This informative article is brought to you by Paul Evans. I personally own a pair and highly recommend their quality shoes.
Click here to discover Paul Evans for yourself!
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First, an answer to the inevitable question:
It’s pronounced “chuck-ah.”
Rhymes with the plant “yucca.”
The word comes from polo, where a period of play is called a chukka or a chukker.
Now that we’ve got that out of the way, let’s talk about the chukka boot.
This is a timeless piece of menswear, or at least a classic — the timing is actually quite well documented, since, like a lot of modern styles, this one originated in World War II.
Boots for Desert Soldiers
The style we currently call chukka boots first hit Western markets as the “Clarks Desert Boot.”
It was introduced through C. & J. Clark International by Nathan Clark, the great-grandson of the company’s founder, who encountered the style on British soldiers that had been deployed in North Africa when they joined him in East Asia.
Those soldiers had found their military-issue boots with high, stiff sides and heavy rubber soles ineffective in desert terrain. They’d turned to Cairo shoemakers, who had obliged their needs with ankle height, lightweight boots made of suede uppers and crepe rubber soles.
The same style persists today: an ankle-high cut, uppers made from suede or soft calfskin, and contrasting rubber soles (some manufacturers also make leather-sole chukkas, but usually keep the tradition of light-colored soles contrasting with darker uppers).
Click here to watch Guide To Chukkas | Stylish and Comfortable Men’s Boots Video on Youtube.
Chukkas have few pairs of eyelets relative to other boots and shoes: often only two or three pairs. Those connect a pair of quarters that on the original boot wrapped all the way around the back of the heel (the whole upper was only two pieces: the vamp and the connected quarters).
The goal was to create a tight tie-off at the top spreading out into a wider cone at the bottom, effectively creating an inside-out funnel for sand to slide down. Tightly laced, the boots helped keep sand from getting into soldier’s boots and irritating their feet during desert travel.
The Modern Chukka
In a testimony to good design, the chukka boot hasn’t changed much since its military use in WWII or its commercial introduction by Clarks in the late 1940s
Chukkas, now made by many companies, are still low-ankled, and usually retain the relatively few sets of high-placed eyelets with a wide, spreading quarters below them. Suede and soft calfskin remain the most common materials for the uppers, and crepe rubber for the soles.
Like any style, there are periodic reinterpretations, and someone can be counted on to do an “inspired by” variation every few fashion seasons, but the traditional chukka remains consistent — and consistently popular.
A company that makes modern Chukka Boots is Paul Evans. They offer a selection of high quality boots that can be easily paired with your suit or jeans.
Click here to watch Guide To Chukkas | Stylish and Comfortable Men’s Boots Video on Youtube.
Wearing Chukkas
A big part of that popularity is the chukka’s flexibility, both literal and figurative.
Because they’re lighter and lower than most boots, with a soft, bendy sole material, walking in chukkas is closer to walking in sneakers than it is to walking in Western boots or heavy hiking/expedition boots. A stroll in a good pair of chukkas feels about like it would in Converse All-Stars or something similar, with a little more protection for the feet and ankles from the leather uppers.
The leather material also makes the shoe dressier than a sneaker, but the rubber sole (traditionally in a contrasting color) keeps it informal. The result is a shoe that dresses up casual clothes, and dresses down formal ones.
Wear chukkas with some decent jeans and a T-shirt and you’re relaxed but fashionable. Wear them with a well fitted sport jacket and trousers, and you’re dressy but not frumpy. They go both ways comfortably. Paul Evans’ Chukka Boots are versatile and can be worn no matter the occasion.
If you look around a gathering of well-dressed young men and find yourself seeing a lot of chukkas (and you will, if you’re looking around that sort of gathering), it’s not without good reason. Savvy dressers have learned to prize the dress-up/dress-down potential of the versatile desert boot.
Chukkas vs. Desert Boots
Since some manufacturers use these two terms interchangeably, it’s worth clearing up a quibble of fashion nomenclature: “desert boots” is a more-specific description of a particular kind of chukka boot. In other words, not all chukka boots are desert boots, but all desert boots are chukkas.
A chukka is, broadly speaking, any ankle-high boot with a low number of eyelets, regardless of material. Desert boots are chukkas made from light leather with crepe rubber soles.
So your tan suede ankle boots with crepe soles? Definitely desert boots. Your shiny red cordovan chukkas with hard leather soles? Still chukkas, but not desert boots.
Broadly speaking that puts desert boots on the informal end of chukkas, but it really depends on the look and feel of the individual pair. A muted pair of desert boots with dark gray uppers and light gray soles are less flashy (and therefore easier to dress up) than shiny blue chukkas with a tan sole and heel, particularly if the rubber sole and heel are small and smooth.
Because of their simplicity, small changes in design make a big difference between individual pairs of chukkas. Choose the ones that fit your style and your situation, whether that’s the traditional tan and gray desert boot, a brightly colored modern “attention” piece, or anything in between!
This informative article is brought to you by Paul Evans – they make the beautiful chukkas you see in this article.
**** Use discount code ” RMRS ” at checkout (step 2) for 20% Off *****
EXPIRES 12/4/2014 Midnight – You Have 48 Hours!
The code rmrs is not caps sensitive.
I personally own a pair and highly recommend their quality shoes. Click here to discover Paul Evans for yourself!