{{short description|Style of footwear}} [[File:Chukka boot.jpg|thumb|Chukka boot with leather sole]]
'''Chukka boots''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|tʃ|ʌ|k|ə}}<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/chukka|title=Chukka|publisher=Merriam-webster.com|access-date=16 January 2015}} (''NB'' In pronunciation keys, Wikipedia uses the phonemic-/ʌ/ convention while Merriam uses the stressed-/ə/ convention).</ref>) are ankle-high leather [[boot]]s with [[suede]] or leather [[Shoe#Construction|uppers]], leather, [[wood]]en or [[Natural rubber|rubber]] soles, and [[open lacing]], with two or three pairs of [[eyelets]].<ref name="BDM">{{cite book|last=Durkin Matthes|first=Betsy|title=Dressing the Man You Love|publisher=Peter's Pride Publishing|date=2006|pages=[https://archive.org/details/dressingmanyoulo0000matt/page/259 259]|isbn=0-9773878-3-6|url=https://archive.org/details/dressingmanyoulo0000matt|url-access=registration}}</ref> The name ''chukka'' possibly comes from the game of [[polo]], where a chukka is a period of play.<ref name="RW" /> Originally, "chukka boot" referred to a form of [[desert]] boots worn by British soldiers stationed in India.<ref name="RW" /> Nowadays, however, they are very similar to the chelsea, only laces at the front. A number of shoe shops use the names chukka and chelsea for either boot.<ref>{{cite book | last = Johnston | first = Mark | title = The Australian Army in World War II | publisher = Osprey Publishing | date = 2007 | pages = 54 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=7V1_j1yxLIgC | isbn = 978-1-84603-123-6 }}{{Dead link|date=December 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>
== Materials and style == Chukkas are usually made from [[calfskin]] or [[suede]],<ref name="BDM" /> although they can be made from other materials.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1988/11/30/opinion/charity-and-crocodile-chukka-boots.html|title= Charity, and Crocodile Chukka Boots|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|date=November 30, 1988}}.</ref> The style first became popular in the late 1940s through the 1960s as [[casual attire|casual]] wear.<ref name="RW">{{cite book | last = Woolnough | first = Richard | title = The A to Z Book of Menswear | publisher = Bespoke Solutions | date = 2008-01-01 | pages = 72 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=MWeht2EeUWQC | isbn = 978-1-897403-25-9 | location = Bermuda}} </ref><ref name="SM">{{cite book | last = Miles | first = Shirley | title = American Costume, 1915–1970: A Source Book for the Stage Costumer | publisher = Indiana University Press | date = 1989 | pages = 186 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=CpxCUi_udBgC | isbn =0-253-20543-3 }} </ref><ref name="Nunn2000">{{citation|author=Joan Nunn|title=Fashion in Costume, 1200-2000|date=1 January 2000|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield|isbn=978-1-56663-279-9|page=[https://archive.org/details/isbn_9781566632799/page/221 221]|url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9781566632799/page/221}}</ref> In the 21st century, chukkas persist as a popular menswear shoe, particularly in the United Kingdom. They can be worn with both [[Suit (clothing)|suits]] and more casual wear like [[jeans]].<ref>{{citation |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/a-guide-to-the-best-mens-boots-1414174252 |title=A Guide to the Best Men's Boots |work=[[The Wall Street Journal]] |date=October 24, 2014 |last=Plummer |first=Todd }}</ref><ref>{{citation |url=https://www.gq.com/style/blogs/the-gq-eye/2013/10/alden-need-supply-co-crenshaw-chukka.html |title=Meet the Everlasting Pair of Desert Boots |work=[[GQ.com]] |last=Deleon |first=Jian |date=October 9, 2013 }}</ref>
According to shoe historian [[June Swann]], the essential chukka boot is ankle-high, open-laced, and unlined, with two to four pairs of eyelets, thin leather soles, calfskin suede uppers in two parts (each from a single piece of leather; quarters sewn on top of [[Shoe#Shoe construction|vamp]]), and rounded toes.<ref name="gazette">{{cite web | url=https://www.gentlemansgazette.com/the-chukka-boots-guide/ | title=The Chukka Boots Guide | publisher=Gentleman's Gazette | date=18 November 2013 | access-date=2 February 2015 | author=Schneider, Sven Raphael}}</ref>
[[File:Red Wing chukkas.jpeg|thumb|A variation on the classic chukka boot with wedge soles]] [[File:Chukka boot, black leather.jpg|thumb|[[Loake]] "209" chukka boot, black leather]]
==Desert boot== {{Redirects here|Desert boot|3=Desert combat boot}}[[File:Clarks Desert Boot in Sand May 14.jpg|thumb|Clarks' Desert Boot]]
A '''desert boot''' is a chukka boot with [[crepe rubber]] soles and, typically, suede uppers. Desert boots were popularized in the 1950s by UK shoe company [[C. & J. Clark]].<ref name="guardian">{{cite news | url=https://www.theguardian.com/fashion/fashion-blog/2014/aug/27/chukka-boots-favourite-mods-polo-players-casuals | title=Chukka boots – an enduring favourite for mods, polo players and casuals alike | newspaper=The Guardian | date=27 August 2014 | access-date=1 February 2015 | author=Rickett, Oscar}}</ref>
Desert boots were officially introduced to the world with the debut of the Clarks' Desert Boot at the 1949 Chicago Shoe Fair.{{Citation needed|date=May 2025}} After feature coverage in ''[[Esquire (magazine)|Esquire]]'' magazine, their popularity took off. According to Clarks, inspiration came from "the crepe-soled, rough suede boots made in Cairo's [[Khan el-Khalili|Khan el-Khalili bazaar]] for British [[Eighth Army (United Kingdom)|Eighth Army]] officers."{{Citation needed|date=May 2025}}
These boots were based on the South African [[veldskoen]] which became a popular footwear item in Southern Africa due to their robust and simple design. Often being bought by soldiers for use in the various bush wars of the region, they have become popular across the world as "desert boots".<ref>Velskoen [sic], pronounced 'fell-skoon' and known colloquially as 'vellies,' are the ancestor of the modern-day desert boot. They were first made in the 1600s by members of the Dutch East India Co., inspired by the footwear of the Khoisan tribe. Currently, in South Africa and Namibia, vellies are worn by people from all walks of life especially, laborers, bush rangers, and university students. —[http://www.selectism.com/2010/06/29/herbert-schier-velskoen-desert-boots/ Herbert Schier Velskoen (sic) Desert Boots] and "Relatively unknown outside of Africa, the velskoen—pronounced 'fell-skoon' and known colloquially as 'vellies'—are actually the ancestor of the modern day desert boot. —[http://www.brothervellies.com/site/about Brother Vellies] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150518083048/http://www.brothervellies.com/site/about |date=2015-05-18 }}</ref>
{{Quote|The year was 1941, and the soldier, well he wasn't just any infantryman, he was Nathan Clark, and he'd been sent to war with two missions. First and foremost to protect his country, and, secondly, to discover some new shoe designs for [[C. & J. Clark|his family's company]]. As a member of the Eighth Army, Clark had been deployed to Burma, and it was here that he noticed that the officers in his formation were wearing these strange, sand colored chukkas during their downtime. Clark investigated the shoes and learned that they had originally been commissioned to Cairo cobblers by South African soldiers whose old-military issue boots had failed them out on the desert terrain. They wanted something that was both lightweight and grippy which led to creation of a boot with a suede upper on a crepe sole.|Jake Gallagher|''[[GQ]]'', August 15, 2012<ref name="GQM1">{{Cite web | url=https://www.gq.com/style/blogs/the-gq-eye/2012/08/dropping-knowledge-the-desert-boot.html | last = Gallagher | first = Jake | title= Dropping Knowledge: The Desert Boot | work=[[GQ]] | date=August 15, 2012}} </ref>}}
==See also== *[[Desert Combat Boot]] *[[List of boots]] *[[List of shoe styles]]
==References== {{Reflist|2}}
{{Footwear}}
[[Category:Boots]] [[Category:Polo]]