Too Much Too Soon

Our Mothers took Jacques and I on a day long shopping and entertainment extravaganza. As 10 year-olds with a fetish for fashion, we were on the hunt for the elusive Beatle Boot.
Legend has it, the boot was designed by Drury Lane, shoe and boot cobblers Anello & Davide. The Beatles wanted an adaptation of the historic Chelsea boot. Both boots were snug fitting and ankle high but where the Chelsea had an elastic panel on both sides, the Beatle had an inside zip. And either could or would have what's known as a Cuban Heel, its origins in Flamenco dancing.
One other design aspect was the long, pointed toe, derived from 50s London, Winklepickers. A stark contrast to the Teddy Boy Creeper.
Again our Mothers, God bless 'em, may not have been as dialed in as we had hoped. But they did the best they could with what they had to work with. Our first clue should have been our shopping destination for the day. Long known by those with an obscure sense of trend, the Muskegon Kmart on Apple Ave.
What we ended up with was as close as we could hope for. Besides, they did meet some of the qualifications. They were black and they were boots. A round toe, work boot cousin to the Wellington.
Still, nobody could dispute our feel for the now. We wore flared pants. We wore floral print shirts with kerchieves clasped around our necks...and we wore work boots.
We were the future.
We were tomorrows hope.
We were the harbingers of cool.
We were 6th graders.

Photo from beatwear.co.uk.com
Chelsea Boot history tapped from the Wikipeepee
History of the Beatle Boot bits from Anello & Davide and museumoflondon.org.uk.com