Ahh, the knee high boot. After several seasons of banishment in favour of the ubiquitous ankle biter and the notoriously hard to pull off thigh high, the spotlight has once again returned to this, most humble of styles. I have never been a great one for a heeled knee high; I mean sure, I have the perrenial knee high flat riding boot of course and occasionally I'll reach for something mid calf, but what is it about a proper knee high that eludes me? I think I just used to see them as being hard work-I mean, get it wrong in a knee high and the wrongness is spectacular; there's no fence sitting with a boot like this-either you're killing it, or you're a dead woman walking. Perhaps this dangerous trend tightrope has just been too precarious for me to tread-until now.
I think the seasonal u-turn on the knee high heralds a turn around in its styling. Farewell, studs and cuffs. Toodle-oo, chains and straps. No, for AW11/12, the loveliest of all knee highs comes in the plainest-jane form of all. Sumptuous leather or suede, please, basic, neutral colours, thanks a bundle, and oh, Hi, hardest working boot I own.
The advent of the midi skirt has a lot to do, I think, with the return of the KH. With what other sort of skirt could you wear a boot of this length? A mini is soooo bad 90's, bordering on 'lady of the night' styling which, I'm sure, is a look no one is keen to emulate. I suppose a sheer maxi might work; but would this not look odd with all sorts of different lengths going on underneath? A dirndl (who still wears these!?) screams toilet roll cover; so ultimately the only shape that can really do this boot justice is the midi. A nice dark pleated one without too much excess fabric is just crying out for a basic leather knee high to ramp up the roughness factor and, taking its hand, trot it into winter. Likewise, a pair of leather trousers take on a daywear quality when paired with a blush-soft pair of suede heeled booties, and I know the long-boot over jeans has always been a little WAG but the right jeans, meeting the right boots, is a recipe for scrumminess.
In order to get me out of my trouser rut, and on accounts of my love for a charity shop bargain, midi skirts in their multiples have been purchased and to make them smart enough for my take on winter dressing, only a luxe boot will do. I am probably leaning towards a black pair (so useful) but a tan or brown pair would also work well, depending on the colours I choose to wear most of over AW. My perfect pair would be completely simple, with an almond shaped toe and a stacked heel-not a block, not a pencil, but resting someplace in between. Step forward, black leather Buffalo pair above-I think these boots were well and truly made for walking-home with me.
What do you think of knee high boots? Will you be wearing them this season? Or are they out of your comfort zone?
All these boots and more available at Spartoo.
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