Resource : A pair of ‘Wellington boots’

These are the original ‘Wellington boots’, designed for the Duke of Wellington to be both practical and fashionable. They were adapted from the ‘Hessian’ boots previously worn by British officers to allow the wearing of new lightweight linen trousers rather than traditional woollen ones. They were cut lower to make riding more comfortable, and no longer had a tassel. After the Duke’s victory at Waterloo, this style of boot became extremely fashionable and spread through London society, eventually inspiring the modern ‘welly’.