1.07.2009

Rain(boots), Rain(boots) Go Away!


I don't know about where you guys are, but here in NYC it's a gloomy rainy day. Personally, I like the rain. Especially on days like today - don't have anywhere to be, can stay at home, watch Weeds, write and work on my shirts (yeah, I'm designing shirts now, y'all) and drink a smoothie. It's when I have to go out in this weather that I take issue with it. Luckily I finally got the Sorel's...I'm set for rain, snow, wind, avalanches...you name it. I'll admit, they're not the most feminine of rain boots, but really, rain boots are rain boots...should they really be that feminine?

Here in New York City you see it all. Women will go to great lengths to be "fashionable", but the majority of us know that living in an on-the-move city like this requires practicality as well. For instance, women in midtown can be seen on the way to work carrying their $400 heels in their $600 totes, running across the street in their beat up Nike running shoes...nothing worse than breaking a heel or scuffing a pointy toe. There's a similar issue when it comes to winter coats. New York winter is effing freezing, yet we can't just throw on a bigass bubble jacket and call it a day. A woman needs to have a defined waist, can't be too long because it'll make your legs look 6 inches long, and can't be too short because it will distort your hips. But damn!! A girl's gotta stay warm right? So, I can somewhat sympathize with the business woman and her "commuter shoes", and I can definitely sympathize with the jacket issue. I absolutely cannot sympathize with women who try to reconcile fashion and practicality when it comes to the rain boot.

Let me show you some examples of no-no's that I've been seeing around:

The Marc Jacobs Patent Rain Boot ($900)...Marc you know I love you but you're doing me real durrty here.

Paul Smith Swirl Rubber Rain Boot - You can get these puppies at Neiman Marcus for a cool $115...matching umbrella for sale as well.

Dr. Scholl's Original Women's Aquarius Rain Boot - vomit.

Ok? Are you starting to feel me on this? Whatever happened to the good old days of plain black rubber or little yellow ducks or stripes or polka dots? I suppose they disappeared along with our innocence when we moved to the big bad city. At least now I have one more excuse to stay inside in this weather...it's warm and dry inside, I have a Weeds marathon to get to on Netflix, must attend to the shirts, and I cannot be exposed to any more terrible rain footwear or else I might be forced to return to the suburbs.


'prece.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

I think you would really like the rain boots and coordinating accessories of däv: www.davrain.com. They price point is very reasonable, especially compared to high-end designer brands. Also, they have a ton of designs and styles. It's worth checking out.

Anonymous said...

I don't think you would be saying that if you had short legs, like myself, lol.... every time it rains, I pretty much can't go anywhere nice because I didn't discover high heeled rain boots til today. I'm gonna go out and buy some right now.

R. said...

Amusing...

L-Train said...

I don't understand... these rain boots are starting their own genre in fashion, combining form with function instead of only being for schlepping around at the farm.

Now, I am a farm girl and I love original Hunter rain boots because they reliably get the job done and the cow shit rinses off real nice but I wouldn't be caught dead wearing them downtown... which is pretty brutal place to walk when it snows and every drainage is clogged with ice.

"Little yellow ducks or stripes or polka dots" are kind of worse looking to me than these hybridized styles. The fashion faux pas is on par with Uggs (Ug- When are those going to die like Birkenstocks did?) or maybe wearing PJs in public.

Striped Gardner said...

i actually did a google image search of rainboots and clicked on the black high heel one to see where i can buy it at. The thing is that I am a business professional that does most of my work outside. I need something that still looks like a business casual shoe but rainproof. I understand that this may not be for you but what else would you suggest?

Mihal said...

@likeasafteypin: I think Hunter makes some great - not overthetop - rainboots for men and women. Check this out: http://usa.hunter-boot.com/shop/womens/footwear/regent-riding-equestrian