Black platform ankle boots worn by Bootsy Collins: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

A pair of black leather platform boots worn by Bootsy Collins. The ankle-length boots are made in a high-top sneaker style with wide tongues. The outside and inside quarter panels of the shoes have a textured black patent leather panel that also outlines the lacing. Six (6) metal grommets with engraved text "NEW ROCK" around the hole are attached with black leather loops to form the eyelets for the black cotton cord shoelaces. The aglets of the laces are a clear plastic with the words "NEW ROCK" printed in white text. A metal medallion with engraved text reading "LIVE THE FORCE / OF NATURE" is attached to the shoelace at the front of the lacing panel. Black rubber panels with a series of textured ridges are attached around the heel cap extending onto the sides of each shoe, and also on the front of the tongues. At the outside ankle of each shoe is a round black rubber logo with a planet Earth in the center and text around it reading "NEW ROCK PLANET". The shoes sit on a platform sole that measures five (5) inches at the heel. The sole is made of hard black rubber and has a series of three (3) circular cutouts that go all the way through the sides. Inside each of these cutouts is a coiled metal ball. There are two (2) additional circular indentations in the platform, one at the front of the toe and the other at the back heel, with an engraved metal logo inside each indentation with a raised center motif of planet Earth and text around it reading "NEW ROCK PLANET".

The interiors of the shoes are lined with brown leather. There is a white label with black, red, and gold machine stitching reading "NEW / ROCK / MADE IN SPAIN" sewn to the insole. Behind the label is a round sticker reading "SPAIN / 42 / Continental / 43".

Shoes have a brown leather interior. White tag on insides of shoes reads, [NEW/ROCK/MADE IN SPAIN]. Medal pendant hangs from front of laces reads, LIVE THE FORCE/OF NATURE]

Materials, dates and provenance

• Date: ca. 1990
• Manufactured by: New Rock, founded 1978
• Worn by: Bootsy Collins, American, born 1951
• Type: boots
• Medium: leather, rubber, metal, and cotton cord shoelaces with plastic aglets
• Dimensions: H x W x D (a): 12 1/2 × 5 × 12 1/4 in. (31.8 × 12.7 × 31.1 cm)
• Dimensions: H x W x D (b): 12 1/2 × 5 × 12 1/4 in. (31.8 × 12.7 × 31.1 cm)
• Topic: African American
• Topic: Clothing and dress
• Topic: Costume
• Topic: Funk (Music)
• Topic: Instrumentalists (Musicians)
• Object number: 2015.234.2.4ab
• Credit Line: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Gift of Bootsy Collins
• Data Source: National Museum of African American History and Culture

Sources and reuse

Catalogue descriptions and facts adapted from National Museum of African American History and Culture through the Smithsonian's official Open Access dataset. This record explicitly marks its metadata CC0 1.0; formatting and selection have been changed. The displayed image also has an explicit CC0 designation. The underlying object's rights statement is: No Known Copyright Restrictions Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.