My fascination with boots and my preference for them over regular shoes has been with me for over 30 years.  To be entirely honest, I just like the feel and the look of boots better than shoes.  Call it ‘vanity’ if you will, but I feel better wearing boots.

Snugging up the laces on a pair of shoes over my somewhat pronounced bridge that goes with my high arches has always been a little uncomfortable.  there is a vein that runs along the top of my feet that gets constricted and affects the circulation in my feet.  I’ve also discovered that I  like to be able to control the ‘snugness’ around the ankles while being able to be more flexible with the tightness of the laces over the bridge of my foot.  I used to suggest that they were more comfortable because of  high arches.

I discovered the flexibility of lace up boots when I was enrolled in army cadets.  My own first real choice in a lace up boots were a pair of tan coloured Kodiak work boots.  I needed them for a summer job at the end of high school that was funding my university education.    I got away with wearing them, or a variation of them for most of my university career until I discovered Frye Campus boots.  I was given a pair of Frye ‘sunrise’ campus boots by a fascinating young woman.  They eventually wore out as did my relationship with the young woman, in spite of my semi annual trip to the cobbler to get rubber soles and new heels added. Unfortunately, you can’t add rubber soles and new heels to relationships, no matter how had you try.  At that age, we were both growing as people and sometimes, no matter how hard you try, you just don’t grow together.  There was an element of distance and geography that also got in the way.

I eventually moved on to a black dance boot al a Ukrainian dancer, Doc Marten’s and then discovered ropers, those enigmatic lace up boots designed for, and worn as stable boots for working in and around livestock.  The term ‘ropers’ comes from the thought that they were to be worn in the paddock while trying to get a line on a horse and get the beast back into the barn.  In fact, I’m wearing Ariat brand ropers while I sit at my desk pecking away at the keyboard to write this.  I have worn them as regular daily footwear, and for semi-formal dress, and surprisingly successfully with my dress kilt.  I’ve gotten a lot of compliments and comments about them, but only one person knew, without prompting, what they were.  And that was because her husband does the same thing I do; wears ropers instead of shoes.

I was gifted with a new pair of sunrise coloured Frye campus boots for this past Christmas, and at the time circumstances prevented me from truly embracing them, now I am finally wearing them. 

I had to have the toe box on one foot stretched a bit. They are a bit flashy, maybe a bit too flashy to wear to work everyday.  They just wouldn’t fit in with the culture at the office I work in these days.  In fact, nothing that resembles a pair of cowboy boots has been seen worn by anyone on the floor.  Its a bit sad, that of the 150 people who work in our division, I am the only one who finds it appropriate and even just a wee bit of fun to wear a sport jacket, white shirt and tie to work every day. Even our ‘casual Fridays’ I punctuate with a jacket, white shirt and a funky tie with my jeans.   I am considering ‘stepping it up’ by wearing my sunrise boots on those casual Fridays. To be truthful, the boots themselves are all about nostalgia.  I’ve been trying to find a pair for the past couple of years, as some of my more skeptical friends can attest to.  And no, a regular pair of cowboy boots just wouldn’t do.  They are not the same thing.

Yes, I’m very fond of my Frye sunrise campus boots.

Quite honestly, if it weren’t for the cost, I would have several more pairs of Frye boots in various styles.

I’ve even considered ordering a pair of their leather high top sneakers.  😉   and  the thought of having a pair of leather Frye sneakers as yet another of my fashion accessories makes me smile.

And these days, I need the smiles.

Inthat thought there just may be kernel of an idea for a Christmas present I might send to myself, although I have to laugh, because the sneakers would also make a lovely birthday gift for a woman I know who has a ‘thing’ for fun sneakers.

Yes, as I mentioned at the beginning of this post, there is an odd little bit of vanity in all this, just as there is in the messenger bag I prefer…

Maybe I’ll have to share all the little brands I like to work with, and wear.  Could you handle that?

😉