For $358, You Can Wear the Same Boots as an Arkansas Prisoner
Attention, men: It is time to start thinking about your fall look. What kind of look do you want this fall? Which scenario do you identify with most?
1. "I'm a tough guy with a heart of gold, who isn't afraid to drop some coin on quality footwear."
2. "Why yes, I will chop that firewood for you, but let me take off my good boots first."
3. "I've been assigned a number, packed into an overcrowded jail, and left there to languish until I die."
If you happened to choose "all of the above," boy, has Frye got the shoe for you! Check it out: Prison Boots, just $358, in handsome "distressed, waxed suede." Or, for eight dollars less, the 150th Anniversary Edition, constructed of fine leather, then "tumbled with stones in a wooden drum and then polished." Stones—just like you'd find in a prison yard. Nice.
Is this the real deal? Will Prison Boots give you the stylishly gritty veneer of an actual inmate, or are they just some crummy knockoff? Frye creative director Michael Petry explained in an interview with Garmental:
SK: So, do you have a favorite style from the Anniversary Collection?
MP: That's like asking me to pick my favorite child! For me, I really like the Engineer Boot, [we did it] with just a little more of a tapered toe and shows you all the detailing. As for Men's, the Prison Boot is actually based on the Arkansas prison boots that are issued out to the prisoners, so we remade it and made it a little more comfortable. [Laughing]
Sounds pretty good, right? They're real, but you wouldn't put your feet in an actual prisoner's boots [laughing], so Frye went ahead and made them a little more comfortable for you. Because of all the hard labor you'll be doing.
Haha. What an authentic time those Arkansas prisoners must be having in their old, smelly boots. Doing push-ups, bench-pressing, trading cigarettes, which I've heard are used as a kind of de facto currency. Eatin' slop in jail, man. Think about it. The clink. The big house. Where men are men.
Camaraderie. Hard work. Dust on your brow, sweat in your eyes. Big muscles. Arkansas. Don't fuck with this guy, pipsqueak. He means business.
You want that? Get the boots. $358.