作者: 《英國老帽兒》之卡倫·瑞安
翻譯：©神秘北大團隊
圖片：©英國老帽兒們
©原創內容/圖片/翻譯
～英國老帽兒～第29期，歡迎關注最純英倫風！歡迎轉發（轉載請聯繫hello@uklaomao.com）
樸素的橡膠雨靴如何成了時尚必備品？.卡倫·瑞安為您解析。
Karen Ryan explains how a simple all-weather rubber boot has become an essential fashion item…
十八世紀的時候，大部分軍官穿軍用麻布靴。但是，威靈頓公爵不愛穿，他讓鞋匠定製了過膝長靴，以此來更好地抵禦子彈。
During the eighteenth century, the Duke of Wellington rejected wearing the military hessian boots worn by most soldiers and instructed his shoemaker to make a longer boot covering the knee to give better protection from ammunition in battle.
「威靈頓長靴」由此而來，且開始為人所知。之後，英國紳士們爭相效仿心目中的公爵英雄，都要穿這種長靴。戰場外的威靈頓長靴雖略有不同，但並不削減它的影響力。到了19世紀中葉，威靈頓長靴已然成為了男士們的時尚必備品。
The Wellington boot, as it became known, soon became fashionable with British gentlemen, wanting to emulate their hero, the Duke. Although modifications were made off the battlefield, the boot caught on and became a fashion item for men by the mid nineteenth century.
當時，英國進入了工業化的新時代。這其中的一個關鍵人物是工程師兼化學家查爾斯·固特異，他成功研究出了生產橡膠時的烘烤硫化方法，並因此而聞名。此方法使橡膠具有防水性，耐用性及柔韌性。橡膠可以被裝入模具，做成各種形狀，固特異於是開始試驗用橡膠製造「威靈頓長靴」.
At that time, Britain was entering a new age of industrialisation. One key figure in this was the engineer and chemist Charles Goodyear, who developed a method of producing rubber, which when baked became known as the vulcanisation method. It was this method that gives the rubber its characteristics of water tightness, durability and flexibility. The rubber could be moulded into a flexible shape and Goodyear started experimenting with the first 『Wellington type』 rubber boot…
固特異和同事海勒姆·哈金森實驗了各種類型的橡膠靴，之後固特異決定轉向生產輪胎，於是把橡膠靴的專利賣給了哈金森。哈金森1853年到了法國，用專業工匠、以高標準開始製作艾格勒牌威靈頓長靴。
Along with his colleague Hiram Hutchinson, various types of footwear were tried, but then Goodyear decided to start producing tyres he sold Hutchinson the patent for the rubber boots. He went to France in 1853 to produced Aigle (The Eagle) Wellingtons that were made by specialist craftsmen to a high standard.
一戰的打響為威靈頓長靴帶來了新生。北英國橡膠公司（後更名為獵人靴有限公司）批量生產了百餘萬雙威靈頓長靴，供士兵在泥濘積水的戰壕中使用。戰爭結束後，威靈頓長靴在民間開始流行，最初鞋的前方還帶有鋼製的腳趾保護罩，可供重工業工人使用。
The Wellington boot was reborn when World War 1 started. The North British Rubber Company (Hunter Boot Ltd.) went into mass production and constructed over a million boots worn by soldiers in the muddy, water-logged trenches of Europe. After the war, they became popular in civilian life, initially as footwear manufactured with steel toecaps for protection in heavy industry.
之後，威靈頓長靴在英國鄉紳之間也流行了起來。富家地主們在莊園領地上打獵，穿著威靈頓長靴走來走去，認為保暖防水的設計非常貼心合適。此時，威靈頓長靴開始被暱稱為「威麗斯」（Wellies），它成為了英國美麗而富饒的鄉村生活的代名詞，賦予了威靈頓長靴一絲貴族形象。
Then they began to become popular with British country gentlemen. Rich landowners, who were often walking around their country estates shooting wild animals, found their warm, waterproof design highly suitable. It was at this point that they became known as 『Wellies』, and they became synonymous with life in the beautiful, rich British countryside. This gave them a slightly aristocratic image.
現代版的長靴仍使用原始固特異／哈金森發明的橡膠造靴法製成，但市場已經不再是從前的樣子。世界最著名的時尚品牌——尤其是英國和法國的牌子——均銷售自己品牌旗下的威靈頓長靴。
The modern day Wellington is still produced in the same way as Goodyear’s and Hutchinson’s original rubber boot, but the market has changed and the world’s major fashion brands – particularly those owned by British and French companies – all sell their own branded Wellies.
名牌例如：獵人、艾格勒、巴寶莉、Le Chameau和巴伯都有自己版本的威靈頓長靴，而且每家的長靴各自有著時髦的稱呼，如巴爾莫勒、朱麗小姐、阿蓋爾、夫人，等等。
For example, you can buy them from Hunter, Aigle, Burberry, Le Chameau and Barber, and they have posh names such as The Balmoral, Miss Julie, The Argyll, The Lady.
在鄉村節日集會上、以及近些年興起的各種音樂節中，威靈頓長靴總是集會人群的最愛。穿上一雙品牌設計師出品的、昂貴的威靈頓長靴，能向外界發出信號：此人腳踏實地、充滿活力、且酷愛戶外運動，同時還證明了其人的品味和財力。
Country festivals – and more recently music festivals – have seen Wellies become even more trendy. Wearing an expensive designer Wellington Boot apparently signals to the the world that you’re a practical, active, outdoorsy person, but with style taste and money too.
英國久負盛名的大型戶外活動，如格拉斯頓伯裡音樂節等，均是炫耀品味及威靈頓長靴的好機會，人們在那裡可以觀賞到琳琅滿目的各種威靈頓長靴。當然，這些人也的確是為了實用——因為英國離下雨的那片雲，總是僅有一步之遙。誰又曾想到，一個半世紀前、士兵和工人使用的防水靴，在21世紀成為了上流社會戶外風格的象徵？
Prestigious British open air events such as Glastonbury Festival are now opportunities to show off your taste in Wellies, and you see some amazing varieties of the boot. But of course they’re practical too – because Britain is never more than one cloud away from a shower of rain! Who would have thought a century and a half ago, that a waterproof walking boot used by soldiers and workers would become the mainstay of upper class outdoor style in the twenty first century?
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