Remember knee-high Converse? This is her now, feel old yet?
Dr. Martens‘ new boot, the Azreya Max, looks like it was plucked straight from the audience at Warped Tour circa 2005 — and that’s not a bad thing, considering the comeback of old-school emo acts, a revival the internet has dubbed the RAWRing ’20s.
The chunky, platform combat boot hits mid-thigh and features an extra-long set of laces that criss-cross up the centerfront of the boot. As an added bonus, a second set of laces wind up the lateral leg.
The style immediately recalls Converse’s XX-Hi, a Chuck Taylor boot flaunted by many a MySpace scene queen.
Now discontinued, the knee-height sneakers came in an array of colorways, fabrications, and patterns including leopard print, cherry red, and even a very cursed tweed. Nostalgia-seekers can find them on resale sites such as eBay for hundreds of dollars.
Cause Emo’s popular now, knee high converse have hiked in eBay biddings from £30 to £80-160+
Amazon sells fakes that are just the same thing, ur welcome x pic.twitter.com/ec2b645EYr
— gods favourite emo (@yasminesummanx) February 2, 2021
Thankfully, Dr. Martens’ Azreya Max fills the xD-shaped hole that the departure of Converse’s XX-Hi left in our hearts.
The boot giant’s timing is wise. This October, hordes of aged and fledging emos will gather in Las Vegas for When We Were Young, a three-day emo music festival headlined by Paramore, My Chemical Romance, and Avril Lavigne.
suddenly i just flicked my bangs and started wearing studded belts and knee high converse pic.twitter.com/AwHnpy8JZm
— tia witcher extraordinaire (@cursedhive) January 18, 2022
Just a month later, another emo festival — this one formatted as a four-day-long cruise — will set sail to the sweet, angsty sounds of classics including Dashboard Confessional, Silverstein, and Underoath.
If you’re looking to get a jump on your When We Were Young wardrobe or just plotting the RAWR-ification of your wardrobe, Dr. Matens’ Azreya Max is ready, willing, and able.
The greatest trick the devil ever pulled was letting the world have knee high converse pic.twitter.com/3m6YXZosjU
— Sam Stapp (@samstapp13) October 14, 2020
