Editing Wellington boot (section)

== History ==

=== Origins ===
[[File:DukeWellingtonJamesLonsdale.jpg|thumb|upright|The [[Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington|Duke of Wellington]] at [[Battle of Waterloo|Waterloo]]. By [[James Lonsdale (painter)|James Lonsdale]], 1815. Here he is portrayed wearing [[tassel]]led Hessian boots]]

The [[Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington|Duke of Wellington]] instructed his shoemaker, Hoby of St. James's Street, London, to modify the 18th-century [[Hessian (boot)|Hessian boot]]. The resulting new boot was fabricated in soft calfskin leather, had the trim removed and was cut to fit more closely around the leg. The heels were low cut, stacked around an inch (2.5 centimetres), and the boot stopped at mid-calf. It was suitably hard-wearing for riding, yet smart enough for informal evening wear. The boot was dubbed the ''Wellington'' and the name has stuck in English ever since. In the 1815 portrait by James Lonsdale, the Duke can be seen wearing the more formal Hessian style boots, which are [[tassel]]led.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.gac.culture.gov.uk/search/Object.asp?object_key=28601 |title=James Lonsdale's portrait of Wellington |publisher=Gac.culture.gov.uk |date=2019-01-25 |access-date=2019-07-17}}</ref>

[[File:Pair of Man's Dress Wellington Boots LACMA M.67.8.139a-b.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Military uniform|Dress]] Wellington boots, {{circa|1845}}]]
Wellington's utilitarian new boots quickly caught on with patriotic British gentlemen eager to emulate their war hero.<ref>Christopher Breward, “Men in Heels: From Power to Perversity,” in Shoes: Pleasure and Pain, ed. Helen Persson (London: V&A Publishing, 2015), 137; Matthew McCormack, “Boots, Material Culture and Georgian Masculinities,” Social History 42, no. 4 (2017): 475–478</ref> Considered fashionable and foppish in the best circles and worn by [[dandies]], such as [[Beau Brummell]], they remained the main fashion for men through the 1840s. In the 1850s they were more commonly made in the calf-high version, and in the 1860s they were both superseded by the ankle boot, except for riding. Wellington is one of the two British Prime Ministers to have given his name to an item of clothing, the other being [[Sir Anthony Eden]] (see [[Anthony Eden hat]]) whilst [[Sir Winston Churchill]] gave his name to a [[cigar]], and William Gladstone (four times prime minister between 1868 and 1894) gave his to the [[Gladstone Bag]], the classic doctor's [[portmanteau (luggage)|portmanteau]].

=== World War I ===

Production of the Wellington boot was dramatically boosted with the advent of [[World War I]] and a requirement for footwear suitable for the conditions in Europe's flooded and muddy [[trench warfare|trenches]]. The North British Rubber Company (now [[Hunter Boot Ltd]]) was asked by the [[War Office]] to construct a boot suitable for such conditions. The mills ran day and night to produce immense quantities of these trench boots. In total, 1,185,036 pairs were made to meet the [[British Army]]'s demands.{{Citation needed|date=September 2022}}

=== World War II ===

In [[World War II]], Hunter Boot was again requested to supply vast quantities of Wellington and thigh boots. 80% of production was of war materials, from (rubber) ground sheets to life belts and gas masks. In the [[Netherlands]], the British forces were working in flooded conditions which demanded Wellingtons and thigh boots in vast supplies.

By the end of the war in 1945, the Wellington had become popular among men, women and children for wet weather wear. The boot had developed to become far roomier with a thick sole and rounded toe. Also, with the rationing of that time, labourers began to use them for daily work.

=== Post-war ===
[[file:Hunter rainboots.jpg|thumb|upright|Modern Hunter [[natural rubber]] Wellington boots]]

The lower cost and ease of rubber "Wellington" boot manufacture, and being entirely waterproof, lent itself immediately to being the preferred protective material to leather in all forms of industry. Increased attention to occupational health and safety requirements led to the [[steel toe]] or steel-capped Wellington: a protective (commonly internal) toe-capping to protect the foot from crush and puncture injuries. Although traditionally made of steel, the reinforcement may be a composite or a plastic material such as [[thermoplastic polyurethane]] (TPU). Such steel-toe Wellingtons are nearly indispensable in an enormous range of industry and are often mandatory wear to meet local occupational health and safety legislation or insurance requirements.

In July 1956, the [[Competition Commission|Monopolies and Restrictive Practices Commission]] published its ''Report on the Supply of Certain Rubber Footwear'',<ref>Monopolies and Restrictive Practices Commission, ''Report on the Supply of Certain Rubber Footwear'', London: HMSO, 1956. Full text retrieved on 22 February 2019 at http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20111202181215/http://www.competition-commission.org.uk/rep_pub/reports/1950_1959/015footware.htm.</ref> which covered rubber boots of all kinds including Wellingtons and overboots. This 107-page official publication addressed contemporary concerns about unfair pricing of rubber footwear manufactured in the UK or imported from overseas. The appendices include lists of rubber footwear manufacturers and price-lists of each company's range of Wellington boots available in the mid-1950s.

Green Wellington boots, introduced by [[Hunter Boot Ltd]] in 1955, gradually became a shorthand for "country life" in the UK.<ref name="Telegraph"/> In 1980, sales of their boots skyrocketed after Lady Diana Spencer (future [[Diana, Princess of Wales|Princess Diana]]) was pictured wearing a pair on the Balmoral estate during her courtship with Prince Charles.<ref name="Telegraph">{{cite news|title=Will Kate kick off a war of the Wellies?|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/kate-middleton/8988157/Will-Kate-Middleton-kick-off-a-war-of-the-wellies.html|agency=The Telegraph|date=17 June 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=These were the boots that shaped the world|url=http://fashion.telegraph.co.uk/article/TMG3352857/These-were-the-boots-that-shaped-the-world.html|agency=The Telegraph|date=17 June 2015|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151117032453/http://fashion.telegraph.co.uk/article/TMG3352857/These-were-the-boots-that-shaped-the-world.html|archive-date=17 November 2015|df=dmy-all}}</ref>