As a fan of all things pretty, high-heeled shoes have always topped my lists of must-have’s. Even with some painful reminders of how beautiful does not usually correspond with comfortable, they have and always will be treasured items in a woman’s wardrobe. With the cold brought in, the strapped heels and the platforms fly high onto the ‘summer’ shelves, where they gather dust until the first day of spring, while boots make their comeback. Because boots have far more material than the average strapped heel, it should also mean that they have a far bigger area for design. Which is obviously not true, because winter by winter, more horse riding boots come out of high street shops than probably anything else at that time!
So why do people insist on wearing riding shoes rather than wearing something different, unique…? It is very much connected to comfort and practicality, and since practical can mean sporty, it is automatically assumed to be so. So riding clothes come into fashion. As well as the uniforms of schoolchildren, tennis, water polo and golf players which are all other important examples of the features of fashion, their work is far more commercial than for just ‘being stylish’. Creators such as Rene Lacoste, Ralph Lauren or Stella McCartney all designed for sportswear brands, but their work has passed onto the pret-a-porter side of fashion too. Indeed, it is Stella who actually decided to make a mix of sportswear and casual wear to bring out the woman’s most natural appeal.
Not doing badly in the high fashion business, Stella managed to secure what she wanted. Does this mean that even riding boots can become a trend? Unfortunately, the answer for me is still no. As much as I appreciate the class that horse riding has, I do not think it’s right to mix this kind of sport with fashion.
And so, I conclude that I prefer these kinds of shoes much more. Strapped, but with quite thick, in a lovely wintery colour. Whose are they…?
STYLION 