Vegan biker boots? You would not believe how difficult they are to find.
Winter is a time when shoe manufacturers fall back on leather as their main material and you are left with specialist stores or the cheap stuff. Also, leather kinda goes with the territory when it comes to the biker look so finding “fakes” is a double pain. I gotta be honest with you: when it comes to the biker look, we’re talking slim pickings compared to the plethora of gorgeous leather choices.
I’ve wanted a pair of decent vegetarian biker boots for years and so far I’ve just kept on looking. The ones I’ve seen are all nice enough, but they seem to lack that simplicity and solid feel so many of the leather ones have.
Here’s my first roundup of this year’s offerings. You may well find something you like here.
Please note that these are all biker “style” boots, rather than those that provide actual protection for bikers, so don’t go having bike accidents in them or you will be severely disappointed.
First up are these lightweight boots from Rocket Dog. They are called “chain gang”. Sadly, Rocket Dog’s best biker boots (the “Nokout”) are not veggie, so as far as I’m concerned, all their other biker boots are cheap imitations of the fitted, slick version I would have liked to own. Keeping that in mind, these chain gang ones are not too bad, if a bit slouchy for my taste. They look a bit like a cross between a biker boot and a pirate boot, which I’m not so sure about. The strap detailing is a nice touch and I do like the slick, shiny look. They are available in black and brown at Schuh.co.uk
Rocket Dog also make these Chomps boots – chunky biker boots available in black and brown. I like their shape better than the chain gang ones, though I am not a fan of the distressed look at all. It doesn’t look too bad in brown, but the black version just looks wrong. If I wanted my boots to look worn out, I’d wear them out myself rather than shave a few years off their lifespan before even leaving the shop.
If, however, you can’t wait for your boots to make actual history and want them to look instantly “bought before anyone else’s”, you’ll get along with these just fine. All in all, these are reasonably stylish and bound to be comfortable boots. They are available in black and brown at Schuh.co.uk
Twisted Sister, these vegetarian biker boots from BlowFish, offer a different take on the distressed look and also come in the popular black and brown options. The buckle detailing is slightly more understated on these and they seem to be wider in the calf area than the Rocket Dog ones.
Available to buy at Office shoes .
Vegetarian Shoes make these biker-like pull on engineer boots that offer more of that solid feel. They are steel toed (they now make a non-steel toed version that’s slightly different looking), well made and durable, though are unisex and therefore not quite as stylish as one would like.
Pennangalan’s Vegan range is sadly lacking in straight biker boots, though they do offer calf-length strappy commando boots that are not bad, plus a style of New Rock boot often favoured by bikers.
And last but not least… Not quite a biker boot, but a biker boot inspired wellie from the lovely people at Schuh.co.uk. Available in purple, black and red with a polka dot lining, it’s slightly shorter than your average wellie. Here in London, people usually wear wellies when visiting the muddy fields of the UK’s summer festivals, but further afield, they are a common enough choice for the rainy winter months.
