I was halfway through chewing someone’s homemade tagine when Fran’s boyfriend nudged him across the dinner table and said “weren’t those boots a bit… 2013?” and I nearly choked on an apricot half. My over the knee boots. My suede over the knee boots that I’d worn because I thought they were literally the most at risk thing I had on that night. Fran glared at him, I put my fork down, and I spent the next twenty minutes doing something I genuinely never do at dinner parties – explaining to someone why a pair of boots hadn’t mortally offended my mother. Here’s what I said, and I’m not going to soften it for a nice neat wrap up: yes, fashionably they’re still totally in 20twenty-five. But “fashionably” wasn’t really the question I should have been asking when deciding whether to wear over the knee boots.
Does it work on you, doing what you actually need to do? That’s the question that matters, and it’s a wholly different conversation to whether some website thinks the trends have moved on. I’ve had 4 pairs over the years including one I wore twice then gave to my sister so I’m clearly no fashion boot expert, I’ve just learnt from my mistakes!
The fit tells you everything you need to know
The biggest lesson here isn’t what year it is, it’s do the boots actually fit your leg. And by fit I mean properly fit, not “they sorta fit if I don’t sit down”. My first pair were gaping at the calf so much they stopped being boots and started being ‘two buckets I’ve wandered into unintentionally.’ I wore them once to a friend’s birthday. Sat down for four minutes to eat said tagine. And then spent the rest of the night sticking next to the bar telling people how great it was to be next to the bar. That is the worst sin an over the knee boot can commit, not being fashionable, but actually not fitting when you do have to sit down or move around. Buy an appropriate calf size for your actual leg shape, not the ‘one size fits most’ calves most companies design for. Trust me, it makes all the difference.
I went up a size in my second pair for the shaft length alone, and asked a cobbler to take in the calf so they actually held their shape when I sat down. Life changing. I walked to the tube in them, sat on a train for 40 minutes, got off at the other end and they were still exactly where I left them, no slouching down my ankle like a weedy accordion. Fit is way more important than “is this trending this month?” Ask yourself if they pass the ‘actually living your life wearing them for a day’ test, not if they look good next to a fireplace in a flat lay. Own enough boot props and you’ll know the difference.
Where your leg meets the top of the boot is another bit nobody talks about enough either. If it hits you mid thigh on a short torso you’ve suddenly created three areas of leg that don’t speak to each other visually and it ends up looking chopped up rather than long. My tops of boots hit just above the knee because I’m only 5 foot four, anything lower and my leg looks like it’s suddenly been replaced with someone else’s outfit from the waist down. They might look cool with jeans in the dressing room but try them on with the actual things you want to wear them with. Because how they meet your hem line is where this entire look makes or breaks.
What you’ve got planned is way more important than whatever year it is
The second thing that’ll tell you if you can get away with over the knee boots right now has zero to do with whether someone thinks they’re on trend. It’s what you’ve got planned for the day because a boot that’s amazing for Sunday dinner is a nightmare if you’re running a training session… and believe me I’ve been there thinking I can just not change shoes when moving from one to the other. I kept mine on to run into the gym once to grab a client’s forgotten kit bag and thought ten seconds wouldn’t hurt, I jumped there, I jumped back. By the time I got through the doors my knee was rubbing against the top of the boot screaming like I’d put sandpaper on it. Not all boots need to pass the burpee test, and I’ll openly admit I’ve judged things by this metric when they didn’t need to but these boots – they flex and move when you do. Literally reveal their sins as you’re sitting down or climbing into a car, and because of that I know exactly what they can and can’t do.
They’re amazing if you know you’re going to spend your day sitting down a lot, eating, standing up a lot, drinking at a bar then sitting down. They elevate an outfit with literally zero effort on your part and in that sense are one of the few boots I think actually ‘work’ everything. But throw in dog walking, a commute with actual stairs or any kind of repeated knee bending action and suddenly the ‘is it trendy’ conversation is totally moot. Comfort wins every time. I have a pair that are perfect for one kind of night out and I refuse to wear them anywhere I have to walk more than twenty feet to get from a taxi. Is that being precious? Nope, just me knowing what my boots can handle based on their fabric and fit.
Speaking of fabric, that matters too but maybe not how you think. Stretch suede, or a stretch material blend are leaps and bounds better for wearing all day than you’d think because they move with your leg, not against it. Every time I sit, my newest pair roll with me. No pulling them down, nothing. I’ve worn them and actually mean worn them – shopping, out for hours, in and out of chairs, up and down friends’ stairs – and they’ve never once gone twisted at the ankle or required adjustment. If a boot passes that test it’s gold. Fits me like a dream and proves to me they deserve a spot in my 20twenty-five rotation, not because everyone else is saying they should but because I know they’ll work for me. So no mate. Those boots were not a cliché. They were never asking the right questions.
