They are their own thing and their own category. As many people will tell you how ugly they are as will tell you how much they love their bulbous rubber bases and lace up, doughboy, gaiter-style uppers. Nevertheless, as anyone who has ever been outside in the rain in the cold months can tell you, they remain a very popular boot.Ī post shared by 大淵正義 masayoshi ohbuchi to Style LL Bean Boots Although it has morphed into hundreds of variations, the basic design has changed very little and both the Maine Hunting Shoe and the Bean Boot are still available today.Īround 2016, after these boots became hyper trendy through social media, production peaked at nearly one million pairs, then settled down precipitously once the trend trailed off.

Through this act, a retail legend was born - LL Bean is still known for their generous return policy.īy 1917, after securing a supply of more rugged bottoms from the U.S Rubber Company, the Bean Boot as we know it was formed. Of the first 100 of these sold, 90 were returned, and he replaced each one. Later iterations would lead to the Maine Hunting Shoe. He took a size 7 1/2 galoshes and had a cobbler stitch a boot upper to them and the boot was born. Hunting boots in those days were leaky and they would stiffen and harden as they dried. The story goes that in 1911, Leon Leonwood Bean wanted hunting shoes that would keep his feet warm in the damp Maine Woods. So I am the perfect person to dispel some of the myths, to share some of its secrets, and to take you on a tour of these interesting and wholly original boots.Ī post shared by Janice Grabowski History of the Bean Boot My oldest pair I bought around 1992 and they are still going strong. Now, as recognizable as these boots are, there are many misconceptions about them. So, now that a colorful wave of sorority girl posts of Bean Boot wearing college students has subsided, is it safe to wear them again? Yes, and it always was as long as they are the classic ones. The Boot also has this essential quality of Maineness about it, the State where they were invented and are still made. The Bean Boot is representative of LL Bean, as anyone who has seen their marketing or the Beanmobile can attest. It is also symbolic of the brand that made them. It is symbolic of an imagined American wholesomeness that traces a roped-sole footprint path back into the past through the hunters and outdoorsman who originally used these boots in the early part of the last century, to its crossover to Preppy culture somewhere in the late 1950s, then its brief Instagram fueled viral popularity around 2011 and now unto us. It is symbolic of Autumn in New England, of thick wool sweaters over flannel shirts draped over jeans. It transcends this categorization to “symbolic.” It would be easy to call the Classic 8” LL Bean Men’s Bean Boot “iconic,” and accurate as well, but the Bean Boot does something more.

Ll bean boots return