Editing Wellington boot (section)

=== 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 In the 1850s they were more commonly made in the calf-high version, and in the 1860s they were both superseded by the ankle boot, except for riding.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]].