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Ava doesn’t wear her signature Doc Martens when she goes to the interview in Episode 9 and the show clearly wants you to notice this.
In fact, she goes out of her way to find the other shoes, the “Fenty Pumas with the gummy soles”, from the garage in her LA home which she’s now renting out. (They’re Fenty Puma Creepers.)
“I need to get to an interview, and I need to look cool, hip, young but also not trying too hard, you know”
This is the explanation as to why she breaks out into the garage and freaks out the tenant. She thought these shoes would accomplish this.
Here’s what Doc Martens’s website says about their signature shoe:
“Dr. Martens’ appeal to people who have their own individual style but share a united spirit – authentic characters who stand for something. People who possess a proud sense of self- expression. People who are different.
On a stylistic level, Dr. Martens’ simple silhouettes allows their wearers to adopt the boots and shoes as part of their own individual and very distinctive style; on a practical level, their famous durability and comfort make them ideal for the unforgiving world of gigs and street fashion; and then finally on an emotional level, they are a badge of attitude and empowerment.”
The Doc Marten boot was created in the 1960s and quickly became heavily associated with the British underground punk scene. They symbolism non-conformity.
When I saw Ava’s Doc Martens, I actually thought of a famous character who represented 90′s nonconformity, Daria Morgendorffer from the animated series, Daria.
Between Deborah and Ava, Ava tends to represent the ‘individual’ and the ‘rebel’. She doesn’t conform to gender norms and doesn’t ever feel the need to explain herself about this, she’s openly bisexual which is still a pretty stigmatized sexuality, and she goes off on rants about the various injustices of the world. When we first meet her, we learn that she got fired because she tweeted a joke calling out a Senator (who also was sexually involved with men) for sending his son to conversion therapy.
Even in situations in which these shoes might not be considered the most appropriate thing to wear, Ava still wears them. She wears them to DJ’s birthday party while looking the most feminine we’ve ever seen her. She wears them to the interview with Deborah. She wears them at her dad’s funeral. Her Doc Martens represent the most authentic version of Ava and Ava is the most herself when she’s in Vegas and when she’s with Deborah.
But, in this moment, in which she’s heading back to LA and lying to Deborah, she instead wears the Fenty Puma Creepers.
These shoes were a collaboration between the Puma brand and pop musician, Rihanna.
These shoes are perfectly nice. I don’t have a problem with them aesthetically…but they don’t seem very much like Ava, do they? The Doc Martens make a lot of sense because of their punk aesthetic, their versatility and for the fact that they’re vintage.
The Creepers won best shoes of the year in 2016.
2016 was likely the year Ava first arrived in Los Angeles.
I bet you anything that Ava just bought these because they were popular, associated with a mainstream pop musician and because that’s likely what everybody around her was wearing. She finally got out of Boston and she was determined not to be a loser anymore. She was going to keep up with whatever the cool kids are doing.
But the thing is she left these shoes in LA. They clearly weren’t important enough for Ava to take them with her. And Ava has like 3 pairs of shoes according to costume designer Kathleen Felix-Hager, so it's not as though Ava didn't have room to pack them.
But she chooses to wear them for the LA interview because Ava is choosing to conform in this moment. She’s back in the shallow world of LA where she was a self-centered asshole. She’s not acting like herself in this moment. She puts on a pleasant, obnoxious veneer for the writers. In contrast, in her first meeting with Deborah it’s only when she shows her angry, rebellious attitude (yes, entitled but still) does Deborah like her enough to hire her.
During the LA interview, she realizes she can’t maintain this façade. She’s not willing to compromise her morals (standing against misogyny) and her relationship with Deborah.
Hell, she even trips while wearing the Creepers.
Ava isn’t that clumsy. She does a cartwheel and a split while wearing her Doc Martens.
Ava’s Doc Martens are a like a second skin to her. She can move more freely in them than she can in the Creepers.
All of this just reinforces what Deborah said to Ava: “There’s other people in the cafeteria and the sooner you realize that, the better off you’ll be”.
Ava is scared that if she doesn’t make it to the cool kids table then she’ll be worthless and she won’t have anyone, but Ava’s authentic self doesn’t fit well there. And she’s also ignoring the fact that weird subcultures would totally accept her if she just gave them a chance.
Ava is different. She’s…a loser. Or perhaps a rebel or a nonconformist would be the better term? Either way, trendy or cool she is not.
And honestly? I think the show is pointing to the fact that both Deborah and Ava are going to recreate their identities and they’ll both start living more nonconformist lives.
Maybe like….doing vulnerable, honest comedy that speaks truth to power (especially against misogyny, homophobia and ageism) and then be in a long-term relationship with a woman they’re 4 decades in age apart from and then live their amazing lives with their queer family in Las Vegas?