FOOTWEAR FOCUS ROAD TEST


Speaking with my other boot on… Peter Wright tries Roamers’ M287GB Classic twin gusset ankle boot in a waxy leather from UKD. A


t work I wear figurative, but not real, hats. But it is not the hats that are important, it's the boots. I work for an industrial company. My main job is


project managing and designing parts for agricultural machines like huge grain driers. I do that in an office, mostly pushing a mouse around a computer screen designing things with CAD (computer aided design) software or poring over blueprints – although there is much less of that nowadays as printing what one can see on a screen is frowned upon for environmental reasons, although we still print templates, patterns, that the factory uses to guide the cutting and shaping of metals.


The other part of my job is going into the workshop


and making sure the parts that I design actually fit the machines they are supposed to – an if they don’t fit I need to find out whether the mechanics have put them on back to front or if my design and specification is an embarrassing cock up that the old hands on the factory floor won’t let me forget in a hurry!


When I go into the factory I have to dress in overalls and a hard hat so that


I can clamber in, over and under the equipment to check parts have been made to specifications. I also have to wear stonking great, steel toe-capped and heeled, industrial safety boots. While there is a minimal risk of something landing on my head, there is a much greater chance that heavy bit of steel or a tool of some sort will land on my feet.


Back in the office I have to take my heavy boots off to remove my overalls


and until recently I just put my old, admittedly somewhat tatty (though I prefer the expression ‘lived in’) work boots, back on. That is until I started getting dark looks: the bosses’ wife, who also works for the company, wanted to know who had left oily footprints on the office carpet leading from the door to the workshop and my desk! The boss gave me a dark look when he summoned me to his office to discuss something with a customer, pointing out later that my old boots looked out of place with my office clothes including shirt and tie.


14 • FOOTWEAR TODAY • JANUARY 2020 Talk about timing: I was just about to buy a pair of tidy lace-up office shoes


when I was asked if I would do a road test for a pair of UKD boots. A pair of Roamers, an excellent brand from leading footwear distributor UKD, arrived the on my doorstep the very next day! I liked these boots on sight! At first I thought they would be great for my free time: they are classic twin gusset ankle boot in a waxy leather so they would be great for popping down the pub, shopping or wearing to the footie where my feet always get cold sitting in the stands – there seems to be an icy draft on football stands that is at ankle level and boots like these are just the right height to go up the trousers far enough to exclude the chill wind.


But then it came to me. My new work boots


are twin gusset “Chelsea style” boots that I can take off and put on easily. If I used lace-up shoes in the office, I’ll forever be tying and untying laces. So, my Roamers boots have been


recruited as my “office shoes.” They are plenty smart for the office with their classic/casual look rolled into one - and boy, are they comfortable! They are much more comfortable than my old boots, indeed they are warm and cosy – and I have stopped getting dark looks from the boss and his wife.


Product details:


ROAMERS M287GB Trade Price: £25.95 - RRP: £59.95 - Sizes: 6x12.


Classic twin gusset ankle boot in a waxy leather, with a padded sock for extra comfort is the ideal boot for the consumer, that is looking for a classic/casual look rolled into one.


UK Distributors (Footwear) Ltd T: 0116 240 3232 E: footwear@ukdistributors.co.uk W: www.ukdistributors.co.uk


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