Brrrrr: Winter Shoes

K, so as fall as upon us IN EVERY FRICKIN' PLACE BUT UTAH which for reasons unbeknownst to me insists on being a scorching 85 degrees day after day, even after it is CLEARLY October and I should be pulling out fall sweaters and wearing my cool new jacket and I CAN'T because it's too hot.

But in NORMAL places, the weather as started to cool off. Fall is my favourite, favourite, favourite season, followed by a close second of winter. Sorry, I'm Canadian, it's in my blood. I'd rather be cold any day. Heat makes me very cranky (Gee, let's move to the desert! Neato idea!) and so I get very excited when the seasons start to change. Fall clothing is by far my favourite, as shown by my overstuffed closet, arranged by sleeve length. Yes, I do that. Long sleeved stuff takes up 3/4 of my closet. I just feel like summer clothes look generally pretty sloppy, all the capris and flowiness, and I love the structure of a fall wardrobe.

But, with the colder weather comes a new set of mom-problems. My most oft-asked question (asked most recently by Beth) is "What shoes do I wear in the winter?" You all know I wax poetic upon the merits of a flat or a 4" pump, but these are not viable options for when there is snow on the ground. I know, one day I was stupidly wearing flats to a doctor's appointment which I was LATE for and I wasn't paying attention and didn't realize my lovely husband had not shoveled the front porch, and I stepped right into three feet of snow with no socks on, and I was in a FOUL mood for the rest of the day. I learned my lesson.

So, not I am converted. I literally ONLY wear boots during the cold months. I am not even joking. I live on a mountain for goodness sakes. So, here are my picks for winter boots that aren't moonboots, nor do they feature Dora the Explorer.

K, right off the bat, I am going to endorse the riding boot. The prob with the boots you probably own now is that they have heels. Heels + Ice = Sore bums. The riding boot is the new-school knee high that is actually really friendly to the regular person. Buy some. My inspiration was actually Isla Fisher who plays Denise in Hot Rod. K, HOT ROD IS MY FAVOURITE MOVIE. DEAL WITH IT. Anyways, the whole movie she looks pretty adorable, but especially so in the wHiskey scene. Check it out:




Cuteness to the enth degree, right? And I was like heeeeeey, boots don';t have to be all formal like? Here she is wearing them with jeans and a tee and they still look awesome. I actually looked up the exact pair she's wearing, because I abuse my Google, and came up with these:


They are by Frye Harness and they are ADORABLE but pricey at $198. But still, I covet. I think I might ask for some for Christmas.

Now that is pretty much the real deal riding boot. But there are tons of styles and options for a flat boot that you can wear PULLED OVER jeans. Check out these Maddens:



Love how sleek these are. I would pair them with a dark wash denim, and a flowy shirt topped with a structured jacket. Voila, instantly put together, and no snow in your shoes.

I also love these slouchy ones from Wet Seal. You could get away with being more casual with these, I would totally wear these shopping with jeans and a comfy sweater. I actually might buy them, they're cheap.

And finally, I own these.



I know they're *technically* Uggs and they are supposed to be well, ugly, but these are super adorable on, and I wore them with EVERYTHING last winter. And I loved the lace ups AND they were wide enough to literally fit over ALL of my jeans. They were my favourite to run errands in because they kept my feet warm but weren't nasty ski boots.

If you're thinking these boots would look funny with your puffy ski jacket, you're right. Go back to the winter jacket post from a few weeks ago. These need to be paired with shorter, more structured jackets in neutral colours. Because these are knee-highs, you want the space from your hop bone to your knee to be visible and not covered by your jacket, otherwise you'll look stumpy. Remember the jacket I bought from Charlotte Russe? That and those Madden boots would be faaaantastic. See what I mean?

I'm good.