The Best Rainboots

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Angie is co-founder of YLF and its resident fashion stylist.

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The Best Rainboots

— by Angie

on April 7, 2012

Right now Style United is featuring my top picks for rain boots. Although we’re in for a sunny Easter weekend here in Seattle, it’s going to rain again next week. Unfortunately, I have to keep weatherproof shoes on hand throughout the year in our neck of the woods.

If rain boots don’t match your outfit, never fear. Wear them to commute through bad weather and swap out to regular footwear when you’ve arrived at your destination. Do you wear rain boots in bad weather? If so, care to share your favourite brand and style?

Footwear

24 comments · Add a comment

kellygirl

Veteran

Great and timely post. I’ve been thinking about adding a rain boot to my shoe capsule. I’ve been using my pleather boots on rainy days but they leave my feet cold and damp. I tried both Hunter and Sperry on at the Rack. You are absolutely right that the Hunter is better for the longer legged. The Sperry fit just right and was uber comfy. I just need to decide on a color/print : )

April 7, 2012 at 9:40 am

Ana

(website)

Veteran

I really want to get a pair of yellow or red Hunter rain boots.

April 7, 2012 at 10:05 am

fashionista

Veteran

This year as per weather forecasters we are having the most rain in our city. Our city is the second heaviest and most rain getting city in Asia. So all my dear loved shoes die in rainy season. So just last weekend after the news, I was thinking of buying a beautiful rain boot for this season but haven’t got the time that much. But after this post my desire has grown too much. So maybe this weekend is the right time for me to buy some rainboots.

And thanks Angie for this so timely and reminder post. YLF has become my to do diary really…..

April 7, 2012 at 9:30 pm

CocoLion

(website)

Veteran

I like LL Bean boots. For me they double as rain and snow boots. Where I live, the rain stops in May or June and starts in October. There is no such thing as warm rain here, even in the Spring. So these are perfect!

http://www.llbean.com/llb/shop.....=Tan/Brown

April 7, 2012 at 11:30 pm

Inge

(website)

Moderator

What a beautiful selection! Even though it rains here a lot, I’ve never owned a pair of rain boots as an adult. I just wear my leather footwear, and that’s always been fine.
As a child I remember many of us had the quintessential bright yellow rain boots, they were very cheerful, but painful too (stiff rubber digging into ankle bones). I bet comfort has improved tons over the years, and I admit those bright coloured super stylish Hunter boots always look very tempting in the stores:-)

April 8, 2012 at 1:12 am

Louise

Veteran

I have some navy Hunters. We don’t very often get torrential downpours which last long enough to bother with wellies, I wear mine on school trips if we go somewhere muddy like the farm or wet like pond dipping. If the rain is in for the day I will wear them to work if I decide to walk and they get a lot of wear on camping holidays x

April 8, 2012 at 1:13 am

Deborah

Veteran

I have black Rivers rain boots and received a pair of animal print rain boots from a friend for Christmas last year. I am really looking forward to wearing them this winter:)

April 8, 2012 at 5:31 am

Enginemom

I wear rainboots/wellies most of the year now that we are living in the damp PNW. I’ve been here 3 years now and I have gone through 4 pairs of wellies so far. I find that they develop “cracks” right at the bending part of the boot. So once they have cracks, they are pretty useless as actual rain boots! I’ve been getting my boots at DSW but I may have to break down and get a quality pair from REI so maybe a pair can last more than a season. I didn’t think that quality would matter in wellies but since I wear them so much, I need to rethink that!

April 8, 2012 at 8:51 am

Tanya

Veteran

Great picks Angie! I have a pair of yellow wedge wellies by Tretorn that I wear when it is very wet that always make me smile.

April 8, 2012 at 9:46 am

Diane

I live in Portland and my rainy winter dog walks have been so much more enjoyable with my Bogs Rider boots. They’re a little heavy, but durable and oh so warm!

April 8, 2012 at 10:14 am

Sunita

Veteran

I haven’t worn rain boots since I was a child living in India….they were an absolute necessity in the monsoon season. I don’t think the DC weather is rainy enough to need rain boots, and I don’t own any. Some of my leather boots are waterproof, but I usually wear leather shoes that I wipe dry as soon as I am out of the rain.

I have been on the lookout for a decent raincoat though…I’d love one with a hood so I can skip an umbrella.

April 8, 2012 at 10:58 am

RunningSue

Active Member

I live in the PNW and have a pair of La Canadienne boots that I wear in bad weather. It is wet here a lot but we don’t typically have downpours like on the east coast. I have been very happy with them and wear them when it is not raining as well. They are basic flat black boots that come up to below the knee. Perfect with skinny jeans.

April 8, 2012 at 11:09 am

Aziraphale

Veteran

The weather in Vancouver is just like the weather in Seattle, only worse. So yes, I certainly wear rain boots quite a bit! I’ve got navy blue Hunters (the classic ones), and white Ilse Jacobsen ones with black laces, which are also pretty neat, although I don’t wear them as much because sometimes they make me feel like I’m leading a marching band. But here they are:

http://www.ilsejacobsen.dk/?pi.....1_10_White

April 8, 2012 at 12:50 pm

Angie

(website)

Fashion Stylist

Great additional suggestions, ladies!

Tanya, I LOVE your yellow wedge Tretorn rain boots.

April 8, 2012 at 1:15 pm

Mia

Veteran

Lots of nice choices. I live in Vancouver and the Hunters don’t fit me. I bought the Michael Kors “Stormy” boot in black and it’s been a winner. I can put my orthotic in it, I get compliments every time i wear them and they can be worn with many different looks as they have a bit of a moto vibe. I don’t have an edgy style but they add a little zing to the basic peacoat, trench, puffy etc. Zappos is showing stock and the price point is like the Hunter. An alternative.

April 8, 2012 at 5:47 pm

Briar

Active Member

It rains just enough where I live to make dog walking in the rain a chore. I first tried the Hunter “original tall” and they were too snug around the calf. (I’m’ petite with 15″ calf). The Hunter original short” fit perfectly because they hit below the calf. I also found the Hunter “Huntress” style is good for large calf, but this style is also large around the ankle, so not as streamlined to my eye. This brand is seriously as comfortable as wearing tennis shoes and they don’t smell rubbery like some of the low priced boots I tried. The money was well worth it for the comfort. I wound up wearing these more than I thought I would during our mild, but wet winter. Kind of looking forward to April showers!

April 8, 2012 at 7:06 pm

Jilly

Active Member

I helped my mom pick out a bunch of cute rainboots for the family a year ago February. All the girls got them as Christmas gifts, so I wore mine for the first time this winter. The boots are by The Sak, and they have a fun, mostly black and white print. I get compliments every time I wear them, and they are so comfortable I can do my hard walking in them – at least along the grassy pathway near our house The weather’s getting a little too warm for them now in Texas, but I’ve made the most of the time I’ve been able to wear them!

April 8, 2012 at 7:08 pm

Sihaya

Veteran

I have 2 pairs. I like the Hunters for both their quality and looks but find them hard to take off. I also have a patent red set of Cole Haan rain boots and I love them especially since they’re a bright spot of color on a rainy day.

April 9, 2012 at 5:19 am

Jjsloane

Veteran

I love rainboots but get little ocassion to wear them. I have Black Kamiks that I use for gardening and mucking out the flooded basement and treated myself to Hunter Regents in glossy brown, but sadly they are too tight on the top of my foot so I’m trying to sell them. I bought a great pair of glossy black Dav boots that are really comfortable (I wore them on the DC Meetup recently) so I think I”m set for now. I indulge by buying my kids cute ones (my favorites have red lobsters on navy that both my kids wore).

April 9, 2012 at 5:25 am

Vicki

(website)

Veteran

It doesn’t rain here in Southern California very often, yet your Style United article offers some stylish ways to weather the rain. I used to have green Hunters a number of years ago and if my ankle-length quilted suede Aquatalia boots weren’t in my closet, I’d be giving the Burberry boots a closer look. Are they as comfortable as some of the others? Thanks, Angie, for the list of best rain gear for those of us who want fashionable, dry feet!

April 9, 2012 at 8:23 am

M-C

I think rain boots are only required to wade through hip-deep mud. For city life, I find Crocs flats best for non-winter rainwear. They look fine for work, and my feet dry in 5mn after I get to work.

April 9, 2012 at 9:57 am

Refugee

Veteran

last fall I got the first pair of rain boots I’d had since I was a child. I got these:
http://www.zappos.com/lauren-b.....nalReviews and I love them. These are definitely best for those of us with a mid to narrow calf. I’ve found these are not only great for when it rains but came in very handy during those first warm days when we got big snow melts. It’s great to have something that I can just rinse off after being out in the wet-salt-sand-runoff muck. Now I don;t have to worry about cleaning all that stuff off of my nice shoes.

April 9, 2012 at 12:59 pm

Lisa

Veteran

Neat! I have rainboots I wear and swap out of at my destination. Eventually I want to upgrade them.

April 9, 2012 at 1:39 pm

Victoria

I practically collect L.L. Bean wellies. They’re extraordinarily comfortable, super durable, and they come in really cute new prints every year. I also am a Mainer born and bred so I may be slightly biased, but I have three pairs that I wear in wet and dry weather and I get compliments on them all the time.

September 10, 2012 at 9:04 am

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