Tuesday Shoe Review is a new recurring feature here at My Brilliant Mistakes. I spend an inordinate amount of time trying, buying, comparing, and of course wearing shoes. In itself that might not be reason enough to blog about them, but I suspect I’m not alone in this obsession. In Tuesday Shoe Review we discuss shoes you should buy, shoes you shouldn’t buy, and shoes you might wish you could buy but you can’t because they are mine, mine, mine.
I’ve heard it said that there’s no such thing as bad weather, only bad clothing. I’ve been leaving the car home and walking to work more lately, so I needed some snow-worthy footwear to keep my toes warm and dry and my feet slip-proof.
These are the boots I bought a few months back: KEEN Winthrop Boots. I chose a red-brown color that the company calls “Madder Brown,” which coordinates well with browns, blues, greens, everything. I like them equally well with pants and with skirts. The upper is leather and boiled wool — the wool is in back — and the sole has a hearty tread that holds steady on ice. I’ve trudged through two-foot-deep snow and trotted across pools of icy water, and throughout my feet stayed as toasty-roasty and dry as if I were wearing socks and sitting by a fireplace.
And comfortable! Wearing them is like wearing cushy slippers all day. I have a strict rule not to wear the same pair of shoes two days in a row: Shoes need at least 24 hours to dry out after you’ve worn them to discourage the growth of bacteria (smelly and destructive to the shoe), plus I find my feet hurt less at the end of the day if I vary heel heights and footbed shapes through the week. These boots are so terrifically comfortable that I have broken my no-repeats rule twice in the past two months — one week I wore the boots four days in a row! I tell you, this time it’s love.
The boots are so warm they are suited only to cold weather. Once the temperature rises above 60F I’ll have to pack these away, so I’m already scouting KEEN’s shoes for a warm-weather substitute.
I would like to think that Spring is right around the corner, but in case it is not, you would do well to try out a pair of these boots. Winter will have no power over you again.
I am always looking for good boots. Can you wear this inside as well, or are they strictly an outdoor boot? Either is fine, actually. I need a boot I can get in the snow with when my daughters want to play. If I don’t pick these up now, I will look into them for next year.
When I wear these, I wear them all day, inside and out. If your home is very warm or if you have delicate flooring, then I guess it could be a problem. But as a general thing I think they can be worn everywhere. I wore them to a New Year’s Eve party even. I hope you enjoy them!
Man or woman, winter or spring, finding those better than I’ve usually had shoes certainly can go a long way.
Hi Cindy,
The weather has changed since you posted this but I have to share our younger daughter, Zoon’s, love for footwear.I did not pay much attention to sandals & shoes until Zoonie was twelve or thirteen. I was fine as long as my sandals were comfortable and roughly matched my outfit. But as Zoon blossomed from a teenager into a young woman I observed her keen interest in feet and how she adorned that pair. Her attention to the footwear was as impeccable as her selection of clothing.
When we shop together I observe, with bemused interest, the time she spends buying shoes. Her attention to the comfort, the color, the form, the shape of the footwear seems unheard of that is until I read your entry….
Thanks for sharing,
Madhu