Doc Martean boots - when a lie becomes the truth

Back in late January 2014, when Peter Capaldi’s costume was first unveiled to the world, the BBC stated the new Doctor was wearing:

Peter Capaldi, who replaces Matt Smith, will have a dark blue Crombie coat with red lining, dark blue trousers, white shirt and black Dr Marten shoes.

Fan quickly realised this wasn’t entirely correct - in fact the coat turned out to be custom-made, and not cut by Crombie; and the boots were Loakes, not Doc Marten’s as written.

Now the new series is well underway, the high resolution images used to publicise the episodes are revealing a few secrets, including the Doctors NEW boots!

Posting the pictures from Under The Lake has prompted a spate of comments from readers who have identified the new boots - as Doc Marten’s.

This photo in particular shows the boots very clearly - and you can see they are not Loakes.
In fact, they are not the Doc Marten alternatives to the Loakes, but appear to be Mayer boots, available on their website.

Dr Martens (Germany) - Mayer Boots

At the moment I can’t find them on the UK site - so if I’ve missed them, let me know and send me a link.

But here they are on their other regions - Catch them while you can!!!

Dr Martens (France) - Mayer Boots

Dr. Martens (Netherlands) - Mayer Boots

The Capaldi look - alternative boots

So now The Doctor’s new look is out there, we know pretty much everything he’s wearing and the price tag attached - which coming at a minimum of £2,000 for the complete costume, is out of the range of most cosplayers.

That said there are always alternatives to give that ensemble look and achieve the correct silhouette.

The screen used boots are by Loakes, but this style of boot is often referred to as DMs (short for Doc Marten’s) in the same way we call a vacuum cleaner a Hoover, regardless of brand.

The hard vinyl sole; high ankle; and rounded top-cap are typical but not exclusive to the Doc Marten’s range.

This means there are alternative makers out there, some in a more budget conscious bracket.

I’ve seen a lot of suggestions for the boots, so here is my pick of the best.

Urban Outfitters - Dr. Martens Affleck Brogue Patent Leather Boot

Scorpio Shoes - Dr Martens Anthony Mens Leather Brogue Boot

Zappos.com - Florsheim Gaffney Ltd Gray Milled Leather

The Capaldi look - breakdown in the Metro blog

There have been a number of press articles online about the new Doctor’s costume, breaking it down into its constituent parts.

One I thought worth showing you is on the Metro-online.

Get the look -
Peter Capaldi’s Doctor Who outfit

It covers each of the items in turn, naming the screen-used garment (not always getting it right) but then does offer some suggestions as to good alternatives - one of which accidentally turns out to be the screen-worn item!!

Even though it is not 100% correct, I thought it worth flagging up, even if only for the alternatives.

The coat
it correctly identifies the Crombie coat, highlighting the accepted closest on offer, the Navy Retro Crombie Coat, slim fit at £795.

It gives a suggested alternative of a Navy Trench Coat from TopMan costing £150.

TopMan - Selected Homme Trench Coat

I really don’t rate this choice at all. it doesn’t have proper lapels;
the back has a yolked shoulder;
and it lacks the red lining.

The Cardigan
This is a curious piece of happenchance. The way the article is written it suggests the John Smedley Merino Woll Cardigan (from John Lewis) at £150, not realising it is actually the screen-worn garment.

John Smedley - Cavendish In Midnight

The Shirt
This is the one disappointment here, as they fail to identify the shirt worn, and suggest a Plain Tailored Shirt from Zara for £29.99 as a throwaway “that will do” option.

The Trousers
Their choice for the trousers are from Riess at £110.

Reiss - Hertford T Dark Navy Pleated Tuxedo Trousers

The Boots
The Metro’s choice for the boots is a bog-standard Doc Marten’s Dr Martens original 8-Eye boots at £100 from ASOS.com

ASOS.com - Dr Martens Original 8-Eye Boots

Doc Marten boots - BBC correction

In an amazing turn of events, the BBC has issued a statement via their official Twitter feed confirming the boots Peter Capaldi wears are not Doc Martens as their original press release stated.

Twitter / Doctor Who Official

But in a curious Blue Peter-esque way (we were never allowed to see brand names when presenters made fun things out of Corn Flakes packets, or ball point pens) they avoided naming the brand as Loakes, despite the fans having already positively identified them!

It’s not common for the BBC to get involved in such matters, and it never brought itself to correct the mis-information that was issued regarding Matt’s costume when he started.
I guess this is the power of the Twitter generation.