern ones are terrible. Very hard. The “rub off” coating literally does rub off and looks like paint. As an x skin head ( in my 50s) I’ve really seen the quality changes. I am preferring to buy second hand leather these days before anyone jumps. Definitely better for the world. Thank you for the great videos.
How did you engineer Toaster's harness to expand when he transforms into Battle Cat;?
Replete Replete 🤣🤣🤣🤣
Nice Heman reference 😂😂😂
"Battle Cat" Relevant?--> ua-cam.com/video/DO2bQFo1c6s/v-deo.html lol
Cat has whips chains and dangly thangs and no safe word !
i've been wearing my vegan dr. martens for six years straight from fall to spring almost daily and they still look good enough
Yeah, you’d expect that from a branded shoe like docs but the real test is in 20, 30 years from now
yeah same with mine
4 years on mine. 119 bucks on Zappos, not 150.
@@brianh4625 ive had mine four years too, and mine were only £60 on clearance!
@@geministargazer9830 my real leather docs lasted 2 years before they completely ripped open. I can't wear them on a rainy day anymore so I guess it's just a bunch of nonsense that leather lasts long.
thank you, I have good leather shoes, that I've owned and been able to care for....and have resoled, for over 10 years. Your information has made me feel less "guilty" about owning leather, and buying leather. Taking care of your shoes and boots is "old fashioned" but if you find a good cobbler/shoe shining place, those shoes can last a lifetime.
I’ve had my vegan docs for 5+ years, wearing them them to work (working on my feet for 8+ hours) and can honestly say, they still look new, it’s so strange! There’s some gentle scratches, but no real visible wear or tear except for the inside of the shoe, which has moulded unto the shape of my foot over the course of time.
Manufacturing was moved to Thailand less than five years ago, so you may have gotten one of the last decentnpairs lol
Can they be polished?
Same!
Bought a pair of leather doc's in 1990 never polished them and worked in the printing industry where ink, thinners and turps were spilt on them on a daily basis, poor things only lasted 10 years until the soul was gone. People bag doc's out but I never had a problem with them. With me getting 10 years from a pair I would not buy anything but real leather for boots, even my thongs/flip flops are made from camel leather. Wood and leather are more sustainable than any plastic or man made martial and they are biodegradable.
cloudylemonade, that's my experience too. I've had my vegan docs about four years and they're still fighting fit. They're the only shoes I wear. I just don't get what other people are reporting on this.
found a geniune HeaTona coat crafted somewhere around 1952. Leather and sheepskin. LASTED 68 YEARS AND IS STILL IN EXCELENT CONDITION! And above all, it's a kids coat. Can you imagine? Back then, all clothes would be tailored by profesionals or family members, even a kids coat would be made to last years and to be passed down generations. Clothes were an investment. Nowadays, Fast fashion has taken over and we are supporting poverty to keep up to date with the ever-changing fashion trends. Fashion trends would last a decade, now they change every season! All because of the indroduction to cheap, fast fashion clothing. As a kid, kids clothing is especially poorly made. I can not find a good wool and leather kid's coat, properly tailored to last years that wasn't tailored long, long ago. Even the small tailoring businesses in my area fighting the massive wave of fast fashion clothing seem to always run out of business fast. It feels like no one even cares about quality any more. I don't think anyone realises that clothes can and should last decades! I think we should buy less and when we do buy, buy only clothing tailored to last a lifetime or sew it ourselves. Because of all the op shops asking for no more donations, I presume people start to head in the right direction, by cleaning out their wardrobes so it only has what they need. But then go out and buy more. And then get sick of what they had in their wardrobe and give it to opshops, creating an endless cycle which is only contributing to fast fashion even more! If clothes were an investment, people would not just "get bored of their wardrobe" and our op shops would not be flooded with clothes that inevetibly have to be thrown out. As consumers, we can make any change we want, even if it doesn't seem like it. Anyways, thanks for listening to me ranting if you made it this far.
l completely agree! For those who do get bored of their wardrobes though, I must admit I feel that itch sometimes, I think it’s completely beneficial to purchase good quality clothing items secondhand as an alternative to feeding the monstrous fast fashion business. I briefly fell victim to fast fashion years ago when I didn’t know any better, and quickly found it to be an overall bad experience because the quality was genuinely horrific and the poor designs and fit made most things unwearable. There’s enough higher quality clothing at excellent prices in the secondhand sphere to feed anyone’s fashion itch, to me the breadth of the secondhand market makes the fast fashion industry seem all the more ridiculous and useless. Those who cycle through their wardrobe quickly do not necessarily have to be a bad thing, as long as they’re purchasing good quality pieces and/or shopping secondhand.
Thank you for your rent! I have a similar one, too. I once was in a shopping area and got into a clothes shop with cheap/affordable things. The quality was also quite low, on some of them the seems were undone or there were pieces of thread "sticking out", because of the handling. The shop was pretty big, but there were maybe 3 customers inside. While looking at the quantity of things there, I kept thinking that their style would be out of fashion in about a couple of months, and even if people bought them, they wouldn't last too much and the stuff will end up in a landfill. And, if people don't buy them, they will still end up in a landfill. And there were many such shops there. I felt very sad for our planet, thinking about the amount of raw materials needed to make all those clothes (in general, synthetic fibers), which would end discarded too quickly. It's like using materials for a brief stint as clothes and then for producing more garbage. I don't know what the solution is (producing less? producing quality stuff, from quality materials, and not caring about the fact that next year it won't be in fashion any more?). I do understand that many people can't afford expensive things, so there is a lot of temptation to buy cheap. A friend of mine bought a 3 dollars sweater (it was new), she only got to wear it once, because it came undone, she had to discard it...
I've seen that throughout my childhood, clothes have gone down in quality. I have clothes from when I was 3, 4, and 5, and they are in good condition. Nowadays, if i buy a shirt i get maybe 3 years out of it, tops
In my area there is not much of an opportunity to shop secondhand and still get good pieces for reasonable prices. In Berlin, vintage shops and thrifting is so on trend and something mostly done by the rich kids or tourists, that it is just ridiculously overpriced.
I found that a good alternative is looking for stuff on eBay or depop - and sometimes buy fast fashion. My mother teached me how to spot good Quality items, how to always look for certain materials and to always look at the stitching. I still have and wear tops that I bought 6-7 years ago, when I was still in school. And I've been looking at the coming trends and ask myself what I really would want to wear. I'm always on the hunt for nice fitting pullovers with a turtleneck for example, which is a pain in the ass in these days because almost every knit you come across is partly or a 100 percent made our of acrylic or polyester.
Long story, but what I'm trying to say is that sometimes it is enough just to buy conscious of our own consume and ask ourselves what would be worth the investment and what would last. And just ask ourselves the question "Do I really need it?" before buying.
My grandma (born in the 1930's) says clothing is much better made now, in that it can be washed all the time and doesn't need to be repaired constantly. Synthetics fabrics tend to be really tough. I do agree though that certain types of clothing were sometimes better made than now (like coats and shoes). The thing is, clothing was sometimes made cheaply back then too, it just hasn't survived. The only old clothing we can find today was so well made it's survived! Confirmation bias, eh?
I don't like fast fashion either though. It's so difficult to find women's clothing with functional pockets in them. I bought jeans a few years ago that had fake pockets sewn in! They weren't even cheap :(
I buy men's shoes because I find they're cheaper, better made, and because I have wide feet for a woman.
I have the Vegan ones for about a month now and they are doing good. I wear them about 5 times a week and they stand up pretty good. They do crease a bit but you can put shoe molders in them. Overall great boot. Great vid!!
Hey ! I’d like an update on your vegan docs of you see the notification!
That cat is more stylish than most of us combined.
Can you do a review on the cactus leather that was made recently (?) would be cool to see it's durability!
I'm surprised by results as well. GJ on the review.
I have the vegan boots and to be honest I am quite amazed by their durability. I live in England so over the course of 3 years (since I have the pair) I have probably worn them for roughly 20 months every single day. They still look new and there's nothing I can criticize about them.
How do they feel?
new my ass...looks like shit after 1 day
@@Amor1990 good, comfortable..
@@willblack8575 I have mine for 1y and they look new, what is your problem?
I have my vegans almost 5 years and mine are still beautiful.
I'd love to see them, I want to buy a pair soo bad
I would like to see them too
i am curious about the sole.
How often do you wear them? For real.
Please show
I appreciate that you included the video of you cutting the boot in half even though you had the boot already cut on your table. That was satisfying ASMR.
If something is “vegan leather” I expect the price tag to reflect that. I’m not paying a premium for plastic.#sorrynotsorry
Agreed. And any leather products I get, I'm likely polishing as well, and I can't imagine how shitty it would be to polish "vegan leather".
@@howardbaxter2514 With these Docs its the exact same. Both have a very similar plastic coating on the outside. I find especially with better quality vegan leathers its best to polish them as it protects them and weather proofs them. My brand of choice is Vegetarian Shoes.
It's not necessarily plastic.
Raquel Pujadas Domínguez whether or not polyurethane is plastic seems to be a commonly debated topic, but it is a synthetic made from oil and does not biodegrade which is what most people are meaning when they call it plastic.
(Plastic is more of a shortcut word or public use word, not something with a necessarily strict definition)
The cat is my second favorite part of these videos
Same
I’ve had a pair of these for about 5 years, and they look brand new. It’s super durable, but unfortunately it doesn’t have a nice patina or aged look.
Since you asked for our thoughts, here are some observations and thoughts I had during the video :)
Not all regular Martens boots have the full-length inserts. And there are other changes in their appearances as well - I learned this when at one point a couple of years ago I had 3 pairs of 8-eye black patent Docs in my possession for a short time. It started as a simple repurchase of my old pair that I wore to pieces, but what arrived disappointed me by its slight differences in appearance. This resulted in me purchasing another pair from another distributor (all 3 were genuine), which looked different, again - from both of the previous pairs. I wish I have taken pictures, but at that time I wasn't interested, only disappointed. There was one difference that stood out to me: all were manufactured in different countries. This recognition resulted in me checking TONS of eBay listings (and even asking sellers to let me know the manufacturing country if it wasn't visible in the pictures) and coming up with conclusions - and after some returning and reselling, I finally managed to buy a new pair that I liked :P I noticed that while a model produced in one country had short inserts like the vegan boots shown in the video, another one made in another country had a full-length insert (my 14-eye vegan Martens have full-length inserts, unlike those of the one you cut). Another (more significant) difference - and the one that caused my disappointment, is that boots produced in different countries looked slightly different also on the outside: one was more rounded at the toes, the other had the slightest bit of a trapesoid shape. One's sole was curling up slightly at the front, while another had its full sole touching the ground. One was thinner in the middle, while another was bulkier in the middle and wider at the anke. This latter also caused noticeable differences in how they fit despite them being all the same size (the thinner one was almost a bit too tight to be comfortable, while the thickest felt like my feet were swimming in them! This was super strange because I have been wearing UK size 6 Docs for 20+ years and I never had fitting issues). Oh, and the colour of the yellow stitches was also not consistent - one was lighter, another closer to ochre. I wouldn't say these differences are necessarily down to country/factory, they might also differ from model to model, or even from year to year, but I believe the most logical explanation seems to be that there are slight differences in the machines and materials used in the different factories/countries (I have no clue if they have multiple factories per country).
As for wear-resistence: so far I am super happy with how my Vegan Docs held up! I've spent years longing to buy a
pair of these, but I didn't want to pay that high price because of my bad previous experiences with synthetic leather. One day sometime over 3 years ago I finally caved in to a reasonably good deal (14-eye vegan Docs are no longer in production, and they weren't already back then, so it wasn't easy to track one down) and bought a (slightly used!) pair - and now, having owned and worn them quite frequently (I would say at least 4 days a week on average - including summer), my experiences are the same, if not even better than with the old ones - including those (now very long ago) times when all Docs were produced in the UK. I've been wearing Doc Martens boots since the late 1990s, and have owned who knows how many pairs of their leather boots, and after 3 years I've always had at least minor rips formed from the creases that appear where the toes bend (and often also a sole partially or fully broken in two. I must have a weird, or at least very active way of walking :P ). With my vegan pair, while the grooves/wrinkling on the surface that you also pointed out scared me at first (and they do form quickly, and are there to stay), during these 3 years they never developed into massively deeper ridges that then grow into rips on the leather ones.
(I'm happy to take picture of how they look like now if that's something you are interested in)
On a side note, about cows and leather: I don't actually think people who say they don't support leather are thinking
that there are cows that are raised and then killed solely for leather production. That just fails any possible logic to me (why toss the meat that some people would eat?). What I think these people are rather saying, is that cows are killed in general, and that's what they don't support. They won't be supporting killing them for meat or gelatine production either, their issue is not only with leather. At least that's how I think and how my mind works.
Very insightful comment, thank you!
Thank you, I agreed to the last statement you put. I am vegan and I think the same.
This was super helpful, thank you :)
@Beautiful Things Are Love and Dreams What a complete load of bs, stop trying to fearmonger people into your beliefs, if what you believe is actually honorable people will follow it without this kind of disgusting lie.
@136m2 - A Casa da Maria do you actually think that is true? Or are you just spreading lies with the hope of persuading very gullible people?
Hey man, been watching since the beginning and I throughly enjoy the quality and content of the videos you make.
I got into leather working as a hobby about a year ago and it has turned into more of a really small business model to grow. I do wallets and small bags right now but I really would love to play with possibly making some boots and/or shoes.
So your videos are a tremendous informative resource for knowledge on doing that and trying to understand what makes a great boot the best it can be.
I just wanted to thank you for putting your time and effort into making such greatly produced videos and it seems there are a lot of other ppl that enjoy them just as much!
I’m happy to say that you have inspired me in continuing on with the leather work and with working on some preliminary design concepts for how I plan to attempt to create some foot wear! Lol.
Maybe once I get some done you can cut them in half and give me some honest feedback!
On another note, I’m sure doing these boot videos take up a lot of time and behind the scenes work, just curious if you plan to do more of the wallet disassembling stuff also? I understand that you should spend more time on what brings in the most viewers and all that. I was just wondering because I do enjoy that content also.
Thanks again!!
your cat is so incredibly cute
(ps i aggree with all the comments saying that second hand leather>plastic leather)
Life is like a Doc Martin. You never know what your gonna get.
Thank you for this video!! I had vegan Doc Martens and wore them for 6 years through and only had to stop wearing them cos i literally wore out the sole, i got small holes where the "wide" part of the foot is, but i honestly always get that with any shoe, sneakers and such always tear in those places after a few months. I am so happy to see that it's actually a really good shoe and maybe my review helps for your research! I was honestly surprised cos no other shoe has ever lasted me that long with such constant wear! the faux leather also stays soo beautiful even now, it never chipped or anything. Honestly, I was surprised too to what level vegan leather has come!
Have you bought a new pair? Are the new ones the same quality of your old boots? 🤔
As a vegan I am glad Doc Martens provides me with an option as otherwise I would never buy their leather boots. I like how you reserve the right to be wrong. Vegans don’t eat meat either so your point about leather being a byproduct of the meat industry is not something a vegan respects. We want the meat production to end too not just the leather. For me there is only the vegan leather option. Nice to see they do not rip as easily and that the sole is better. Thanks for the review!
what’s the difference between faux leather and “vegan leather”?
the price tag
Faux leather can still contain animal products, such as in the dye. It's not made for being vegan, but as a cheap real leather alternative. Vegan leather is designed specifically to be vegan.
So it's just expensive rubbish leather alternative? I mean ,,fake leather'' shoes are at least much cheaper than real deal which matter for some. Also, on personal note, vegan leather just sound ridicules. Why vegan have to name everything as VEGAN (put name of any meat product). I guess I'm wearing only Animal Leaf boots.
Non vegan glues
I've had my vegan Docs for a few years now and the only thing that is starting to wear of a tiny bit is the rubber sole.. which is the same one as on the leather boots. I wear them like 70% of the time per year. I'm never getting sweaty feat unless it's summer time. And I love that they still look quite new instead of having developed a patina.
I love how the cat just hangs out! What a sweetie!
I had the vegan boots for three years. The "leather" still looked fine, however the soles fell apart before anything other than crinkles could happen to the leather. I was super frustrated and of course Dr. Martens didn't care at all.
Suggestion: Could you maybe take a look at those UGGs, that are made more like classical men boots, like the HANNEN TL or like the HALFDAN?
Great review btw.
There's no misconception, even if it's a biproduct of meat, buying leather is still making extra money to the meat industry.
It's simple market, a lot of people don't want to buy leather, to not enrich the meat industry further.
I've had vegan docs for 2 years and taken them in the mud, rain, etc and they have held up. I clean them off and they look as good as new! No problems with the 'leather' so far.
Did you use any protection spray to make them waterproof? Looking forward to buying a pair but can't find anything about this topic.
Nope. Just don’t let them stay wet overnight.
Same
Oh that was interesting. But having a wool felt midsole makes the boots no longer vegan.
I'm excited for the dr martins crocs!
And Toaster is so stinkin cute in his harness!
@Hakim Mohamad ah good point.
Sheep have to be trimmed so, it not really inhumane.
@@zacharytomes5202 But the way some people treat their animals in order to get the wool sometimes is inhumane. That's why vegans don't use wool.
@@tuvi0032 vegans would rather save the sheep by buying plastic and eventually destroying the environment the sheep live in
@@walruslatte6080 there's others materials that can be used instead of wool. I personally don't buy polyester or other synthetic materials but try to stick with cotton. But I agree that some vegans don't think ethical
If it isn't leather ... the word LEATHER shouldn't be anywhere in it's description
My HS French teacher has a pair of Docs that she's had since 1990.
I have a pair of vegan boots I've had for 6 years and they still look almost brand new
Where are they from
Im a vegan (not a strikt one) and i prefer good quality leather for the same reasons as you already told. Its just important to consume very conscious and not too much. But its fully okay to buy a piece here and there where leather as a material makes sense and with the intention(and not intention only you also need to do it not only want to do it) to use it a looong time. Also second hand is always a good idea.
I came for the doc reviews, loved the backpack reviews and now contemplating which Toaster T-shirt to purchase!
I owned that exact pair of vegan Martens, and I found this video suuuper interesting !
First off I just want to comment on what you said at 5:16 : Vegan boots make sense because vegans don't eat meat either. It's a consistency issue, if you don't eat meat but buy leather you're still giving money to theses industries you criticize ...
I agree with you that they're overpriced. I could forgive the price if there was some research (there has been some interesting work done with leather from fruit skin for instance) and an actual effort to make them as sustainable as possible, cause these things come with a cost. But it looks like it's essentially plastic-derivated materials and it's produced in Vietnam :(
Other than that, from my experience, they're quite hard to "break" in the beginning, they definitely hurt my feet for a couple months. I've had them for over two years now, and they have a few wrinkles. The outsoles worn off more than I expected under one side the heels, which is a bit disappointing. I have no complains on the faux-leather's quality though, it's pretty solid and requires no kind of treatment. I actually got the side of my boot griped by an escaltor once but it didn't even rip , it just left a tiny scratch.
Thank you, I have these for a month and was scared by this video. But two years and still kicking is good for me
On the point of leather supporting the meat industry, it is a contentious one for me because there's no "right answer". There's leather, a byproduct of the meat industry, therefore supporting that industry. Or pleather, plastic, made from oil. Both require natural habitats to be destroyed, both have environmental impact, but at the end of the day, leather tends to last longer than pleather, meaning that environmental impact is spread out, and when I'm done with the leather, if it's high quality its more likely to survive to be passed onto someone else via charity shops, and at the very least it will decompose. No real way to get shoes without harming animals :(
@@emj7336 I get this, I do. I just don't like the idea of wearing dead animals on my feet. It makes me feel uncomfortable, and I just can't do it. Would feel like I was wearing a dead cst skin shoe. I just don't want to, I love cows too much and I am very visual.
@@juulvandijk5041 I definitely appreciate that. It's hard that there's no fully ethical way to get shoes, or clothes really either. You can either wear plastic, cotton (the majority of which is picked in China through forced labour), fibres from animals (especially silk where the silk worm dies in production), or linen which may be the most ethical option but isn't really suitable for cold weather or very comfortable. Ethics have never been the focus of manufacturers, but these days we cause even more damage than ever before
@@emj7336 I try to get my clothes second hand, or when I do buy new, make sure I wear it till it's completely off. We also do clothes swap with friends. When I buy shoes I wear them till they're completely off. I think that altho it's all very unethical, the most unethical is fast fashion. Buy stuff you need, buy second hand first and use it till you can't use it anymore! That's what I try to do.
"rub off" means as you wear them the top layer of color "rubs off" revealing different colours/color.
If you did a video discussing leather alternatives vs real leather that would be really cool (one that comes to mind is pineapple leather), would be cool to get your perspective on those from any research you can do on them
i wrote a report for uni on animal leather and pu leather and how "vegan" leather is just green washing. Im interested if you can get cactus derived leather and do a video on your thoughts on it. The company is from mexico and is called desserto.
I've never seen vegan leather marketed as the "greener version" so I don't see how it's green washing 🤔
It's just my personal experience but Everytime i see someone mention "vegan leather" over the internet they always hail it as a revolutionary, eco-friendly and cruelty free new product.
I'd like to read you report I know there are a lot of products in the market that are made out of some kind of "cactus" but the leather one is intriguing to me
@@EPiCSLiCeR agreed. i also have this feeling that chemicals used to treat vegan leather could be more hazardous for the environment.
I have thoses, bought them for 50$ on Vinted 3 year ago, i wear them 1 time a weak and they didnt mooved at all, it is honestly one of my favourit product
This is one of the most helpful videos. I’m a vegan but I’m always open to learning/adapting if an animal product is better for the environment than a vegan/plastic based one.
I’ve always had problems with docs (soles splitting lengthwise, cracking, etc.) but I love the look so much that I’m always looking for the best option.
I’d love to see a side by side wear comparison.
best thing you can do is buy used. That's the only thing that produces 0 additional damage to animals, environment, and also waste of resources.
buying real leather is 100% more environmentally friendly than buying fake leather that's plastic. if you don't use the leather of a cow that's slaughtered then that skin is going to be rotting/creates wastes. by using it you are recycling it to something that lasts up to decades in wear. if you buy fake leather 1. you create new plastic 2. it is not biodegradeable 3. you will need more new fake leather items throughout your life because they will not last like real leather would
@@Sabrina-sx9fl Most leather used by industry isn't from cows that would have been slaughtered anyway. We produce so much leather nowadays that cows get slaughtered simply for this reason. Otherwise I agree with you, real leather is way more durable. I have second hand real leather Doc Martens, I got them for less than half the price and they were barely worn:)
@@mariat.7118 the guy in the video exactly talked about this and said 99% of leather is sourced from meat byproducts/waste, did you happen to miss that part? :)
@@Sabrina-sx9fl Well, I actually didn´t listen that carefully, I was quite tired when I watched this video ;) Hoever I did have other information about this issue but I`ll check it again. But what I know for sure is most leather is produced in countries like india and bangladhesh with a lot of ctruelty towards both animals and humans with toxic chemicals used. And at the end of the day you still pay the industry. (I hope that makes sence, I`m not a native speaker and I might have messed up some sentences...)
The Felix Rub Off leather is a form of microfiber PVC. I asked their customer service about it.
As for Vegan DMs in general, I love my pair. I've been wearing them for nearly 8 years now practically daily. Some minor flaws in the leather but they still look great! I usually just have them for city wear but I've worn them hiking a few times.
@7:23 Yes, but it supports said industry because they don't sell "Junk in the trunk" for free. It is a complex topic because at some point in the supply chain someone makes money from killing animals. E. g. the same company that sells vegan burger patties is involved in selling the meat patties. 🤔
I would love it if you made any Crocmartins! There isn’t a wrong choice here. It’s a great idea!
I have completely given up on fake leather. I've owned enough boots and bags that look like trash after a month or two because the top layer rubs off. Last fall I got a fairly affordable real leather bag, and it looks the same now as when I got it, and unlike in the past, I feel no need to replace it soon. As far as I'm concerned, it seems literally indestructible and I'm very glad I made the choice to upgrade!
Even if the interior is better, my concern over the wear of that top layer would keep me from spending money on these!!
My vegan docs are going strong after 5 years. No scratches or anything, I wear them everywhere and they’ve been to plenty gigs! Also - I think people don’t want to wear an animal altogether, by product of the meat industry or not
I finally got to see Dr. Claw’s face after all these years. Glad you found a new gig, Doc.
I almost didn’t get the reference
Thank you for this review, I've been looking forward to you reviewing the vegan docs. I have been considering buying them for a while, I will definitely take the wrinkling into account! I was surprised how easily the glued bit of the sole came apart, that's the bit I find goes first when I wear cheap fake leather boots. Perhaps this might be apparent in your wearing side by side future video? If they've started making vegan boots from plant-based leather instead of plastic leather it would be really interesting for you to review them and compare to these!
Edit: apparently the vegan shoes made by the brand 'Will's Vegan Shoes' are made from plants! Would be great if you could review something like those! :)
Thanks for the input. So you’ve had the insole come unglued before?
@@RoseAnvil ah sorry I meant the sole/edge of the boot once you'd removed the welt :)
It would be nice to see reviews on other types of non-leather, since there's a bunch of plant and mushroom-based alternatives to plastic
Absolutely, some really interesting novel alternative leathers out there. Hopeful for lab-based cell cultured leathers, too.
I didn't really come away with the feeling that "faux leather sucks". Infact these tests actually showed me that vegan docs are propably more reliable than i thought. I have worn my leather docs for a good 5 years by now, and the leather is completely fine. Sure it looks a bit worn and creasy but i don't mind too much. The only thing that has been tricky has actually been the sole, which I've had to glue back in place. So i'm pretty on board with the idea of a pair of docs with leather that might break twice as fast, but soles that are more reliable. Infact this video convinced me i might just have get a pair of vegan docs.
Rose seems to be very good in being objective with this reviews. Vegan leather has impressed me, despite my initial thoughts on them. I still don't think I would go for them though.
I requested this from the first video you had on docs. Glad you finally did them. The ones I bought my girlfriend are still holding strong! Even after some metal shows
It’s not what we buy, it’s the amount we buy. Any buying places an increased demand on limited resources. Make do and mend is the best approach in my opinion.