Alert -- cute kitty siting!!
She is gorgeous, Lisa!
Angie, on Una's recommendation I got the Kamiks last year. I tried Sorels, but alas, the fit was terrible on my medium volume foot, and they were seriously uncomfortable. I think the problem was twofold -- too wide for me (the styles I tried, anyway) and also the arch support was in the wrong place for my foot -- or in other words, the last simply isn't made for a foot like mine.
Kamik is a Canadian company and most of their line is made in North America. The model I have are waterproof and rated to -40. They are very warm, lightweight, and a darker charcoal than they appear in this photo. But they come in other colours.
Can't help but love this bit of history:
A Walk In Our Shoes
We have over 100 years of manufacturing history and it all started with a man named William Cook. In 1932, William purchased a company called Charron Manufacturing (est. 1898). And in the midst of the Great Depression, he took a gamble and completely overhauled the company to focus on performance footwear. In doing so, he saved 200 jobs and built the foundation for the company that he later renamed Genfoot, now the Canadian, family-run parent company of Kamik.
To this day, our company is still family owned and operated.
Warning: the boot I have is on the short side in the foot -- I wear a US half size and ordered my larger option. Even at that, my toes are at their outer limit.If in doubt on this style, order a size up. The treads are decent but not snow tire-like. I have a different pair of snow hiking boots for that purpose.
For dressier, but still very warm, you can't beat La Canadienne. Some of their styles are meant more for rainy/ damp/ light snowy type urban weather, but other styles are winter worthy. I have a pair that fall in the mid-range and are dressy: The Mazy. You could not wear these in a major blizzard, but you could absolutely wear them on a Montreal sidewalk on a very cold day. La Canadiennes can sometimes be found at discount on 6 pm (for our US readers.) I find them TTS and incredibly well made, with a last that fits my foot like no other.
Another brand I am really interested in investigating is Pajar. Glory has some of their boots. I believe they are very well made and warm.
