The DOs and DONTs of Boots

So it's officially September and the weather is forecasted to get much cooler the beginning of next week.  Even though it's not boot weather yet (I say it has to be in the 50's or below for riding boots and 40's or below for shearling boots) we must order our boots now so we have them in time!  I don't know why, but it is one of my biggest pet peeves when I see girls wearing boots at inappropriate times.

Ladies of all ages: The only boots that shall be worn when its not boot season are cowboy boots, occasionally motorcycle boots, and occasionally military boots.  

Lets talk about shearling boots first.  The best thing to know about these types of boots is that a lot of them will not save you from slipping in the snow/ice.  Yes, they may be warm and toasty on your feet in the snow, but they need to have the proper bottoms for the weather.  I learned this last year here in Washington in all of the snow.  It was a shock for me with being from Cincinnati.

These are some great examples that you want to look for on the bottom of the boot.  All three of these boots are made for the snow and will give you good grip and will keep you warm.  Some companies that makes great snow boots are Sorel, the North Face, LLBean, and UGG.  Just make sure that they are made for the snow and have a good bottom.  If you don't want a pair of boots dedicated to the snow, I suggest a great product called Yaktrax.  These are an apparatus that you put on the bottom of your shoes that will give any pair of shoes a great grip.  They give you "Confidence on packed snow and ice".  They are pretty inexpensive (ranging from $20-$60) and come in different levels of durableness depending on the activity the will be used for.

These are the Walking Yaktrax.  They cost about $20 and come in more colors.

Now we can talk about my favorite kind of boots, riding boots.  You can wear riding boots with basically anything and dress them up or down.  I have two pairs; a cognac color and black.  I hope to add a dark brown pair this year.  Here are some of my favorite riding boots for this year:

These 4 pairs of boots are from one of my favorite designers, Tory Burch. I would gladly accept any of them.

These 3 are much more reasonably priced and are from Target- one of my favorite stores!

Some other great places to look for boots are Zappos, Nordstrom, Dillards, Steve Madden, and Macy's just to name a few.  Good luck on finding the perfect pair (or pairs) of boots and let me know if you found a "to die for" pair! 

Xx, Katie