The Times - UK (2022-02-16)

4 Wednesday February 16 2022 | the times

fashion

what he called “strutting

your stuff”.

There doesn’t seem

to be an outfit or an

occasion for which

the fashion pack

won’t suggest a pair.

Influencers are

wearing theirs with

shorts these days,

a look that until

recently felt quite

Dora the Explorer,

but is set to

become street-style

photographer catnip.

If this all sounds

like a lot to

remember, relax.

There is such

infinite variety in

this trend as to

make every ABD

as simple as

opening your

wardrobe. Ask not

which boots you need

to buy but which ones

you have; there is no

single style that is a must

(or must not). More

likely, you have amassed

something of a portfolio

and are interested in new

ways to maximise

returns. Here are

a few styling tips.

At ankle-height,

anything that laces up requires a bit

of swish and volume, so save hiking

boots for midi-hems, the floatier sort

of short dresses and skirts, and wider

cropped trousers. Sleek biker boots

that come up to your lower calf and

Y

ou’ve heard of the

LBD and maybe a

BBD (boring black

dress) but what about

ABD? Not a frock,

but the latest piece of

fashion editor jargon.

It stands for Another

Boots Day — now you know it,

prepare to find yourself saying it

pretty much every morning.

Bit grey and windy, with the

possibility of rain? Another Boots Day.

Sunny but icy cold? ABD. Teeming

down now but set to improve later?

Classic ABD. Wearing your jeans, a

dress, some trousers or a skirt that is

either long or short? ABD territory, all

of them. Now spring is coming, as

green shoots poke out their tendrils

and the cherry blossom semi-commits,

they too have only one thought: ABD!

In fashionland it has been Another

Boots Day in quite a groundhoggish

way for some time. We have decided in

recent years that boots are a wardrobe

perennial rather than a seasonal staple

that should be put away in warmer

weather, which is why quite so many

styles have proliferated. For next-level

boot-wearers such as Beyoncé, they

have all but replaced entire pairs of

trousers too.

Hers is an extreme case, but I

imagine most of you are familiar with

ABD in some form, even if you aren’t

slavish about the latest directives from

either Paris or Instagram. To put it

another way, ABD could just as well

be BWE: Boots With Everything.

Perhaps you’ve been teaming your

knee-highs with midiskirts for a while

and delighting in how the combination

can in winter hide your long johns

and in spring render tights and all

their attendant faff a thing of the past

without showing an inch of skin

before you’re strictly ready.

This boots-under-dress technique

is known in the business as

“lampshading”, often with reference to

an over-the-knee boot that is paired

with a very short hem, but it works

whether your look is limby Anglepoise

or sensible standard. In my opinion,

the combination of knee boots with

a dress is one of the most effective

glam-versus-effort combinations.

I’m sure you’ve also been wearing

ankle boots, whether heeled or

hiking, with dresses of all lengths

and variety for yonks. This pretty/

stompy mismatch was once

considered a key part of grunge

styling; these days it is widely

accepted as a smart, even relatively

formal, combination. I wore hiking

boots (fashion ones, natch, so not

coated in mud) with a party dress to

a red-carpet event in December and

nobody batted an eyelid. Admittedly,

everyone was too busy trying not to

catch Omicron, but Scandi brands

such as Ganni and Stine Goya

have popularised bog-trotting

footwear as the foil to an

otherwise fluttery and feminine outfit.

Boots can look more modern than

strappy sandals in out-out scenarios.

That isn’t to say they must all be

clompy black or brown things. The

Instagram crowd and A-list pair

Saint Laurent’s and Paris Texas’

disco ball-esque sequinned boots with

everything from silky dresses to

distressed jeans. Jimmy Choo’s

snakeprint styles are another front row

favourite — boots can be just as sexy

as stilettos. At his show in New York

last night Michael Kors dressed

models in heeled stocking boots

and clingy minis as part of an ode to

No longer the

stiletto’s casual

cousin, there’s a

pair for every

occasion, says

Harriet Walker

Yes, you can take

these boots anywhere

Cowboy boots are

set to be big this

spring — tuck in

your jeans now

Ankle boots,

£260, essentiel-

antwerp.com

Left:

influencer

Alexandra Lapp.

Right: knee-high

boots, £449,

maje.com

Lace-up boots,

£49.99, mango.com

Ankle boots,

£164.99,

claudiepierlot.com