Let’s kick 2020 into touch!
Women’s shoes are no longer simply weapons of mass seduction, but weapons of combat too. So, there we are: it’ll soon be the final curtain, and winter is here at last, with its shortening days, its rain and cold. It seems so much worse this year with all the Covid restrictions, the curfews, the lockdowns and lots of other fun new things ;) But we’re not really here to talk about all that. We’d much rather talk about our latest fashion infatuation for the end of the year: BOOTS!
Boots: weapons of mass desirability for the contemporary girl about town
Bottes hautes, boots, bottes de pluie et chunky boot, même combat… À défaut de s’enfoncer dans la boue, les urbaines s’en servent désormais pour battre le pavé. Ultra-confort, tout-terrain, ces bottes représentent aussi une revendication : marcher, au sens politique du terme. Malgré les confinements, 2020 restera l’année de la marche militante, celle des actions et des manifestations en tout genre. Après avoir été assignées à résidence, la marche apparaît comme un besoin irrépressible de faire bouger les choses pour toutes. Elle n’est plus un self care égocentré mais une manière de s’ancrer dans la réalité, de porter ses idées et de faire résonner la convergence des luttes, plus que jamais. It’s time to stand out... Oui, mais en bottes !
In praise of boots
In the current situation where it’s become more and more difficult to get out for a walk, a hybrid boot has emerged (cue Nancy Sinatra singing “These boots are made for walking”). Forget about children’s colored rubber boots: in 2020 rain boots meet punk to make a fashion splash. The result? Faux leather with ridged soles evoking both a need to reconnect with the earth, and a need to be active and to get your mojo back. Whether it’s with a shirt dress and bare legs for a nerdy activist look, or with skinny leather jeans and a ranger-style nylon bomber jacket, they’ll take us and our big ideas far beyond the end of the road.
The “Wellington Boot” - the It-boot
Seen everywhere in the street and in all its forms in the latest Vanessa Wu collection, the rain boot is also called the “Wellington” in Britain. This is a reference to Arthur Wellesley, the first Duke of Wellington and a senior military official who introduced it into the British aristocracy in the 19th century. From 1840 onwards and from the battle fields of Waterloo to the potato fields, the main characteristic of the rain boot is that it’s made from rubber. Its primary function is being watertight. Championed by the British royal family, and currently highlighted in the new series of The Crown, it also evokes both the charm of the traditional English countryside and the legendary looks of Lady Diana, the most stylish of all princesses. So, why not take it from the fields out into the streets? 2020 has been a year of problems and turning in on ourselves; let's hope 2021 will be the season of liberation and rediscovered audacity.
