Vegetarian shoes – Boulder boots review (bovver boots, Dr Marten style vegan boots)

September 27, 2014 by Wednesday 2 Comments

If you’re here I assume you’ve come from Vegetarian Shoes  and were looking for a review before purchasing. All views expressed are my personal opinion and I have no affiliation with Vegetarian Shoes (though I wish I did, I would happily volunteer my feet as testers!)

I had a pair of boulder boots in burgundy, I later sold them so keep reading to find out why. This colour is miles away from the cherry red of a doctor marten boot but it is still pleasant and it does go very well with a lot of colours. I will continue to compare these with Dr Martens as they are a very similar style and these even come with a Solovair sole which I believe is made in an old docs factory, though I may be wrong, either way they’re very similar and aimed at a similar market IMHO.

I had these in a size 6, these fitted me similarly though they felt larger than a Dr Martens vegan 1460s in a 7. I measure a 6 in Clarks (not exactly vegan but they do foot measuring for free and its a good benchmark). They’re wider fitting as expected from a unisex shoe on a female foot but this can be remedied with an insole if you have narrower feet. They are very comfortable on short journeys but as sold they lack arch support and are about as cushioned as concrete, no not really I jest, they just don’t feel as bouncy as docs. I tried adding a cushioned shaped insole, actually Vegetarian Shoes’ own waffle insole but this created a new problem, this made the backs of the boot dig into my feet there and that is really the reason I sold them on, to a loving home with a close friend of mine. I need some arch support in my shoes and these just couldn’t provide that so I was very sad to see them go.

In terms of quality they are a very solid pair of boots that should last a very long time, I had mine for several years and I wore them quite a bit for shorter journeys, I couldn’t wear them all day walking without arch support but my friend thinks they are like slippers so maybe it is just my odd bony feet! The sole is by solovair on the version I had they also do them with the same sole as the para boot which is far chunkier, pick whichever suits you better I actually prefer the latter now I own a pair of para boots. The uppers are ,as expected from such a fab company, good quality and I never needed to even use dubbin on them despite using them as dog walking beach boots!

On that note here is a picture of me and my poochie!

Sorry this isnt the most in depth review but if you have questions feel free to leave a comment!