I have admired the range of shoes from Irregular Choice for quite some time, so it was very exciting to find their booth at Celebration Anaheim back in April, advertising an upcoming Star Wars collection! It was hard waiting so long, but now I finally have a pair of The Death Star boots! While convention attendees could pre-order pairs at Celebration, I had such a hard time trying to narrow down my favourites, so I decided to wait until I could order on-line. I knew the collection was going to be popular, but certain styles/sizes sold out within 15 minutes of the launch! One of my purchases was The Death Star boots, which have recently arrived in the mail – and I couldn’t contain my excitement opening the box!
At the time of writing, these are still available in limited quantities at Modcloth for US$422.99 (Euro sizes 36 to 41), Fun.com for US$421.99 (US sizes 7, 8, 9), Office for £275.00 (UK sizes 3 to 7), Aberrant Sole for US$421.95 (US Sizes 5.5, 6,5, 7, 8, 9), Tilted Sole for US$422.00 (Euro sizes 36 to 41), and Dolls Kill for US$422.00 (Euro sizes 35 to 37). The Death Star boots had the highest price tag in the range, so I had a feeling they might not sell out as quickly as some of the others – but for me they are certainly one of the best designs in the collection.
The boots came in a special Irregular Choice x Star Wars cardboard box, with a clear window to show the mint colour printed tissue paper inside. Each boot was carefully and securely wrapped in white tissue paper (inside and out) – the Stormtrooper and Darth Vader heel sculpts were also wrapped in bubble wrap. This design was one of my favourites right from the moment I saw them – I clearly remembered the two different sculpted heels from the Irregular Choice x Star Wars display at Celebration Anaheim back in April.
The Death Star boots are made from black metallic patterned leather, with unique curved platform soles. The patterned leather has a lovely soft suede feel, with a dark bronze shimmer. They fasten up with a gold toned metal zip on the inner ankle – the only design in the collection to feature zips. There are two black straps around the back of each heel, with small black buckles which are functional for adjustment – the front and back sides overlap underneath the buckles. The back of the straps feature the same hologram fabric as the insoles, a fun hidden detail. The heel cap and sole edges are gold, which adds great contrast to the black and white colours. But of course, the best feature are the Darth Vader and Stormtrooper sculpted heels (Stormtrooper on the left boot, Darth Vader on the right boot).
It can’t have been easy to sculpt the two very different helmets to fit the same heel height without distorting the proportions – the final product is well executed, with tidy painted details. The chunky sculpted heels feel nice and sturdy, and although they do add a little bit of weight to the boots, these are not as heavy as other shoes in my closest. The back of the ankle opening has a small padded lip for comfort, always a nice touch for ankle boots. The platform measures approximately 4cm, with a heel height of approximately 12cm – the high platform reduces the angle of the foot when wearing. I’m not sure what material the white platforms are made from, but they have even woodgrain-style lines. I love footwear with attitude – and these boots definitely have it, a perfect match for the Dark Side/Imperial theme.
The European shoe size is printed inside and on the sole, and the hologram insole features fully embroidered Star Wars and Irregular Choice logos. The soles feature images from the A New Hope dvd cover (from 2004), a lovely feature for that glimpse of the sole when you walk – due to the upward curve at the front of the sole, the image of Darth Vader is visible from the front (if you’re looking at that low angle). As with the other printed soles, you will need to protect them if you don’t want the image to get eventually worn down (there are sole protectors made specifically for Irregular Choice shoes, like these). Interestingly, these boots feature the same image on both soles (of Darth Vader, Han Solo and Yoda), whereas several other footwear designs in the collection featured two different images. I’m so happy to see how successful this footwear collection has been – I really hope to see another Irregular Choice x Star Wars collection available in the future!
Here’s a short turnaround video of my boots –
