Snow Boots That Won't Kill Your Outfit

The unfortunate challenge of looking cute in function first footwear

You know those times when the snow is three days old and the sidewalks are covered in salt in a way that I can only describe as someone letting a 3 year old apply their own sprinkles to their ice cream? Every corner a treacherous gamble - could this be a slight skimming of slush or a two foot deep puddle I’m about to step in!?!?!?! From snowfall until really…snow melt, there are the days when cute winter-ish boots and shoes will just not do and we NEED something function first lest we f*#@ up our favorite shoes!

Unfortunately this usually means all outfit bets are off for the day. I’m referring to my life in NYC of course, but there are also those of you who live in snowier climates who need these boots day in and day out. And those who keep a pair for annual mountain vacations…or the freak snow day. Whatever your reasoning, I’ll bet most of us have use for an actual snow boot at least some of the time.

I found my perfect pair this past Thanksgiving, when I was visiting family in Minnesota and my shearling lined L.L. Bean boots left me painfully frigid after an hour of sledding with the littles. My pre-recs were: priced to totally trash, ACTUALLY warm and multi-functional enough to transition between snowy family activities (skiing, sledding) and city snow days (fortified to tackle slush with an otherwise everyday outfit.)

We have friend of 5 Things Amy S. (aka my sister) to thank for steering me in the direction of Kamik. Upon further research, it is a well priced, Canadian bootmaker that can trace its origins to extreme working conditions. My sister wears a heavier duty pair (Minnesota and all!) but for NYC-adjacent activities, I decided on a low profile, zip front black boot with a tread sole that I happened to get on a black Friday sale at DSW of all places. I was torn between the low and high version of this and ended up going with the lower for ease, but if you tend toward leggings or skinny jeans, do the high!

I’ve now been wearing them for six weeks: for school drop off, for to-and-from city schlepping, ski weekends and the occasional mornings when snow graces Cedar Hill with some fresh baby pow. Below, five outfits I’ve worn for daily life that prove their versatility and that our cute outfits need not wait until spring.

The Daily Grind

Some version of this has been my school drop-off, weekend, morning uniform lately. I love how a fun track pant (preferably with a cinched or barrel hem) blouses over the boot’s edge.

The boots in question with navy velvet track pants with a Susumu pullover. But any thinner knit or track pant that could also tuck in and blouse around these boots would also do!

And over it all, a black shearling jacket. I have worn this exact outfit more than once in the past few weeks, but I’ll never admit how many times. 😬

Here’s with flash so you can tell…it’s a fun combo!

Winterizing Cropped Chinos

When sweats (even cute velvet ones!) might not be the look we are trying to project, I’ve been swapping them for my favorite cropped chinos. Any wider, cropped pant could make this silhouette work, though. Like what about this crisp blue jean, or this darker crop if slush splatter is a concern? TBH sometimes I wear white just to prove my weather reality doesn’t own me!  😈 Black wide and cropped “work” pants? Also a yes.

The snow boots with a tonal khaki outfit and black belt to tie them in. Linnea Lund sweater, RRL chinos (I’m wearing a size 27), old belt from Sea NY that came with a skirt so here is a nice one.

Here’s the whole outfit for the outdoors with my Calvin Klein Collection coat which I’m still putting my full weight behind as the coat of the season and who could forget last season’s collar! (Bag is here, and a well priced alt here.)

Cuff Your Pooling Denim

Since all of our jeans are a bit longer now, you might find that the jeans we’ve so painstakingly adjusted to the perfect pool over a western or chelsea boot looks too bunchy with these. Cuff away!

*If cuffing feels too double black diamond, pair your booties with a jean that hits at the ankle or a barrel style that will fall easier over the boot.

I bet if you saw me on the street you wouldn’t have guessed I planned the whole outfit around the boots! :) There is something about bookending the whole thing in technical black fabric makes the “jeans and a flannel” look more like a vibe? More retro? A bit cooler. IDK, it just works! Vintage Bogner jacket. Here and here for alts. Matteau shirt from THIS newsletter and Calvin Klein jeans from THIS newsletter (back in stock in a few sizes in this light wash and most sizes in dark! Weee!)

And here is one more thing about these boots. I intentionally did NOT want them to look fancy or have many design details. I was looking for the polar opposite of whatever a decadent snow boot would be. I wanted utilitarian. That’s part of the appeal. Sure, these are chic and these would look great with all of these outfits, but it’s the Kamik’s lack of fashion all together that I find appealing. It adds to their stylishness. And that’s the thing all the time, isn’t it? I’m constantly striving for style, not necessarily fashion or fanciness (though sometimes what I love falls into those camps, duh!) But for this concept in particular, it is the look of ease that comes when the non-fashion and the fashion play off each other symbiotically.

$80 boots make my 🤑 hat look better. Don’t you think? An equally decadent alt here.

Suede+Down+Denim+Cashmere+Slush+Wind+Style

But back to the outfits. You could distract from your boots with layer upon layer upon layer upon layer. I feel slightly like Joey in this outfit, but sometimes I want to look a little more dynamic than just throwing on a sweater and a puffer…even though most of the time from now until April the weather will still require a sweater and a puffer. The idea here was to pair my winter layers with more decadent fabrics to offset the boots and the turtlenecks, etc.

I layered a big suede chore jacket over my North Face and swapped my t-shirt+cashmere crewneck for a thin ice blue turtleneck and similarly shaded blue denim button down. It’s perfect for that day after the snow...when the sun is shining, but you know that just means it’s even colder with no cloud cover to hold in the heat and the streets are not only still a nightmare, but impossibly slick.

Initially I had styled this with vintage cropped jeans but for variety’s sake I swapped out for these cashmere pants. A corduroy barrel would be cute too! Soeur suede jacket (in a 38) North Face puffer (men’s size large!), Ralph Lauren denim shirt, B Sides turtleneck

WWMPD

And then of course, god forbid we go one whole newsletter without looking to our north star…Mrs. Prada. She would definitely pair these boots with wooly tights, a full skirt and excellent boiled wool coat. So for those days when you don’t want to wear your cozy layers anymore, know that these boots can GET DRESSED!

These are all old clothes…it’s a Prada cropped duffle, men’s Bally sweater and Miu Miu skirt. Other cute ideas that do the same thing here, here and here! Kamik boots, and grey wooly tights by Recto from an old 5 Great Things. These Uniqlos look good but maybe size up?

💓

Including four more for good measure (five in total, you see!) And before you even ask, I spent a shocking number of hours narrowing down to these. Yes I saw x and y and z. And then edited out anything that had too much branding was too fashion-leaning or too bulky. These final few are NOT fashion in the slightest… but become fashion only when we make them so and THAT is how we create style. <3

Clockwise from left: Danner boot. I love the combination of colors on these! Icebug ankle boot which reminds me of these New Balances which we will be wearing religiously when the temperature warms. Pajar’s Valentina boot which is giving me extreme Toteme vibes and the OTHER Kamik boot I tried and also loved…but NYC apartment meant I only got to keep one.

Yours TRULY,

Becky