I've owned four pairs of Demonia boots. They're a great Gothic boot brand, and I'm super lucky that they can be found in Perth at
Red Stripe Clothing. I think the brand is fairly priced, with a set of stompy boots going at around $150. If you look after them, they'll last for a few years.
Demonia runs under the
Pleaser company. They started in 1993 as a buyer and seller of fashionable shoes. Over time they came to cater to the Alternative crowd. I've seen this company grow and expand in the last 6 years.
I remember when it used to be really hard to get their shoes, and it used to be VERY expensive. I remember when they created their Victorian style shoe, and I was so happy because it's impossible to find cheaply priced Victorian shoes for my big feet.
My first pair of Demonias I chose was the Riot style
I remember trying to decide what style I wanted from a printed brochure in Mame (the first goth store in Perth, now closed). I also remember I was going to get Demonias because Dr. Marten's were so expensive ($200). I hadn't even heard of New Rocks back then.
I think I mentioned before, my feet are big. I'm a size 10 men's, a size 12 women's. It's really hard to find nice shoes as I don't wear heels, and I look like an idiot in sneakers (I haven't owned a pair since primary school).
These shoes had lots of room in the width, and a good deal of wriggle room for my toes.
It's also hard for larger girls (and even normal girls) to find shoes that can go around their calves. Lucky my calves aren't horrible, and these shoes fit perfectly.
I made sure to take good care of them, spit polishing them to make them all shiny. They lasted for around 3 years, which is great for a pair of boots. And this wasn't like I would wear them only at weekends, these were my everyday shoes. I used to go to Tafe (College) and work in these.
After awhile they were exclusively my work shoes, as the zip broke and the insides were dying. My old job used to consist of standing for 10 hours, so they must of been really comfy for me to survive that.
My boots finally died after getting caught in a storm, and the zip on my other foot broke from getting too wet and sticking (then breaking).
My next pair of boots was from Funtasma range. Which is more costume style shoes. I got the Victorian-120:
When I saw these, I died a little. I've always wanted pointy goth boots ever since seeing the Craft as a little girl (who wouldn't want to be as pretty as Nancy?)
These aren't leather, but PU which is a man made synthetic thing. It just means I can't polish them (well I tried!)
Another thing about these shoes, was that there is no grip on the bottom. I had to go to a cobblers to get them fitted with a half sole. Also, the heel is plastic but that didn't cause any problems.
These were my Goth Club boots, I love the whole 80s Goth thing. It was really hard getting used to a heel, and pointy shoes that pinched my toes. But somehow I managed. My first pair lasted around 2 years.
I took them to the UK with me, where they sadly died. I got a new pair, but I haven't been wearing them recently, as my feet aren't used to pain anymore. Well, they're not really painful, it's just that after dancing for two hours any shoes seem to pinch a bit.
My newest edition is the Brogue-107.
What can I say? They're totally goth. I wore them for the first time yesterday (after taking them to the cobbler to get new soles). They were very comfy, and I danced for about an hour in them. I did get a few blisters on my feet, but all new shoes do that.
I was worried, because when I tried them on in Red Stripe Clothing they wouldn't zip all the way up. So I had to wear the zip about halfway down. While at my friends I noticed I could zip them all the way up, so either my calves relaxed or the shoes did. I'm looking forward to finding out how long these will last. (Update 01/06/14: These shoes are still going strong! I wear them a lot when clubbing, and they haven't broken yet)
I'm planning more purchases from Demonia/Pleaser. I'm a loyal customer, and they keep inventing new awesome shoes!
Cons: I've never brought a pair of platform boots. I've had friends that have. One bad thing is that the platforms seem to break really easy (the bottom coming away from the shoe). I think this might be due to general wear and tear. Goths seem to be vigorous in their dancing, so this might contribute to the shoes breaking.
But overall, it would kinda suck to spend $150 on shoes that break after 5 wears. So hopefully they can look into more durable platforms.
