FOOTWEAR FOCUS ROAD TEST


Notting Hill seen the film, got the … boots (by LSQ) Written by Henry Harington F


unny, how things change. I remember travelling to Notting Hill in the 1950s and 1960s to go to the dentist. His surgery was up a rickety flight


of stairs above a steamy coffee house. In those days Notting Hill was for want of a better term, “shabby”. It had been the haunt of arty people during the previous century and in the mid-twentieth century was becoming home for the “Windrush” generation of Caribbean immigrants who were being encouraged to come to Britain to fill jobs on the Tube and in the (then quite new) National Health Service and so on. The legacy of that wave of immigration is the annual


Notting Hill carnival with its rhythmic cacophony of steel drums, reggae and aromatic trade winds smelling of goat stew, pepper-pot all served with a twist of ganja smoke and the debris from the policemen grinding their teeth with frustration not being allowed to "bust" anyone. How things change! By the 1980s Notting Hill had


not just acquired a sheen of respectability, its gradual gentrification as cheap properties were done up by the up and coming, had turned it into absolutely “Theeee” place to live. Notting Hill was nurturing aspiring politicians like David Cameron and


George Osborne (for better or for worse depending on your standpoint). In 1999 the Nothing Hill atmosphere was captured in the eponymous "rom-com" starring Hugh Grant and Julia Roberts with Hugh in his classic role of public-school educated Englishman subject to contortions of self-doubt when it comes to matters of sex with the opposite sex until he meets someone like Julia Roberts. LSQ have given me a pair of their suede Chelsea boots to road test that


bear the name Notting Hill. Just to clarify what I think is the thinking behind the name of the boots I road tested: Notting Hill is in the Borough of Kensington and Chelsea – hence the Chelsea boot. The boots are a very smart version of a very popular design and the suede version such as the Notting Hill can be seen on the feet of the relaxing young and well-heeled (in both senses of the terms) professionals in that locality of London. Well, if you think I went overboard on the history front in tracing the


antecedents of Notting Hill, you should speak to LSQ England. LSQ’s history lesson goes back to no less than 1373. Not their actual history, you see LSQ buff up not just their shoes, but their reputation by association with the legacy of the famous peace treaty between King Edward III of England,


16 • FOOTWEAR TODAY • NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2017


King Ferdinand and Queen Eleanor of Portugal that made Portugal England’s longest-standing ally. LSQ make their shoes in northern Portugal. And, I can testify that the people of Portugal do a splendid job. My Notting Hills are a pair of high-quality pull-on boots with heavy side elastic panels made from high-grade suede with a full calf leather lining. LSQ claim that the Notting Hill, “features a subtly padded EVA sock for stunning looks and supreme all day comfort’. I have to be honest, I don't know what they are on about, but without a doubt, they do something to this Chelsea boot that helps it keep its shape and preserve the comfort. In the past, I have tested other Chelsea boots for Footwear Today Magazine, some of which, after time, collapse, they lose their shape and support, but the Notting Hill seems to have overcome that problem retaining its shape and comfort time after time. LSQ don't just offer a fine shoe, they push the boat out a bit on the presentation of the boots. They provide a gold LSQ logo on an engraved plate as a sort of "assay mark" of the quality of the boots. Each pair has a cotton bag which is incredibly useful if you are packing the boots in your


luggage (for that weekend in the country perhaps?)


and given the snugness of the boots the shoe horn accompanying the boots is an unassuming but useful extra. The boots look great with a pair of narrow-legged jeans and, if I am


honest, one of the attractions is that one imagines they are the sort of boot that Hugh Grant would choose. And who wouldn’t want to look like Hugh Grant – even if it’s only a bit like him?


Product details:


“LSQ Notting Hill is A high quality Chelsea Boot with heavy side elastics, made from high grade suede with a full calf leather lining. It features a subtly padded leather covered EVA sock for stunning looks and supreme all day comfort.”


Style Name: Notting Hill / Cost: £66.80 - RRP: £165.00


Contact: Nigel Carr, LSQ Footwear Ltd Tel: 016 1941 2800 Email: nigel@lsqshoes.co.uk Web: https://www.lsqshoes.co.uk


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