A week later, GQ published a list of more accessible lookalikes, including a “Dryshod NoSho Gusset XT Extreme cold-conditions hunting boot.” Shale country chic had entered the hypebeast awareness sphere. The effect was predictable: Almost as soon as paparazzi photos of the distinguished SpongeBob boots hit the internet, a pair of the same discontinued model sold for $3,000 on Ebay. They also made an appearance at a Los Angeles party with the confounding but high-net-worth guest list of Madonna, Floyd Mayweather, and Marilyn Manson. Then again, alongside the runway at Paris couture week. Less than a month later, the behemoth Red Wing boots were spotted again on a date with actress Julia Fox at the elite Italian restaurant Carbone – twice, at both the Miami and New York locations. Dubbed “Spongebob boots” upon their debut at a benefit concert with Drake on December 10, the now-discontinued pair look like what you might imagine a fireman would wear on an emergency call to the North Pole, prompting my boyfriend to quip: “OSHA-approved, he could work night shift at the well.” That made it somewhat surprising to see Kanye West repeatedly photographed over the past month in stiff, paint-flecked dungarees, a plain hoodie, and vintage Red Wing 3094 work boots. In this extensively fracked corner of the country, this uniform signifies a particular identity: a man who works in oil and gas, and works hard. He might object to this characterization, but he probably won’t. He is a likely candidate for a bar fight. His purchase is usually Skoal and an energy drink in a neon-patterned can the size of a newborn. The boots are not clean, which is a point of pride, and he wears a heavy canvas jacket with reflective cuffs and collar over a large, worn-in hoodie. He steps down from a new pickup with 48 inch tires, and the feet that hit the ground are encased in heavy work boots: Ariats, Red Wings, or Wolverines. If you spend a day at any gas station between Pittsburgh and Cincinnati, you are pretty much guaranteed to see a certain type of man.
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