Fall 2014: Men’s Boot Essentials
With the cooler seasons comes the cooler weather, and sometimes its not the most pleasant. As a result this time of year we look to our closets for the thick wool coats, layers of warm shirts, the tucked away long johns, and some good ol’ boots. With all the different outfits you have to choose from it can sometimes be a bit tricky to find what boots to wear for the day. I always like to think of what shoes your going to wear first before selecting the rest of the outfit, but that’s just a personal preference. Why not start from the bottom up? Anyways, I’ve gathered up what I believe to be some of the most essential of boot styles for your creative shoe wardrobe and style preferences I’d categorize them under. Here are the Fall 2014: Men’s Boot Essentials.
Chelsea Boots – Dress casual
The British man’s favorite style of choice when it comes to boots. What they may call the “Beatle” shoe, most guys here will know it as your classic Chelsea style boot. The most noticeable and distinguishable feature of the boot being the elastic strap on the side. As you’ll see when scanning through different shopping sites, the shoes is built with an ease-of-comfort slip on in mind, but will differ especially in the style of the elastic band. You will notice the rounded, angled, thin cut designs all with their little niche feature. In my mind the wider the elastic band the less dressy the boot becomes. The boot will usually become more round toed, resulting in a wider toe box that will end up looking more like a work boot than for the dress casual style this boot is intended for.  Going for a dressier look? Look to something with a less-gappy looking stretch band and something with a better looking toe. You’ll find it dressy as well with some nice jeans or tailored suit pants.
Wingtip Boots – Dress
Wingtips. They’re back with a fury this year and the classy trend continues into the fall/winter season as well. This time just placing all the fancy dazzle onto a nice leather boot. The design is a statement itself on whatever style of leather boot you find the grooving cut into, its just a matter of finding the one that fits your personality and style. Something all these boot styes should encompass around. With a wingtip boot you will definitely find yourself on the dressier side yet it can be dressed down if needed. Don’t let the fancy cuts go to waste though, find outfits that compliment the shoes and of course give the wingtips the attention they deserve. Once again dressy jeans and some nicely fitted slacks will make the details pop out as they rightly should.
Allen Edmonds Dalton Boot Image Via: Allenedmonds.com
 Chukka Boot – Casual
A good boot just to kick around as an everyday shoe. Built originally by Egyptian cobblers for British soldiers in Africa, the design has since evolved quite a bit. Most people will consider the Desert Boot and Chukka Boot the same shoe. I beg to differ in that most Desert Boots these days tend to have more eyelets than Chukkas. Most Chukkas will only hair a pair or three eyelets giving it the authentic look that it originated from. Built plenty of space in mind and a shoe that you could easily wear for an entire day, the Chukka looks great in chinos and casual jeans. Get creative with it.
Winter Tough Boots – Heavy Weather All Occassion
And we’re finally to the tough guy and the last part of the Fall 2014: Men’s Boot Essentials. This is the one you need when that fury of a snow storm slams down at the city. The soft leather and suede options of earlier won’t come as handy in these situations, unless your just asking to ruin them so you have an excuse for a new pair. With a winter tough boot your looking at something thats a Vibram sole, waterproof, a thick in-liner, and something that will just keep your feet warm in those below freezing temperatures. These guys may not look at flashy on the streets, but when you need your tough boot you have a a strong reason to wear em out.
Hopefully this post (Fall 2014: Men’s Boot Essentials) helps gives you some idea of the different boots available out there and some styles to look for next time your out shoe shopping. These are the essential styles to have and of course in trend, so see what boots you discover and find what works for you. As you know…You can never have enough shoes.
