What woman doesn't gaze into the depths of her closet and ask, "What can I wear with fashion boots?" Half of fashion is knowing where to shop, but the other half is dedicated to the refined art of coordination. Although fashion magazines may produce layouts that feature a mess of ill-coordinated items that celebrate fashion design as a form of art, the voice in your head is probably telling you that wearing such ensembles on the street will get you a few stares and many more stylist recommendations.
Asking "What Can I Wear With Fashion Boots?"
Before you waste anymore time staring into the abyss of your wardrobe, you first need to define exactly what the term "fashion boots" means. "What can I wear with fashion boots?" should be followed by "What sort of boots am I looking to wear?"
The label "fashion boots" can mean many things. Your boots may have simply come from a store labeled "Fashion Planet" that has very little affiliation with the world of fashion other than featuring poorly knocked off designs, or you maybe holding in your hands the latest Gucci monogram boots that are the coveted item of old-time Saks shoppers.
The label on your boots should influence your clothing choices every bit as much as the:
- Height of the boot
- Height of the boot heel
- Mode of application
- Climate you are wearing them in
Exploring Heel Heights
The height of your boot heel is a major factor when determining your fashion choices. High-heeled boots look excellent when worn under boot-leg jeans and slender pants. When worn at the office they only accentuate your professionalism. However, when boots with high heels are worn with mini skirts, they can make you look like a "professional" of a whole different kind. Boots are inherently sexy, but in order to minimize your chances of being pulled off the evening streets by a squad car, it is best to leave the short-skirt-high-heeled-boots to the teenagers and keep this incredibly powerful form of footwear subdued.
On the flip side, do wear non-heeled or very short-heeled boots with tiny skirts. The effect is too cute to be considered irreverent! Adding opaque tights to a skirt-boot outfit will also lessen any notions of promiscuity. For tasteful fashion, the principle has always been: the higher the skirt, the shorter the heel.
The Height of Your Boot
Contrary to a few dubiously serious issues of Vogue, short boots should rarely be worn with skirts. Moreover, they should never be worn with skirts by girls who have slender ankles. The concept of wearing your short little boots with a cute knee length skirt makes for darling imagery, but unless you have some severely ample ankles, the unfitted top of the boot will make your legs appear like upside down bottles.
Short boots are wonderful when worn under pants because when you cross you legs, no part of your ankle or awkward holiday socks will be viewable. If you absolutely must pair your short boots up with a skirt, make sure you're wearing a pleated or tartan skirt alongside opaque tights. The "schoolgirl" effect will draw attention away from how gauchely you've applied your footwear.
Boots that reach the knee look tremendously responsible when paired with knee length skirts, and they also do well when zipped over tight jeans!
The Mode of Application
Are you zipping up your boots? Are they made of a stretch material that reaches either the knee or over the knee? Stretchable over the knee boots have made a real place for themselves in the last few years of fashion. Although the concept of a stretch high-heeled boot is rather awful, when stars like Nicole Richie patented this style in front of the paparazzi, socialites responded warmly by waving their Bloomingdale's cards. The stretchable boots are often high heeled and because of their subtlety, they make for one of the rare occasions when heels look acceptable with a miniskirt. Zip up boots however are typically more obtrusive and do best when they carry the "attention" of an outfit.
Note Your Climate
Any sort of boots short of beach-worthy Uggs will be awkward to wield in the hot months of summer. Dark colored boots are amazing Fall and Winter pieces, and they can even make their way into the rainy days of Spring. Keep in mind that tall boots were, in earlier periods, usually worn out of necessity rather than for style, so they fail to make a significant impact in the Spring/Summer seasons.
Final Considerations
Brand names have always been a big deal in fashion. When you're pondering, "What can I wear with fashion boots?", match your ensemble to the height of your designer. Certain fabulous Gucci, Prada, and limited edition Jimmy Choo styles should never be underestimated. Wear your high-fashion pieces alongside other high-fashion pieces!
