Having worn Doc Martens most of my life i've now switched to Solivair, last pair of 'Docs' i bought wore through the upper in 6 months and ripped my feet to shreds, the Solovair i replaced them with are still like new after a year and are the comfiest boots i've ever worn.

The only downside is explaining why you're wearing 'knock off Docs' to hipsters, but i generally go with 'They're Doc Martens with all the Vietnamese Child Labour taken out (allegedly)'

The magical pig is king.

Bacon and or sausage, the greasier the better.

I'm not sure what bit you mean, I have the classic 8 hole boots and the shape is the same from my perspective?

There are differences as i went Matte finish for the Solovairs and obviously the stiching is a different colour (smooth sided sole too) but i'm more concerned about the quality/fit/longevity of my boots than the Docs aethetic anyway.

Yeah, the iconic yellow stitching on Docs is likely trademarked, Solovairs are grey stitching.