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We’ve Never Seen Red Wing Heritage Boots That Look Quite Like These

Red Wing Heritage’s new spring collection includes a long coveted hue along with a few new colors that are bound to stir controversy.

Red Wing Heritage Classic Moc in a new Dusty Blue color shown up close to reveal the boot's eyelets and lacesRed Wing Shoes

By Ben Bowers

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When you mention Red Wing Heritage to anyone remotely familiar with the brand, the Classic Moc Boot, made in the U.S.A. from a rich, reddish brown hue that true footwear nerds know as Oro-Russet, is likely the first image that pops into their brain.

That’s because the now iconic silhouette and color are rooted in over a century of American craftsmanship. The version first hit the scene in the 1950s and was designed for hunters and laborers who needed a boot that could withstand long days in harsh conditions.

Soon, the distinctive red boots earned the nickname “Irish Setters” after the similarly hued hunting dog of the same name. Eventually, the nickname became so engrained that it sparked its spinoff brand, Irish Setter Boots, which is still part of the Red Wing portfolio today.

That’s why Red Wing’s latest spring additions to the Classic Moc Boot line may discourage purists (we certainly needed a moment to recover), no matter how seasonally appropriate they might be.

But once the shock fades, we’re guessing many fans might come around to these spring color entries, especially one in particular.

Meet the ‘Dusty Blue’ Classic Moc

A pair of Red Wing Heritage Classic Moc 6-inch boots in dusty blue Abilene leather sitting against a light grey background. One show is shown standing up, while the other is sitting next to it, lying on its side. The laces of both shoes are untied.
Dusty Blue is technically a light pastel shade of blue, but thanks to the suede-like look of Roughout leather, it could easily be mistaken for a light grey in some cases.
Red Wing Shoes

The new color, dubbed Dusty Blue, is technically a pastel, baby blue shade, though you’d be forgiven for thinking the boots look grey under certain lighting scenarios.

A close-up detailed shot of the Red Wing Classic Moc Bott style 8800 in Dusty Blue. The image clearly shows the suede-like texture of the Roughout leather as well as the boots metal eyelets.
Red Wing’s Roughout leather looks rich and textured like traditional suede while still remaining extremely durable and much easier to clean.
Red Wing Shoes

The subtleties of the color are amplified by the use of Red Wing’s roughout leather. For those unfamiliar with the material, it offers much of the creamy and variable suede shading while being far more durable and easy to keep clean.

That’s because roughout is made using a reverse-suede technique. As Red Wing explains, most suede is made by splitting and thinning traditional hides. Roughout is made using the other side of a standard piece of hide used in Red Wing’s other boot leathers.

A pair of Red Wing Heritage Classic Moc Boots style 8800 in Dusty Blue was worn by a male wearing khaki-colored pants. The shoes and pants are only shown from just above the knee down. The model is standing with his feet pointed to the right of the image frame.
Nailing down the exact shading of the leather gets even more difficult when the boots are set directly against other colors like kahki.
Red Wing Shoes

Though these new dusty blue boots are technically the only blue-shaded boots Red Wing Heritage offers men now, the brand has made other blue suede-like boots for men before.

A version of the 8144 in Blue Slate Abeline was released overseas a few years back and is still traded and hunted by U.S. collectors.

Something for the Ladies Too

A single Red Wing Heritage women's The Great Boot in multi-indigo color. The color is a combination of two shades of blue. The toe area and heel stripe appear made from a dark navy oiled leather. The sides of the boot appear made from a lighter blue leather of a different texture. The tongue and top toe area appear white. The toe of the boot is pointing to the left of the image frame. The boot is sitting against a light grey background.
The dusty blue colorway of the Classic Moc boot isn’t available for women at the moment, but a color dubbed multi-indigo is available that looks similar in some ways.
Red Wing Shoes

Though the new dusty blue colorway isn’t offered in a women’s version just yet, Red Wing already stocks several blue color options for women, including a dark indigo color made from full-grain oiled leather and a funkier colorway called multi-indigo.

The latter combines the full-grain oiled leather of the dark indigo boots with swaths of lighter blue leather that looks quite similar to the men’s dusty blue shade.

A pair of Red Wing Heritage Classic Moc boots in a new Lavender color, which looks like light purple, being worn by a female model wearing blue jeans. The pants and jeans are shown from right below the knee down.
Despite looking just as “dusty” as the other newly introduced spring colors, this new women’s exclusive color is just called lavender.
Red Wing Shoes

But Red Wing also introduced another spring color for women—a light purple shade simply called dusty lavender, which brings more soft color to a line that already included another ‘dusty’ shade – a.k.a.
the light pinkish red hue called dusty rose and

A pair of Red Wing Heritage Classic Moc boots in a new Dusty Rose color, which looks like a suede-like mix of pink and red, being worn by a female model wearing dark marroon pants. The pants and boots are shown from right below the knee down.
Dusty red is the name of another women’s exclusive pastel color already in the women’s lineup.
Red Wing Shoes

The Best Option Arguabley Isn’t Even a Pastel

A pair of Red Wing Heritage Classic Moc boots in a light tannish yellow colored called Hawthorne. One boot is standing up in profile with the toe facing to the left of the image frame. The other boot is shown on its side, revealing the sole.
The Red Wing Heritage Classic Moc in this light tannish yellow color, Hawthrone, was once exclusive to Europe. But Red Wing finally brought it to the U.S. in the summer of 2024.
Red Wing Shoes

Beyond the new dusty blue and lavender options merchandised on the pastel collection of the brand’s website, Red Wing Heritage is also lumping in another pre-existing hue, Hawthorne, that we’d argue looks more like a light tan than yellow.

That said, it’s the most appealing iteration in the collection to us and also technically the oldest.

A pair of Red Wing Heritage Shop Moc Oxfords shown in a new yellowish-tan Hawthorne colorway. The low-cut shoes are shown on a male model wearing cuffed dark blue jeans. The picture is taken from just below the knees down.
Red Wing has now brought the excellent-looking Hawthorne color to the low-cut Shop Moc Oxford.
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The backstory is that after years of being a women’s European exclusive, Red Wing finally decided to bring the coveted look to the U.S. for men in the summer of 2024.

A similar though slightly lighter color is also available for women in the U.S., dubbed cream.

Red Wing has also added a Hawthorne-colored version of the men’s low-cut Shop Moc Oxford.

Pricing and Availability

All of the new boots are available for purchase from Red Wing’s website now. The women’s exclusive lavendar shade costs $310, while the men’s dusty blue boot costs $300.

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