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Lower Decks Boots
So let me start by noting that Lower Decks boots are just adorable. They're also extremely simple in design. They consist of a relatively low boot that has no obvious stitchlines or zippers. The shoes are solid black (white, in medical), with the color of the sole and a strip along the top that matches the division (red, blue, or yellow).
There is an occasional misconception that white shoes are one and the same as science boots. However, if you watch carefully, you can occasionally see a crew member lurking in the background, wearing black and blue shoes. For example, here's a detail from a screen grab from Season 1, Episode one...look to the lower right...
The soles are completely flat (no separate heel) and are adorned with a star, bar, and delta shield. The delta shield on both boots have the same orientation.
That said, the occasional animation error creeps in, resulting in one of the delta shields being reversed. Or that might just be a case of Mariner wearing incorrect boots because....Mariner ("I do what I waaaaant!")
There has been some discussion and speculation as to whether the ankle strip of color is on the boot, or is at the base of the pants. Carefully watching the episodes, Rene P Quebec and Michael Cowart found a few examples that notes the strip is certainly on the boot. For example, their screen shots from the episode "Moist Vessel" (L) and "An Embarrassment of Dooplers" (R).
In contrast, at the 2022 Mission Chicago Star Trek convention, the voice actors that play Tendi, Ransom, Mariner, and Boimler attended in uniform! In their portrayals, they had uniforms with pants on the outside of their plain black books (white, for Noell Wells) and the red (or blue stripes) were on the pants. That noted, they were really just cosplaying like anyone else...
In the cross-over episode of Strange New Worlds (Those Old Scientists; S2E7), Boimler and Mariner both made it to the 3D world. In this episode, they wore boots with the red stripe clearly on the boots, and not on the pants. The only thing inconsistent in the live action episode, compared to the animated portrayal, is that the delta-line-star pattern on the bottom of Boimler's boots are reversed left-right on one shoe vs. the other, while, as I noted above, in the animated portrayal the delta shield is usually (but not always) with the same orientation, regardless of left or right sole.
Cyril A. Jaquel contacted Bernadette Croft (costume designer for Strange New Worlds), and she was lovely enough to reveal that the boots were made by Premiata, and the model is Nero. Frustratingly, Premiata changes the details of the Nero from time to time, but still call them by the same name!
Croft's team attached a colored strip along the top, and painted the soles.
I've seen folks making Lower Decks boots using all kinds of thrifty methods, like buying and cutting down rubber wellies, using paint or rubber paint-on materials such as plasti-dip for trim, etc.
For one photo shoot (see below), I did an ultimate thrift approach by having some of our landing party put black socks over their shoes, and using electrician's tape for the color highlights!
That said, I wanted to get really high quality Lower Decks boots. I contacted the talented crew at Barismil.com (the specialty footware makers I described in my notes on the Enterprise boots) and provided them lots of cartoon pictures. They were able to find bright colored sole material that I wanted (I was looking for blue and red, in particular). In terms of making them practical, a zipper on the inside has to be included, but they covered the zipper with a leather strip. Also, they were able to add a colored leather strip along the top of the boot.
Note that when ordering these boots from Barismil, they need more than just a size. They will send you a request for a whole variety of foot measurements you will need to submit. But you will get wonderful, customized boots that fit like slippers. In total, they made beautifully constructed boots that would pass muster on the Cerritos starship! Don't be surprised if you see them using my images to sell their boots on Etsy (seller name LeatherDistrict). I gave them permission.
In the image above, we're wearing uniform tunics made by the eBay seller besxiojin. This is an unlicensed seller, but there are no licensed sellers of Lower Decks uniforms. This seller is amazingly reliable and the uniforms are impressive for their very low price point. The pants are plain black men's gymnastic pants. The badges are by Fansets.
One final detail is the pattern on the bottom of the boots. Beth visited our local craft store and was able to find adhesive vinyl material that she could feed into her Cricut device. Here is an image of the pattern that she drew up for her Cricut. She had to resize them for her boots, vs. mine. Also, there is some adjustment you must make in laying out the elements on your soles, since both soles and the delta shield are not symmetric.
Here is what the soles look like from below. Wearing these boots all day long on carpeted or tile floors (i.e., a Star Trek convention) the decals adhered very well.
In wrap-up, the Lower Decks boots are available from Barismil, for around $270.