Halloween special, right? ;)

Those might look cute on certain gender-bendy teenage boys.

Would a teenager understand how funny they are? Do kids today see the irony in putting graceful young feet in combat boots?

Not combat boots - those clearly are Doc Martens, which in my days were more for the navel-gazing, poetry-appreciating, Kerouac-reading pseudo-punks than the ass-kicking combat boot-wearing proper punks. One of two of the girls could have probably pulled off wearing the black boot, but I can't see anybody wearing the pink without looking ridiculous.

Naturally, that photo was taken in Portland, where the ladies mostly look like longshoremen.

The perfect title!

Funny how everything in style these days revolves around military gear. We drive Hummers, wear camo-fatigues and combat boots....reminds me of the film Naqoyqatsi which is funny because i'm listening to the soundtrack as i type....

In the 80's we were told that "elfin" fashion was a retreat to toddlerhood for young people whose normal sexual trepidation had been magnified by AIDS. I understand Justin's point about the Cure listeners who've been wearing clunky footware for the last fifteen years. But boots with such butch shapes still convey masculine independence and militance, and pink lace just makes 'em smartass in a teenage kinda way.

Umm, Rob...
Doc Martens have been "in" since, oh, the '60's? or thereabouts. And considering that Docs are more worn by hippy-ish type people, well... your comment kind of made me raise an eyebrow.

"Doc Martens, which in my days were more for the navel-gazing, poetry-appreciating, Kerouac-reading pseudo-punks than the ass-kicking combat boot-wearing proper punks."

In high school, I wore metal-toed combat boots and ripped David Bowie t-shirts, and I read Virginia Woolf and Gustave Flaubert. Budding young fags liked mixing shit up back in the 70s. We were not interested in being "proper punks."