[Yasmin]

waywardgirl boots always do that on my ankles too. I have very narrow ones.

I find that in some cases it does not look good with the boot style and other cases it looks just fine. From the photo, your boots look just fine to me.

[sarah_27]

I am looking for some ankle boots to tuck my skinny jeans into, what do you think to these:

[QuirkyCool]

Quote:

Originally Posted by helena I was thinking of wearing them with black opaque tights & cropped trousers or with a skirt.

They would work just beautifully the way you would like to wear them,Helena....that would make them fun and tongue in cheek .With your style,I don't think you could look old just yet!!

[drel39]

i like those boots, sarah - nice color.. it looks burgundy?

[shoesexy]

Quote:

Originally Posted by helena 'spectators'? what does that mean....? I do cute more than you though....its the colour thing mainly. would they be ok with dark colours? or too standout? I find shoes really hard.... I couldn't possibly wear them to work though....you must overestimate how sartorially liberal it is......that is way too elaborate for work.

Not sure what qualifies as a spectator shoe? The simplest explanation: two-tone oxford shoes. There are plenty of variations of two-tone styles—balmoral, bulcher, and saddle, to name a few—each having to do with the assembly of the shoe (how many pieces of leather, suede, or other materials go into making it), and how each piece is cut and colored. A spectator can also feature broguing, the perforations that adorn a shoe along the stitching or as purely decorative patterning on the toe. The most traditional style of spectator shoe is assembled from pieces of black or brown leather at the toe cap, back quarter, and instep, with white and sometimes tan suede or buckskin at the front (also called the vamp) and sides. This color scheme can also be reversed, with the lighter pieces at the toes and back quarter, and a saddle-shaped piece of contrasting, darker leather at the front and sides, though technically speaking, the latter are more correctly known as saddle oxfords.

Like most fashion dictates of more rigid days, however—days when men wouldn’t dream of wearing a hat indoors and women wouldn’t be caught dead with their lingerie showing—these seasonal restrictions seems to have fallen by the wayside. Today, catch a man walking down the street in two tone shoes, regardless of season, and people generally think, “Oh, swing.” In the last ten years, the two-tone spectator shoe has become inextricably connected with swing and swing dancers. There are a few obvious reasons why this would be so—after all, the fashion for two-tone shoes hit its peak during the 1920s and ’30s, a time when swing music and the large dance bands were reaching their heyday. “This season, more two-tone oxfords than ever before are being sold,” reads the copy for a snappy pair of spectator shoes in the 1928/1929 Sears, Roebuck, and Co. catalog, before insisting that they are a necessary part of the well-dressed male’s casual or sports wear.

Nevertheless, the history of the two-tone shoe reaches back into the late 1800s, when the properly dressed gentleman was never without spats or gaiters to protect the wearer’s calves and ankles from the daily grime of the street. One theory, according to Laird Borrelli, fashion writer for Vogue.com and co-curator of Shoes: A Lexicon of Style, is that the contrasting look of white spats against the leather shoes and dark trouser cuff became incorporated into the shoe itself. On a more utilitarian note, says New York-based fashion stylist and retro-clothing enthusiast Chad Kincaid, darker tones on the toe caps and backs of the shoes would protect the wearer’s shoes from grass stains—specifically grass stains that a spectator at the races or a golfer might otherwise expect to incur if wearing the white summer dress shoes fashionable in the first-part of the 1900s.

This sporty aesthetic is one connotation of the spectator shoe; the well-turned out male of the Prohibition Era was all about sleek, art-deco lines and jaunty, stylized casual wear, as popularized by Prince Edward of Wales. The Prince of Wales, who wore spectators while golfing, was internationally revered as a man of style. His fashion choices, according to Farid Cheneoure in A History of Men’s Fashion, were quickly emulated by rich kids on the campuses of Ivy League schools throughout the United States.

[Echoes]

These are from Pleaser Shoes. Not necessarily the highest quality shoe, but affordable [around $50].

The point is to show a variety of "Spectator" styles.

.

[Bonchic]

not sure about the shiny leather..

[Curious]

Wonder what they mean by 'pleaser'?

[chieuhotay]

What do u think about these bcbg boots?

[Bonchic]

I'm not wild about the top part of the boot

[Guessgirl96]

Same, I'd say nay. Go for some classic riding boots without the turcoise detail

[|PerfectTonight|]

I say Yay to the boots but be careful with the clothing (preferably darker colors with jeans) .

[Taylour72]

ewww nay, there just tacking looking. Like something you'd get at the thrift store.

[Taylour72]

oh god i love these thought there so 'Alice in wonderland' chic

[chieuhotay]

thank you all...i really dont like the turcoise either. I just like the shape of these boots...but i guess i will pass.