Clumpy Boots - YouLookFab Forum

hereforthecake

My answer to this is... It depends.

Depends on the type of skirt, colour of boots, fabric of skirt, what's on the legs...

I've trained my eye to like a lot of fashionable things, but sometimes I have to say what my son said as a toddler: "I can't like that"

4 years ago

Jenni NZ

Veteran

Well, I’m mainly with you, but I feel probably both of us are being somewhat old-fashioned
I’m OK with that, it’s my preferences showing.

4 years ago

Brooklyn

Veteran

I like it a lot. I sometimes baulk at doing it myself because I have really big feet and calves. But I admire the look on others. It’s practical too.

Until recently I struggled with the sneakers and skirt look. But now I’m adjusting to that too.

Perhaps you are just not a fan of juxtaposition?

4 years ago

Kathie

Veteran

It might be old-fashioned, but, it’s fine for you to enjoy some things and not others. Personally, I’ve never enjoyed stompy/clumpy boots, but, I love the chunky sole on my Danskos and Fly Londons. As Angie mentioned in her trend reports, doing-your-own-thing is trendy, so it’s all good.

4 years ago

cindysmith

Veteran

I love the juxtaposition of the raw, hard, aggressive edge of a combat boot against the soft femininity of a tutu or a dress with a delicate floral pattern. That's just me, and I didn't learn it from my mama, who would absolutely agree with you on the subject

I guess I see it that way because I don't see things in black and white; I see it in shades of grey. Or maybe that's inaccurate. Maybe it's that I see that nothing is strictly this or strictly that; maybe I see that there is a little bit of good in every bad day, or there are no perfectly good days because there is always something not-good that happens, or maybe it's just that I see the imperfections in everything and have learned to love the imperfection that makes everything perfectly beautiful.

Now, none of that means that I don't enjoy looking at an outfit that consists of a dress and pretty shoes and delicate bag and proper ladylike jewelry. My mom and grandmothers dressed like that, and I still see that as a beautiful thing in spite of my personal preference for the perfectly imperfect

4 years ago

Runcarla

Veteran

I’m a huge fan of juxtaposition in fashion. It is probably my favourite technique for adding currency to my look. Sneakers with a dress or skirt, and a jean jacket with a dress or dressy pants and top combo. Though I personally don’t think I’ll do the elevated flat-form or stompy boot look, I can appreciate (and enjoy) the look on others. I like a more delicate look for my size 9.5s, but honestly it comes down to fear of twisting my ankle or falling since I'm dealing with some gait and balance issues!

Remember, trousers on women, were frowned upon (and even against the law in some places) in the mid 1800’s. The women who challenged the norm and wore them likely did so for reasons beyond comfort and usefulness. I’m sure some women found them avant-guard and fashionable, though the silhouette was likely to be discordant to others.

We all probably have a ‘poison eye’ for something, (or as my son would say ‘it’s not my favourite. ) but for some (many!) things it is a matter of getting past the novelty. I believe it is exposure to different things, including things beyond our comfort zone, that opens us up to the beauty of diversity.

I don’t think you are ‘old-fashioned’ but you might be ‘retro’

4 years ago

nemosmom

Veteran

It's ok not to like everything that's out there and I don't think it makes you old-fashioned at all!

4 years ago

Anonymous

A lot of trends are acquired tastes, that's for sure, I happen to like a chunkier boot with a skirt, for certain occasions , but a classic look of a skirt with sleek leather boots is always in fashion . I think the key to not being *old fashioned* is to keep an open mind.

4 years ago

gryffin

Veteran

Eirlys - I don't think you are old fashioned, I think you are someone who prefers visual harmony. There's a serenity and a rightness when pieces relate to each other in refinement, level of formality and are season and situation appropriate. I am someone who does put chunky boots with very formal pieces and I thought you might find it interesting why I make this choice. I am small, slim approaching 60. As a child my derogatory call name was "dainty." I favor very formal blazers and toppers and a polished, formal and professional look. But for me putting a dainty appropriate shoe with formal pieces can read stiff, old lady, unapproachable. Footwear becomes a "wink and a smile" for me. Yes, I am polished. I am refined. I am formal. But I'm also fun, accepting, engaged, practical and have a bit of a rough and tumble side and a rate edge. I obviously know the rules and am having a blast breaking them. The KS Franny Coat is a slubbed pewter silk with bracelet sleeves and a peter pan collar. It does not get more structored formal and lady like than that and I wear it to work, while most would keep it for very dressy. I ofter pair it with the EF gray silk tunic and black leggings. It would be logical to pair it with pumps, which I own (never too refined) or the EF purl sock booties (yes for religious, formal absolutely) But for work I have worn it with merrell high heel hiking books, my keen glarus hiking boots, my EF chelseas and ariat heritage lacers. It's so obviously a huge juxtapostion it always makes me smile, it's just fun to sometimes deliberately forge a path of your own rather than take the obvious one. It's also super practical because many of these options are weather proof. They are flat and comfortable. I don't know if that makes any sense to you, but that's why I enjoy this juxtaposition. It's kind of yes I'm well over 40 but "I ain't dead yet attitude!"

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4 years ago

KMM

Active Member

I don’t think you are old fashioned. You have certain aesthetic preferences just like we all do.

I’m partial to stompy boots in general. I do like them with a floaty or feminine dress, probably because I was a teenager in the 90s when this look was popular. I wear them with all types of dresses though. For my own person style a substantial shoe makes me feel more balanced and grounded somehow, both visually and within my own body. I like the stability.

Also- sad to say- I stopped wearing shoes that I can’t run in when we started doing active shooter drills at work several years ago.

4 years ago

Aliona

Active Member

I’m an older woman, Eirlys, and it took a LONG time for my eye to adjust to this look—probably the entire decade of the 90s! But I have come to love it, even tried it out myself, though I quickly realised it’s a look I prefer on others. I think much of that has to do with my mum’s complaint about having to pair her skirts and dresses with “safe and solid” footwear. She told me to wear pretty footwear as long as I can!

I am now having this exact same struggle with sneakers paired with the dress/skirt styles you mention. I hope to get past that, too, but my visual reference may be permanently poisoned by the realities of my life as an 80s working woman. That look—chosen for practicality, not fashion—brings back instant memories of grimy underground commutes!

4 years ago

Angie

(website)

Fashion Stylist

Eirlys, the way I see it, you are always allowed - and somewhat entitled - to like what you like, and dislike what you dislike. That’s part of the deal in fashion, design and style. After all, a lot of it is very visual. It has nothing to do with being modern or old fashioned. Beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder and the wearer. And fashion is fickle.

What is important to remember is that your likes and dislikes are very subjective and personal. They are neither right nor wrong. They are what they are. And nobody should be made to feel that their fashion and style choices are any better or worse than yours. They are simply different. We should be aware of these differences - celebrate them and respect them. Most importantly - DYOT.

I wore a floaty and dressy midi with chunky hi-tops this week. Personally, I like the juxtaposition! I wear sneakers with everything too. Love it

4 years ago

Style Fan

Veteran

You have certain tastes. Nothing wrong with that. I don't think someone is 'old fashioned' because they don't like something.
I love with a passion chunky footwear. I always have. And I really love the juxtaposition in fashion and in design when it is done really well.
You won't catch me in pink or florals no matter how trendy they are. Fashion is all about Doing Your Own Thing.

4 years ago

Christina F.

Veteran

We all have personal tastes - it’s fine!

I like the look but I came of age in the 90’s. Also, since I live in NYC my eye adjusts to different looks quickly.

4 years ago

Gigi

Veteran

For me, it depends on a lot of things: how clompy the boots are, the stature of the model, overall proportions, etc. I think I used to be bothered more by the look, but I'm OK with it now (though I would look like a dork if I tried to wear it!).

We all have our personal poison eyes. Although I don't mind clompy boots with a dress, I'm not a fan of sneakers with a dress, and that trend is very popular. To each his own!

4 years ago

Jaime

(website)

Veteran

Well Elaine from Seinfeld was definitely one of my style icons, so stompy boots and ditsy florals will always have a place in my heart - but that is me. Nothing wrong with you being you!

4 years ago

rachylou

Veteran

It’s somewhat an interesting question because I’m thinking the style was born about 40 years ago... meaning liking it is also old fashioned... I have to think about this.

4 years ago

Joy

Veteran

It seems related to wearing Birkies with a floaty frock. It takes awhile for one’s eye to adjust. Just today I had an email from Neiman Marcus pushing chunky boots with frilly dresses as a way to balance out your oversized handbag. The eye would go directly to those boots.

4 years ago

DonnaF

Veteran

I love chunky boots because rigid soles make my problem feet happy. I also have chunky legs so they are proportional. That doesn’t mean I would ever impose my taste on you, and I would (mostly) refrain from wearing them to work since I know they aren’t everyone’ cuppa. But if puddles were really, really deep I would probably wear my ridiculous boots below.

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4 years ago

Echo

Veteran

Ooh, there is little I like more than stompy boots with floaty dresses. The juxtaposition is what I love, and I've had a "thing" for combat-type boots since I had my first pair as a teen (actual combat boots, bought from an army supply store near Harvard Square).

But we all have our preferences. The world would be dull indeed if we all wore and liked the same things.

4 years ago

Sal

Veteran

I love it that we have different tastes. I love a maxi skirt but many don’t. I am not a white boots wearer nor a plaid shirt wearer. In the most part plaid shirts don’t appeal but every now and then someone posts a picture and I think maybe......

I do think mismatched or juxtaposition is very much a look at the moment and it can go wrong.

4 years ago

Bijou

Veteran

An interesting thread and it has been lots of fun reading the responses. I like and wear stompy boots - it takes me back to my teens when wearing Dr Marten boots was seen as a little rebellious. Eirlys, there is a time and place for most things - whilst I may love my Docs it does not mean that I won't swoon over a pretty pump!

4 years ago

Jenni NZ

Veteran

Really Rachy, 40 years ago the stompy boot look was born? Can you give examples? I think I had my first pair in the early 90s and I thought they were from that decade. But maybe, thinking about it, Doc Martens were a punk thing? - 70s? Need to go look up my “50 Shoes That Changed The World” book maybe...

4 years ago

rachylou

Veteran

Oh gosh. It’s conceivable I have some pics from the 80s of Kings Road somewhere in the basement, lol. When punk segued into what my dad called Boutique Punk in the 80s, I remember that’s when I started seeing DMs and skirts as a thing. Big poofy 50s skirts/dresses back then, because that’s what you got in the vintage shops.

4 years ago

Stagiaire Fash

Veteran

Doesn't sound old-fashioned to me at all. Girls did it back then, but I am quite certain that there are young girls now doing the very same thing with pride; it's completely timeless. Knowing what's on trend and letting others know, unbidden, that their appearance doesn't meet your approval, and expecting everyone's taste to match your own is classic. But that doesn't make it classy. It's a very different thing from responding when someone asks you "what do you think of my shoes?" in which case I think it's most helpful to be clear and honest. Were you asking for opinions in posting this? Here's mine: deciding you are the arbiter of fashion, and making pronouncements on how "right" what someone else is wearing is, perhaps using this to raise your own worth, is what I hate. This goes far beyond fashion, to many other characteristics of other people. An old-fashioned way of saying this is MYOB

JenniNZ, I'd love to hear about that book. I agree that stompy boots were a thing with punks and that was (gulp) 40 years ago. What about platform shoes before then; were any of them "stompy"?

4 years ago

rachylou

Veteran

DMs are older than even the seventies, I should add. They’re just work boots... or they were anyways

4 years ago

cindysmith

Veteran

Rachylou, I went to high school (class of '88) with a punk rock girl who had a mohawk that she would style in liberty spikes. She wore stompy boots with a pretty black dress (an early predecessor to the "bandage dress" look of recent years) so I would have to agree with your guesstimate that it started around 40 years ago. Because punk was a thing before my friend Amber became punk and wore liberty spikes with a bondage dress with stompy boots to prom..

4 years ago

Molly Mac

Veteran

I bought my first pair of combat boots in 1985. I wore them with everything including my catholic school uniform (until the nuns put an end to that). I LOVE a chunky shoe/boot or a menswear inspired oxford with a pretty, ultra feminine dress/skirt. I never have stopped wearing the look in some incarnation. I think it appeals to my rebellious side. The link below speaks to Doc Martens and how they became the shoe of the 70's British punk scene. Growing up in the Deep South of the US it took a little more time for the look to become attainable.
I never feel "judged" if someone has a poison eye for a look I adore. The heart wants what it wants. That is what keeps the fun in fashion.
https://www.sneakerfreaker.com.....unk-scene/

4 years ago

Anonymous

I'm not a stompy footwear wearer, but to me it depends on the skirt. I don't mind them with wintery skirts-heavy fabrics and plaids and the like. But a floaty, summery, "pretty" skirt it looks too bloggerish/posed/trying too hard. Otoh it could just be a genuine expression of their different facets.

4 years ago

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