Boot Trend Tips & Advice
Q. Are over the knee boots… over the top?
I was boot shopping the other day, and the salesperson and I got to talking about the appropriateness of boots and skirts/dresses as office wear, particularly since many of the new fashion styles are actually over-the-knee. “I know just who to ask,” I said.
As a corporate image consultant, maybe you’d like to blog about this (and in the process answer our burning question): Are boots and skirts/sweater dresses appropriate office wear, and what’s the verdict on over-the-knee boots for business?
A. Early Adopter Advice
Ah boots… this is a topic that has been cropping up a lot in my business image seminars this fall.
My advice is that over the knee boots are generally not business appropriate unless they are worn with a longer skirt (below the knee) in which case you wouldn’t see the top. With any new fashion trend you have to be aware of the early adopter syndrome.
The early adopter syndrome
When you adopt a fashion trend at its early stages you run into a bit of a conundrum in business wear.
Because our eye and brain have not become accustomed to seeing the trend widely adopted, people who don’t follow fashion (predominantly men but also many women) mentally process your clothing choices referentially.
First thing that comes to mind
In other words, the image of you wearing the new fashion is subconsciously related back to any previous associations with that look. With over the knee boots the most common association involves street walking, (picture Julia Roberts in Pretty Woman) not a connotation most of us want to embody at the office (unless your business does involve street walking).
These boots are made for walking… at the office
In our Canadian and northern US climate, boots are a necessity and ‘tasteful’ boots, those that stop just under the knee, are most business appropriate. Just be aware that all boots project a more creative/relaxed look. (For a blast from the past click here to see and hear Nancy Sinatra singing These Boots Are Made for Walking – warning – contains very short dresses and one of Terry’s favorite lyric lines “You keep lying when you oughta be truthing”
Joanne,
I really enjoyed your presentation to U of A alumni last week. Could you please send me your list of labels/shops for professional clothing for different shapes?
Thanks,
Shannon MacDonald