If you’re cold, they’re cold. And your dogs shouldn’t freeze in the winter months — neither your pets nor your feet. That’s why you’ve gotta winterize your tootsies with some serious hardware of the footwear variety.
While we’re on the subject, why settle for regular old boots when you can lean hard into, well, anything more interesting? You might only reach for the toughest shoes amid winter’s worst, but the Fall/Winter 2023 runways remind me of a truism that ought to be held close to the sole: You don’t have to wait for special weather to break out special shoes.
Brands as big as Balenciaga and as mainstream as UGG are behind an outpouring of brilliantly distinct boots that are tough enough to function as workwear but stylish enough to never be mistaken as such. Trimmed with fur, doused neon green, sculpted up to the knee: We’re blessed to live in an era in which so many designers are bringing their wild visions of what a boot can be to life.
Today’s funky fashion-function boots are a marriage of Timberland’s stalwart six-inch classics and Bottega Veneta’s trendsetting Puddle. They reach to the shin, laceless, snub-nosed — but not square — and anchored by a heavy-duty sole capable of combating slippage (because even the coolest boots are effectively worthless if they send you sky-high the second you step onto an icy patch of winter’s worst).
Boots must be reliable. Hence why this season’s best ain’t slim — they’re shitkickers. A beefy boot conveys stability, strength, and sturdiness. Not that there’s anything wrong with a lightweight high-top; but save your dainty Chelseas and delicate jodhpurs for a formal affair or your young Bob Dylan cosplay. Cold-weather boots should convey a sense of heft in line with the accompanying clothing. It’s a matter of proportional importance.
Admittedly, such a boot does affect a more masculine silhouette, but that can (and ought to be) subverted through further experimentation with texture, color, textile, and shape.
Balenciaga creative director Demna would agree. “I hate to see small feet visually,” he once said. “To me, large shoes are more stable, and more masculine.” I imagine Demna would posit there’s a time to wear a delicate hotel slipper (the Met Gala or a Balenciaga red carpet) and there’s a time to wear a huge shoe (every other day).
Existence is chaotic. Big, beautiful boots keep us grounded, like a paperweight in a roomful of tower fans. Life is too short to watch your foot’s figure. Size matters.
