Nothing like tan boots to turn the aged knees white. Going out on a limb here with an actual fall lewk, but it is cool this morning. And boots are so easy. You just put them on! That's it! Over whatever socks!
I bought these for my birthday last year and have worn and worn them. They are not any kind of fine or investment or ethical item, just $40 boots I found on Amazon. They are, however, comfortable and warm, because they have a faux-fur lining which I'll probably be dying to get out of once Mass is over, but I can live with it that long, I think. In January it's a blessed thing.
I went with a tan boot after watching this video. Now that I've been choosing boots and shoes for contrast and framing, I can't imagine wearing them any other way, but at the time, the idea of a tan boot, for what seemed like a deliberate clash rather than blending in, felt pretty edgy to me.
What I thought I needed at the time was a pair of gray boots, because most of my winter wardrobe involves gray. Now, I don't necessarily think I don't need gray boots. Well, to be honest, what do I need? Not nearly as much as I have, that's the answer. Anyway, I guess a better way to frame the question would be: given that I was going to buy one pair of boots for the season, what color would serve me best?
Again, if you'd asked me this time last year, I'd have said that gray boots would serve me best. But I wound up buying these tan/camel boots, because once I had it in my sights at all, the idea of contrast and interest appealed to me. As it turns out, this tan/camel/caramel/whatever you really want to call this shade of brown, pops beautifully against grays of various tonalities, against blues of various tonalities, against creams and oatmeals and pure whites, against greens. It even works with pinks. And if I wear it with, say, my dark-brown cardigans, it keeps my leg/foot from repeating colors elsewhere in my outfit.
Now, none of this is an ironclad rule. I am not making a solemn vow before God never to wear shoes that repeat a color in my outfit. In fact, truly, I probably will do just that this fall, because I have these dark-brown Birk Madeiras, and I have these dark-brown cardigans, and I'm fairly sure that it will happen that I want to wear them together and tell the rule to suck eggs. BUT as a principle for creating an interesting outfit without actually trying hard to do that (it took me five minutes to dress this morning, and now I'm sitting around waiting for my ride to finish getting ready), it's a good one. And it's helpful when you're picking an outfit element that you know you're going to want to wear a lot through a season. Rather than thinking about what it's going to match, it's very freeing to think about how you're going to create interesting contrasts instead.
In this case, the boots are orange-toned, and orange, like yellow, is opposite blue on the color wheel. I forget whether that means it's a complement or not. Anyway, this color works exceptionally well with blues. I wore it a lot with navies last year, and I'm liking it here with the dusty-blue Camellia.
My other outfit element is this thrifted nubby gray jacket thing. I had pulled it out yesterday, and though I didn't wear it for our hike (though I could have; the hike was really more of a leisurely stroll around the battleground), it was in my mind. I've had it for three or four years and not worn it nearly enough. It's a nice cardigan weight, but with a tiny bit more structure than a cardigan: good for this transitional-season weather. No idea what the fabric is: some cotton blend, I imagine. The nubby texture with its flecks of gray and white provides some pattern and interest.
So . . . dum de dum, still about twenty minutes before we're out the door . . . I like this . . .
Ah, I hear noises indicating that the time of readiness is nearly upon us, and the one thing I haven't done yet is brush my teeth.