A Pair of Worn Boots, Van Gogh, and the Winnfield

I still wear the very first pair of Winnfields we ever made.

They were prototypes, built long before the Winnfield became the boot we sell today. I’ve worn them almost daily ever since, and I haven’t been particularly kind to them. I’ve worn through the soles, scuffed the leather, nearly worn a hole through the tongue, and even managed to rip out an eyelet.

The leather on this original pair isn’t the same heavy-duty leather we use on the Winnfield today. It’s still tough stuff, but after everything I’ve put these boots through, its limitations are beginning to show.

Of course, I could just make myself another pair.

But that would go against one of the ideas at the core of Naang Boots: we build boots to be repaired.

A good pair of boots shouldn’t become disposable just because you’ve worn through a sole or damaged part of the upper. If the basic structure of the boot is sound, you repair it and keep going. Then, when something else eventually wears out, you repair it again.

There’s another reason I don’t want to replace these.

Wear gives boots character. Every scuff, crease, stain and repair becomes part of their history. If you spend enough time in a pair of boots, some of your own history ends up written into them as well.

These Winnfields have plenty of mine.

They also played a part in the history of Naang Boots.

Although this prototype looks very close to the Winnfield we eventually released, there are plenty of differences. More than a year passed between making this pair and putting the production Winnfield on our website. A lot of the trial and error that happened during that time came directly from wearing these boots, abusing them, finding their weaknesses and figuring out how to make the next pair better.

Now they’re back in the workshop for another round.

I have no doubt that once our bootmakers have worked them over, they’ll come back ready for another few years of abuse. Maybe better than they were when I first put them on.

Early Prototypes of the Naang Boots Winnfield. Long Before They Were Ready for the World.

But something struck me when I walked past the repair bench this week.

There they were. Unlaced, tongues hanging out, leather beaten up and misshapen from wear. One boot slumped over while the other stood beside it.

I had seen that image before.

They reminded me immediately of Vincent van Gogh’s paintings of worn boots.

Van Gogh painted several still lifes of battered shoes and boots during the 1880s. They weren’t pristine objects. They were creased, distorted and thoroughly used. Whatever interpretation you want to place on those paintings, I have always liked the simple fact that the boots look as though they have lived a life.

Looking at my Winnfields sitting on the repair bench, I saw something similar.

So I took a picture.

When we started Naang, one of our ideas was that boots are tools for adventure. They should be worn. They should get scratched. They should get dirty. Eventually, something should wear out.

And when that happens, we should be able to fix them and send them back out again.

Judging by this first pair of Winnfields, I think I’m off to a pretty good start.

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