Blogging 'bout Boots

Anyone who knows me knows that I love boots: more than sandals, more than flip flops, more than even the trendiest slip-on shoe!  In the past, I have been known to sport some funky styles of boots.  I have no regrets about that.  Boots are fun, they are easy to wear, and they are usually comfortable.  Plus, when you are not happy with the number on your scale, boots are the best accessory to spruce up an outfit no matter how tight your jeans may feel.

This post is about the trends in boots this year.  There are so many trends that I doubt I will cover them all.  So if I miss one or two, be sure to let me know.  I will be happy to add to this post.

I will start with the biggest trend that I have seen everywhere, and that is the bootie.  Last year, I decided I needed a pair of short boots, so I bought these below:

They are bp from Nordstorm, and they are very comfortable.  This year at the Nordstrom Anniversary Sale, I decided to purchase a black bootie because I wanted something more sleek that would go better with dresses and tights.  In case you are confused:  the boots above, I call a short boot, and the more narrow ones below I call a bootie.  I am not sure if that is the technical definition, but this terminology seems to suit my purposes.

Anyway, these above are the Sam Edelman Pippen, which I have found very comfortable so far.  My girlfriend, Lindsay, made the same purchase as me on the Pippen, and she is of the same opinion.  On me, they ran a half size smaller than my regular size.

I visited some shoe boutiques in Highland Park, Illinois to get pictures of boot styles for this post.  These boots below are some of my favorites:

These two pairs are from Lori's in Highland Park, and I love this style with the brown straps on a black bootie:

I saw a similar looking shoe at Target, also very cute:

If you need a bootie for going out, this one from Shoe Fly in Highland Park is adorable.  The pointed toe and skinny heel are both trends in shoes for 2013.

Another trend in shoes and clothing is animal print.  I am seeing it everywhere.  Until last year, there was no way I would ever wear any kind of animal print, even though my youngest loves cheetah print (especially in blue).  Last year while shopping at Hot Mama, a salesperson brought me out of my box, and I bought a cheetah printed blouse.  Now, I am kind of into this animal printed thing, but in moderation.  Check out these subtle black calf hair booties from Nordstrom.  They are the Mani by Dolce Vita. These also have the "flat ankle"style, which the October 2013 issue of People StyleWatch, cites as a big trend for this fall.

The next big trend I have seen everywhere is Frye Boots.  Nordstrom has them.  Last week, I posted about some from Footloose in Deerfield, Illinois.

This is a cute black pair form Lori's.

There are so many styles of Frye to chose from.  You cannot go wrong.

A big brand I happened to stumble upon, and then found carried by a bunch of stores is bed stu.  There are tons of bed stu shoes out there.  They are edgy and trendy.  

Take a look at the selection carried by the the Bootery in Highland Park:

I like the distressed leather look, and really liked these bed stus at Lori's:

Another big trend is the wedge heel.  I love this style for dressing up an outfit. But the shoe must be comfortable, too.  I have found that many of these are comfortable, as well as fashionable.  These two styles below from Shoe Fly are adorable.  The brand is OTBT, and OTBT makes a super comfortable shoe.

A huge trend that I have seen all over the fashion magazines is over the knee boots.  Check out these from Lori's:

If you looked in my closet, you would notice that I have a special affection for unique styles of UGG boots .  UGGS are the old standby for many moms, and that's okay because I think they are always cute, always warm and always comfortable.  You just have to mix it up a bit with other boot styles.  I've seen some really fashionable and different types of UGGs this year.  I found these at T.J. Maxx for $129.99.  

The Bootery had these two cute styles:

Another big trend in boots, according to People StyleWatch (October 2013) is the stacked heel.  I found these at my local DSW store:

The boots above are by Crown Vintage and those below are by Franco Sarto.

I just wanted to add that this style below was super cute and reasonably priced around $60 at DSW.  It is by Crown Vintage:

Other big trends in boots follow the trends in clothing like moto inspired, studs, camouflage print and quilting.  Burgundy is also a big color for booties.  Check out these cute quilted boots (left picture) and  studded boots (right picture) both from Shoe Fly.