Boots on the Air

It seems that the next step in this new age of digital media for all your five senses, except maybe taste, is to add a podcast to Bootsmania. Alas, this busy group of fashionistas/mommas/businesswomen cannot find the time to do this as yet. Instead, while you are waiting for us to get our act together on the auditory front, here are a couple of other podcasts about boots and related things which might interest you. We are, of course, not responsible for whatever you hear here. :-) - Bice Baby

Hipcast.com

Fashiontribes.typepad.com

Don't Muck around with the Cold.

Or rather do. Muck Boots might be just the thing one needs in weather like we're getting out here in New York these days. Recently, it's been 20 or more degrees below with the wind chill. It's time to bundle up. Ready to protect your feet, Muck boots are designed for sub-freezing temperatures, are completely waterproof, range from booties up to just below the knee, and are completely insulated with a moisture-resistant lining. These boots are ready for some real weather.

All of the many styles of Muck Boots come in a wide range of sizes to accomodate both men and women. We liked the Artic Sport Muck Boot, designed to keep your feet comfortable all the way down to 40 degrees below.

Toodles,
Nigella

Thank you for Reading!

It's an exciting day here at Boots Mania. We only just recently placed a counter on the website and yet, thanks to you, we have today reached and exceeded the 1 thousand visits mark. We hope to hear from you, and keep you coming back for more, for a long time to come. We will continue to add new features to the site and post on a lot of exciting developments in the boot universe. To all our readers, we love you!!
















Yours truly,
The Boot Maniacs

American Boots

Did you know...

Indian people could often tell each other's tribal affiliation simply from the design of their shoes. (In fact, the common names of some large nations like the Blackfoot and the Chippewas refer to their characteristic moccasin styles.)

Now, check out these "Mukluks".

Shoe + Bootie = Shootie Pie

Who would have thunk, right? I and (dare I presume) most other people used to call this a bootie but not the footwear retailer, Mazzey's. No, it isn't enough that their "dapartment store" name sounds like a double-breasted lawsuit ready to happen but then they start making up new names for shoes. They call this a "shootie". Indeed. Next thing you know we'll be renaming capris, shants! Or longer shirts, shunics. Or maybe fancy panties should be referred to as pankinies or pikinis or is it...pingerie? Or...can't decide between the coat and the jacket? Wear the cacket...or the joat. Okay, enough cacket racket, right? Well, whatever the name, we'd like to make some introductions...readers, this is Quench (from Mezzo), a classic and stylish choice. Quench, these are our readers, you're sure to get along fabulously with their casual and dress trousers alike.

-Bice Baby aka Grouchy Mama

"Side-zip shootie. Part boot, part shoe, one great value by Van Eli. Soft-to-the-touch, super-nappa synthetic upper. Foam insole. Smooth lining. Rubber-like sole. Stacked heel. 2" heel height." $79.95

Boots in the Cinema

Last year we put out a call to all our readers to tell us about their favorite movies involving boots. We were looking for any kind of movie and the boots did not have to have been cast opposite hugh grant or anything...they just needed to make some kind of glamorous scene-stealing appearance during the film or just be in the title of the movie. The responses were enthusiastic and the films a real hodge-podge of various styles. Here are a few of the most popular entries, organized by category:

Boots in the Title

- Kinky Boots
- Puss in Boots series
- They Died With Their Boots On
- African Boots of Beijing
- The Woman With Red Boots
- Kid Boots
- Boots! Boots!


The Boots Inside

- Unforgiven

The boots that Clint Eastwood wore in Unforgiven are the same boots that he wore in the TV series Rawhide. These boots are now a part of Clint Eastwoods private collection and were on loan to the 2005 Sergio Leone exhibit at the Gene Autry Museum of Western Heritage in Los Angeles, California. In essence these boots have book-ended Clint Eastwood's career in the Western genre.

- Star Trek III, IV, V, so on...just check out Nichelle Nichols in the miniskirt and boots!






















- Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery

- Spider-Man, Super-Man, Super-Woman, etc.

- Confessions of a Dangerous Mind (Oy, Julia!)

and lots more...

You keep sending in new titles and we'll keep posting them.

Until next time,
Bice Baby

New Features!

We have added a Daily Boot Archive to the page so you don't miss out on all the great finds of yesterday. Check it out on the sidebar. There are a few other new additions to the blog as well. We'll let you find them on your own. :-)

Happy Wednesday!

Vegetarian Boots

In the olden days - you know which ones I'm talking about, right? - when Adam and Eve's descendants were mucking around in the wilderness and braving bitter ice ages, when there was no fruit (forbidden or otherwise) and, when you pee'd, it froze to your bottom...ok, maybe too much information but it was in that day when hunters would bring back meat to sustain their clans and animal skins to warm them. There was no cotton then, no nylon or other synthetic fabrics. If they wanted to survive, they had to kill and wear animals.

Nowadays, thanks to natural and unnatural climate change (read: global warming), few of us live in places cold enough to warrant wearing bearskins. As a matter of fact, we don't even need the skins of cows to maintain the stylish lifestyles we expect. It turns out that the wide variety of alternative fabric choices available for producing both apparel and footwear makes this "udderly" passe. Todays man and woman-made fabrics will outwear any leather, come in equivalent tones and textures to leather, and are often even waterproof (without being treated).

But why look for these when there are lots of shoe choices in leather? First, it never hurts to save money. It's just cheaper to make these new fabrics than to raise, kill, and skin a cow before going through the complicating leather curing process. The savings from the elimination of this process are passed on to consumers, to you. If killing animals is against your ethics, then this is of course another very compelling reason to switch to "vegetarian" shoes. Also, synthetic materials are much easier to clean. No more leather cleaning solution or suede brush required. And finally, the aesthetic appeal and number available of these choices brings this to the fore of our minds.

Let's take a look at some of the really beautiful man/woman-made boots available. Here from Novacas is the very elegant Angelica Black Boot. Also, be sure to check out the Daily Boot today which offers another lovely choice, the Annie Boot from Annie Kaine.























Thanks for reading,
Zoë Magdelena

What a Find for a Rainy Day!

These are so adorable! Hunter Royal Horticultural Society Women's Wellie Boot and On Your Feet Satra Women's Tall Rubber Boots are just two of the very aesthetically pleasing styles that I found today at Overstock.com. In the past, I have looked to sites like Overstock and Half.com for low prices on used books, music, and other odds and ends (even electronics sometimes). However, their apparel and shoes are worth noting as well. Items are always offered at a sigificant discount and, while their inventory is always limited to what discount merchandise they can get their hands on, there was still an entire page of different boot styles to choose from. So, consider looking for alternative retailers like these before buying from a department store or online behemouth. Overstock.com, by the way, says they will charge you a one-time shipping fee of 2.95 for all orders. Now I just need to choose a pair, which isn't so easy since they are all quite attractive.

Write in and tell us how you like the rainboots, which pair you think is best, etc...

Note: The key thing to know here is that you won't always find your size in the item you want at sites like overstock and half.com. So shopping there will involve more of a search...just keep the reward in mind: Finding that near perfect pair that won't fit either of your evil stepsisters but fits you just right.

Peace,
Bice Baby

P.S. The insightful Manolo recently posted about the Etiquette of Wearing Your Wellies Inside. And then there was this posting from him reviewing some of the most stylish (and perhaps expensive) options available.

Too good to be true?

We do like to mix things up and this won't be the first time we've posted about Zappos this month but we just had to let you know about their generous shipping policy. The very large online marketer of boots is offering what does sound almost too good to be true. They state on their site that they will not only cover the costs of initial delivery but also provide free return shipping for a up to a year after your purchase. Furthermore, they suggest that customers order several different styles and/or colors, try them for as much as 12 months, and then return the ones that don't suit them, at no extra charge! Ce n'est pas mal!

We have not ordered from them recently but when we do we'll be sure to let you know how it goes. With most online companies, our number 1 question would be, what happens if they go out of business (in what continues to be a very competitive online retail industry) before we get a chance to both return all those boots we were "trying out" and before we receive a complete refund for all purchases? However, with Zappos, the future is looking fairly stable, (as these things go) given that they do have a relatively good size piece of the online retail market for shoes and they are one of the first pure e-commerce retailers to be profitable.

However, if corporate scandals like *take deep breath*...Enron are any measure then size is no guarantee of security and, if you try this, do buy only as many pairs as you can afford to keep, even if you plan to return a few. That way, you don't get stuck with a nasty bill you weren't expecting in the case that everything doesn't turn out as planned.

Happy boot-hunting,
Claire Comtois-Lécuyer

Postscript: Wish me Bon Voyage...I'm headed back to Paris on Monday! Maybe I'm crazy to fly out on the last day of a long weekend but I'm homesick and I've got to get out of here! What kind of boots do you think I should wear on the plane?

Boots in Literature

A quick search reveals that boots represent a myriad of symbolic elements in fiction and reflect our own diverse feelings about them. In erotic novels, boots are used to represent both the sexual costumes of the stereotypical prostitute and as the footwear of the domineering military officer. The power embodied by the latter characters is consistent with a history that has spawned a collection of (non-erotic) literature involving boots as primary elements including such novels as Somebody in Boots, written in the Great Depression. From Amazon's website:

The "Boots" of the title is a symbol of the men most feared by Cass and his ilk: the railroad bull, the jailer, the cop...Boots are used as weapons and are the mark of authority.

Let us know about any other books you know of that either include boots in their title or prominently in the storyline.

Enjoy your long weekend...and Happy Birthday, Dr. King. May your message continue to be heard loud and clear!

- Nigella

A Short History of High Heels

High heels are now almost exclusively in the domain of women's footwear. However, historians are familiar with the origin of this much maligned and controversial type of shoe, as men's wear.

The popularity of high-heels does, in fact, have some regal origin, having been worn early on by many members of the french Valois Dynasty in the 1500s. This first began when the 'not too tall' Catherine de Medici, wife of King Henry the II, designed herself a pair, perhaps to better compete with the King's favorite and significantly taller mistress, Diane de Poitiers. Men and women in her court later adopted similar styles.




Cowboy boots are a prime example of men's high heels, which continue to be popular (in some crowds) today, though for very different reasons than originally intended. Cowboy boots were originally designed to allow cattle ranchers/cowboys to ride saddled horses for long periods, planting their boots into the stirrups. Now cowboy boots are more of a fashion statement and most who wear them are not riding horses for long periods of time, if any. However, that part of the design: the heel, remains largely unmodified despite, perhaps, some lack of ease in walking in them.
******************************

When purchasing your own cowboy or cowgirl boots, look for good arch support, something might still fit your feet well after a long day's walking...or get a pair largely for style and wear them only on special occasions when you'll be sitting a lot. The giant online shoe retailer, Zappos, does give you some survey results regarding arch support and whether the shoe felt "true to width". This could all be very useful data although it's worth noting that the percents are, like all online polls, entirely dependent on who bothered to not only view the item online but vote. Here is one pair of "westerns" that caught our eye for their classic rugged good looks.


The Ariat Heritage Western R-toe.

-Zoë Magdelena

All That's Missing is The Tumbleweed...

The Company -

I learned about this retailer via the, not quite antiquated but certainly struggling, government snail mail service. They sent me a catalog, largely full of a bunch of flamboyant 80s clothing styles of the kind that I worked hard to stay away from inheriting as hand-me downs growing up. The boots though! What a nice selection and the sizes available fit our standard/promise to you to focus on boots available for a wide range of sizes, most styles are available in women's sizes up to 11.



The Boots/The Dream -

Clearly, these are not riding boots but they do evoke images of the fairytale western frontier in all its dusty but otherwise "clean" glory.

The protagonist of our story is the damsel, impeccably dressed in a velvet jacket with a cinched waist, her shirt ruffles delicately encircling her long neck and poking out from the cuffs of her sleeves. She steps confidently to the side of her loyal black horse, standing her ground firmly balanced in the tall lace-up boots that end somewhere sight unseen under her layered skirts, a maddening tease for the smirking villain who stands before her but will never have her. In these 3 1/4" heels, she may not be able to outrun him without her horse, but she stands just under 6 feet tall, starting directly into his bloodshot eyes. It is her eyes, however, that reflect genuine rage. She is full of the irrational anger of someone out for the postponed revenge of a murdered brother and has her pistol cocked and aimed at his heart before he can blink twice...STAY Tuned for more from Tehachapi Sunset: The Van Allen Saga.

There are also many other trendy and classic boot styles available from Metrostyle and nearly all seem to be available in size 11. But don't take my word for it. Have a look yourself! The lace-ups pictured here are currently selling for 44.99 on sale (originally 49.99).

Take Care,
Nigella

"Rossi" Platform Bootie

Okay, I just got off the phone with Bice (who is now on holiday) and she thinks I am really silly to want to post about this. However, surely there are still people who haven't been to Payless or have forgotten about the potential of the store. If you are vegan/vegetarian, Payless has incredible appeal because of their wide selection of shoes (and boots) made of manmade material. However, more than the variety of boots and boot sizes (and nice website), they're particularly known for their really nice prices.

This is a great platform boot to wear with short pants (capris, etc) and a belted tunic, an outfit I recently spotted the "ridiculously beautiful" Tawny Cypress in on an episode of Heroes (she plays Simone Devereaux and I admit I can't get enought of the shoe, um...show, but we digress... This pair has 4-inch heels of the chunky kind that you won't twist your ankle in. :-)




Cheers,
Manjee

Just Another Lazy Sunday

This is a cop-out. Just thought I'd be upfront about that. It's the weekend and I'm really really tired so...here's another celeb pic for you to enjoy. I even found another shoe place that sells rad colors of those cool moccasin boots we love so much.





Again, size alert...10 looks like the maximum they had but I only looked at the moccasin type boots. If you browse the site (or even purchase a pair) , let us know what you think of them.


Peace and Love,
Bice Baby

Jeans bring rebellious practicality to Chanel's couture

This from AFP on why sweater boots look so hot (the most asked question when we wore them...in hushed tones or asked outright, "How high do they go?":

"From their washed-out thigh-high tops, right down to the bejewelled high heels, Karl Lagerfeld's couture 'jeans' boots seemed to rebel against Chanel's sleek mini dresses."


PARIS (AFP) - Even a sweet, capped-sleeved 'Little Black Dress' sprinkled with a modern version of Coco Chanel's favourite camellias was teamed with high boots that looked like jeans -- as well as long denim gloves.

"The attitude is stronger like this," the veteran German designer said after Thursday's catwalk show, adding: "It would be too simple to put a pair of jeans under a dress."

Dressed in demure black with a jazzy metallic collar and Chanel sunglasses, the arrival of Australian pop diva Kylie Minogue, due to resume her "Showgirl" tour later this year after breast cancer surgery, prompted a mad flurry of camera flashes.

Her Rhodesian Ridgeback dog, Sheeba, caused almost as much fuss.

British rocker Elton John who attended Dior men's show earlier in the week also sat up-front at Chanel, one of the most eagerly-anticipated shows on the three-day autumn-winter 2006-07 haute couture calendar.

After opting to showcase last season's collection in the vast 19th century Grand Palais amply illuminated by its huge glass ceiling, the iconic fashion house this time turned to a kind of big top on the edge of a Paris forest.

But the circus tent was immaculate white, bathed in light from the summer sun and almost blindingly bright, as models took to the circled runway around the edge, in front of an audience seated facing outwards.

At the end, it was the guests who were slowly spinned.

Layering was again key to the Chanel look. When boots were not jeans they were black to give the impression of loose leggings, bringing strong contrast to the rich fabrics and jewel details.

Lagerfeld kept his silhouette either starkly straight, clean and angular, or gently puffed, but always short for skirts, coats and dresses, whose sleeves were either cutely capped or cut to the elbow over long gloves.

"The high gloves are the boots of the arms," the pony-tailed designer quipped.

A neat black coat with shiny trim embodied young modernity for practical day wear, while rich embroidery or colourful jewels punctuated the waist or shoulders on dressy short and long frocks.

For a 1960s bridal look, Lagerfeld edged a long-sleeved white tunic with tone-on-tone stones, over white boots to mid-thigh and a veil, in further affirmation of the themes of this collection.

France's Christian Lacroix will unveil his collection later Thursday.

Thursday, July 06, 2006 (EST)

Snow? What's That?

Some of us are experiencing some real weather this year. All too real weather if you ask my good neighbors here in New Mexico, still digging out from that freak blizzard. Sure, we get that it's supposed to snow...it's winter. But 15 feet snow drifts is just plain scary. And digging out? Just the bane of my existence. But my feet (and thus the rest of me as well) were pretty warm thanks to my new Shearling Boots from Lands End. They weren't the cheapest boots in the universe ($121.99) but for a sturdy pair likely to last me for several several winters, through blizzard and shine, I was very pleased with my purchase. My toes were cozy but not suffocated, my legs the same. I looked at several other pairs of winter boots but was unhappy with either the materials used, which needed to be waterproof and very insulating, or with the style. A number of winter boots seem to sacrifice looks for warmth or vice versa. This pair had both and more importantly, as I was saying, they've become a real necessity this winter. These boots are the marriage of beauty and intelligence.

Bonne Année!

Votre ami,
Claire Comtois-Lécuyer

The Best Damn Boot Shop in the World?

Stompers Boots is in San Francisco so, even if they aren't The Best Damn Boot Shop in the World, at least they're having fun. We like that they carry a wide range of sizes for both men and women. We'll review them in more detail in some future post...Meanwhile, check out their galleries!

There are Many of Us Out Here

Bootlovers abound. And of course, celebs have been making regular use of these fashion ringers for decades, no...centuries. At the wonderful blog, Ruby Red Slipper: Exposing Celebrity Style For Less, they recently published a post on humanitarian screen siren Angelina Jolie's impeccable style in a long white trench and (you guessed it) a beautiful tall stilleto heeled pair of boots. Brad doesn't look bad either...

The website GoJane.com which has a mix of similarly attractive boots, is having an incredible sale right now, selling boots for prices as low as 9.99. We counted at least 106 different styles but there is one caveat. It's one we are somewhat reticent to reveal given our mission statement to write only about boots available for up to size 11 feet but hope is made up for by the significant price-savings. It's this: we browsed for sometime and could not find one of the 106 styles sold avaiilable in anything over size 10. However, there are many boots in size 10 (and below) available and perhaps, we hope, one of the many boots we did not get the chance to preview is in fact available in a size 11.

Wearing Boots in the Race to Space?

Former USSR military technology, these boots are made from titanium and aluminum and will propel you 17 kilometers per hour. I don't know about you, but I don't have a lot of boots that I can do that in...at least not without several cups of coffee. Their site has been "under construction" for sometime but perhaps we'll hear more about these soon, or maybe catch some fellow rocketmen and women zipping to work bootwise? ;-)

Check out an interesting post on these boots from New Scientist Magazine. They first posted in 2000 and then again this past September. Note: The former is more comprehensive.

- Bice Baby aka BB