’Tis the season to unpack your cold-weather wardrobe. Shoe-wise, this means saying so long to sandals and flip-flops – boots weather has arrived. But, the still-mild UK temperatures aren’t primed for rigid knee-highs quite yet, which means that slouchy boots that don’t cling to your leg are your best bet.
Inspired by those peddled by It-girls, including Kate Moss and Sienna Miller, in the Noughties, this season’s louche boots are inherently nostalgic, especially those made from suede or decorated with buckles. When styled with classic pieces, though, they can look a little less on-the-nose – unless, of course, you want to lean into the full, free-spirited mood.
The appetite for boho boots has triggered a renewed interest in Vivienne Westwood’s famous Pirate boots, originally designed in the ’80s but endorsed by multiple stars in the 2000s. They featured in Westwood’s first runway show, Pirate, in the autumn/winter 1981 season, styled with smock shirts and admiral hats. “Malcolm and I didn’t want to be seen as token rebels,” the designer later said of that collection. “We wanted to get off this island and plunder the world, like pirates.”
More recent runway takes on slouchy boots have leant less into a swashbuckling Jack Sparrow or Three Musketeers, and more into contemporary tropes. Michael Rider’s takes at Celine came in ankle and knee-high proportions, paired with trousers and palazzos that gave a good view of the boots.
And while slouchy boots are boho by nature, minimalists could even be tempted by Look 22 from The Row’s Resort 2027 collection, which was comprised of an appliquéd black wool coat with a built-in cape and cropped trousers, complete with a loose-fitting iteration of the label’s cult sock boots.
Another brand that will always be aligned with this style of boot is boho pioneer Isabel Marant. Last summer, Vogue declared that “Isabel Marant feels so right for now,” noting the ubiquity of the brand’s ready-to-wear at the time, and the fact that the wedge sneaker saw a 1,580 per cent spike in searches on eBay year on year. And the sentiment still stands: suede boho boots that look like they have been squished are another Marant signature, which creative director Kim Bekker has recently explored in new ways with buckles, tie details and beaded embellishments in her mainline collections.
Beyond dress and skirt pairings, slouchy boots also lend themselves to the Noughties boot tuck, which percolated through the street-style scene early last year, and has since been championed on London’s streets. “I’m living by my own mantra that skinny jeans walked so jeans in boots could run,” Vogue’s Julia Hobbs previously explained. “What started as a tongue-in-cheek take on 2010s ‘date-night dressing’ has become my everyday uniform.” And any of these slouchy boots, wherever they fall on the pirate scale, can happily house a pair of drainpipes. Ahoy indeed.
