Dr. Martens 3989 Black Smooth Wingtip Shoe
- First made in the mid-’60s, the 3989 Black Smooth Wingtip Shoe is a rebellious union of proper menswear and counterculture attitude, resulting in pure style.
- 3989 Black Wingtip 5-Eye Shoe combines classic wingtip style with extra-thick grooved soles for a bold look, all topped off with iconic Doc’s details.
- Built to last, the 3989 Black Wingtip 5-Eye Shoe is forged using one of the finest methods of construction: utilizing a Goodyear welt and heat-sealing it to the sole.
- The 3989 Black Wingtip 5-Eye Shoe is made with highly durable leather and sits on an AirWair sole, which is oil and fat resistant with good abrasion and slip resistance.
- Dr. Martens puts their distinct spin on a classic wingtip with this 3989 Black Wingtip 5-Eye Shoe Oxford. A velvety leather upper sports classic brogueing and pinking for a refined look while the sole is all Dr. Martens.
Use Dr. Martens Wonder Balsam to protect the 3989 Black Wingtip 5-Eye Shoe and keep your shoes clean, soft and supple !
Dr. Martens History
Starting in 1901, the small company began in Wollaston, Northamptonshire in the English Midlands. They were at the location of the epicenter of the English shoe industry and for six decades the footwear earned a solid reputation as sturdy, durable work boots.
In 1945, a 25-year-old soldier, while trying to heal from a broken foot, created a unique air-cushioned sole, opposed from traditional rough leather sole, to aid his recovery. Using a salvaged cobbler’s last and a needle, he made a prototype shoe and revealed it to an old university friend and mechanical engineer.
While he was scanning the pages of a shoe trade magazine, his eye was caught by the manufacture advertisement for their revolutionary air- cushioned sole.
Several different licenses were acquired and a few characteristic changes were made, including an altered heel, a bulbous but simple upper, a distinctive yellow welt stitch, a two tone grooved sole edge and a unique sole pattern. The new boots were now branded as ‘Airwair’ and came distinctly with a black and yellow heel loop representing the brand name and the slogan “With Bouncing Soles” which was printed based on the manufacturer's own handwriting. With its name being created off the date they were first created, April 1st, 1960, the eight-eyed 1460 Dr. Martens boot had mad its first arrival.
The decade in which the Dr. Martens boot was created, there was an eccentric wave of change, new ideas, cultural explosion and eventually social revolution. This radical era also witnessed flamboyant and often exotic fashions and styles, an odd period of time for the birth of such a functional work-boot.
First worn by postmen and factory workers, Dr. Martens’ initial years of existence was very much that of a simple work-wear boot, selling solid quantities to Britain’s working classes. Then and incredible shift occurred.
Without any insight as to why or how, Dr. Martens were suddenly picked up by early multi-cultural, ska-loving skinheads – who proudly championed British working class style. Shortly after, Pete Townshend of The Who became the first high profile individual to wear Dr. Martens as a symbol of his own working class pride and rebellious attitude. Doing so enabled both first generation skinheads and Townshend to alter the course of the brand’s history, which in turn changed the classic work-wear boot into a subcultural essential.
While Britain was constantly pursed by anti-government riots and social resentment, youth culture managed to rise up from the streets with yet more highly visual and individual tribes such as psychobilly, grebo and scooter boys.
Constant sales of smaller men’s size boots also induced Dr. Martens to create a street trend for girls, who would buy then customize with florals, the simple 8-hole boot. Meanwhile, US Hardcore musicians touring the UK began to take pairs of DM’s back to the west coast, thus starting American subculture’s adoption of the brand.
Without music, Dr Martens would have remained a workwear boot. The music of tribes who wear Dr. Martens has become inseparable from the brand itself.
