Frocks & Frou Frou: boots for broads

Showing posts with label boots for broads. Show all posts

Thursday, June 17, 2010

Good Things Happen

Top: Friends of Couture

Jeans: Sussan

Boots: Boots For Broads

I wore basically this exact same outfit about this time last year, and when I did... Good Things Happened, so it's kind of a good luck outfit for me. It's snuggly-warm too, which can only be a good thing, because Melbourne's being very contrary and contradictory at the moment, and after a spectacular sunny morning, we had a torrential rainstorm which has now subsided into a sulky grey gloom.

It's days like today that make me feel like throwing on warm colours and flamboyant hats and gloves... Did I tell you I got heckled by a busker once for being too colourful?

Oh well, it is Melbourne, after all.

Sunday, May 30, 2010

Wide-Calf Boots: Boots For Broads II

Long Sleeved Top: Emerge @ Ezibuy

Vest: Barkins

Skirt: Sussan

Boots: Boots For Broads

Remember how I mentioned a few weeks ago how it was red boots that led me to Boots For Broads? Well, this is them!

Way back in 2008 when I first started the blog I had been hunting for months and months for red wide-calf boots. They're a bit easier to find now, but at the time they were rarer than hen's teeth even for regular sized calves.

When I found these - in November - I was so over the moon that despite the fact we were looking down the barrel of a long, hot, Australian summer I placed an order immediately.

I still love them. They're my fabulous superhero boots, and of course, being custom-made they fit perfectly. The soles are pretty thin, and I had to buy some gel innersoles before I could walk in them for any extended period of time but I'm looking at having them completely resoled this winter, so expect to see them more often in the months to come.

Saturday, May 1, 2010

Wide-Calf Boots: Boots For Broads

Top: Giordano

Jacket: Veronika Maine

Jeans: Sussan

Boots: Boots For Broads

Woo! Finally cool enough to have another punt at profiling my collection of Wide-Calf Boots!

I was so excited to discover Boots For Broads towards the end of 2008 that despite the fact we were knocking on the door of a long, hot, Australian summer, I went right ahead and placed an order almost immediately.

What makes Boots For Broads so special? Well, for one thing they come from my old hometown, Canberra. Also, they custom make the boots from scratch, which means that if you have narrow ankles, wide calves and wide feet (like me) you can still get perfectly fitting boots without having to sacrifice fit. You simply fill out Janice & Elizabeth's exhaustive measurement form and the girls at Boot For Broads take care of everything else. The cost is pretty on par for a regular pair of leather boots, but it's fully refundable if you're not completely satisfied, which seems extraordinary to me.

There's only a limited number of styles, but they're all there: pointy toes, slouchy fit, heels, flats, even a cowboy boot. There's three colours too, black (obviously) brown (obviously) and... red (woohoo!) It's the red that led me to Boots For Broads.

Being completely, utterly honest here, the quality isn't as good as you'll find with store-bought boots. I have two pairs, and both are kind of coming away from the soles, but it's a small matter to have them patched back together. And the opportunity to have perfectly fitting leather boots for AUD$250 is too good to miss.

Meanwhile, do you like my new antique collar necklace? It came from Tree & Kimball on Etsy. She has the most fantastic jewellery constructed out of vintage lace and beads.

Necklace: Tree & Kimball

Saturday, November 22, 2008

The Boots were made for Walking

Top: Sussan www.sussan.com.au

Dress: 8inkerman www.8inkerman.com

Leggings: MySize www.mysize.com.au

Boots: Boots For Broads www.bootsforbroads.com.au

Obi Belt: Yoshi Jones www.yoshijones.com

Man, it's fridgid today in Melbourne. I ventured out in the attempt to find a 30th birthday present for a friend (alas, no luck) and it took me three goes to find an outfit that worked that I wouldn't also perish of exposure in.

I often choose my day's wardrobe from a single item, then build up, and since I received my new red boots (red boots!) that one item is usually my shoes. er, boots.

But, because I'm a bit anal about this sort of thing, I have to wear things that match, and what I've discovered it, not much goes with red boots.

For starters you kind of have to go with a skirt, because the whole red boots over pants thing is just a smidge superhero (Superman, Spiderman, Captain America, Iron Man - dude, red boots are the footwear of choice for comic-book fodder)

Today I decided to haul my cashmere sweater dress out of storage, because its comfortable and snuggly, but I can't ever find a top to put under it that looks right, and while I look quite poochy in it unless I also wear a belt, I can never find a belt that works either. Coupled with the requirement that something ties it to the red boots the only thing I could do was wear it with my Yoshi Jones Obi and hope for the best.

I'm not entirely sold on it as an outfit, and I'm thinking I may have to invest in a new sweater dress for next winter (there's a few nice ones at Victoria's Secret www.victoriassecret.com that I've got my eye on ). One that will go perfectly with my red boots.

Hell, I might just indulge now, because it doesn't feel like it's going to warm up any time soon.

Do me a favour and keep your eyes peeled, huh?

Oh, also - I've had a few queries about the heel and style of the red boots - It's the "Jennifer" style at www.bootsforbroads.com.au they have a sturdy 5cm block heel, and after I installed a little gel innersole they are perfectly comfortable to wear all day.

Friday, November 14, 2008

Little Red Riding Boots

Cardigan: City Chic www.citychic.com.au

Top: Dorothy Perkins www.dorothyperkins.com

Skirt: Sussan www.sussan.com.au

Boots: Boots For Broads www.bootsforbroads.com

Have you ever wanted something so badly that it seems universally unfair that you've been built the way you are and not the way you apparently need to be to get what you want? For me it's always been red boots.

Maybe that's greedy. Maybe I should be happy to find boots that fit around my - frankly ginormous - calves at all, much less have demands about heel height and hue. Certainly as soon as I found knee-high boots that zipped up (thankyou God for Duo Boots www.duoboots.com) I was perfectly content to wear black knee-high boots.

But the more available wide-calf boots have become, the more obsessed I've been with find a red pair, damnit.

I scoured the internet, stalked Duo Boots and Wide Widths (www.widewidths.com). I posted requests on eBay, and even contacted bespoke designers. Finally, all the hard work has paid off, and it's closer to home than I might have expected.

Behold, Boots For Broads www.bootsforbroads.com

This new Canberra-based company custom makes leather boots to fit any size foot and leg. Really.

You send the wonderful Janice & Elizabeth a plethora of measurements: foot width and length, calf length and width at 5 cm intervals; and they send you a pair of boots literally built to fit your delightfully individual legs.

And at AUD$195 plus postage it's an absolute bargain!

There's six different styles, and three different leather choices. Imagine my delight when I discovered that one of those leather choices was red (!!!)

If you're in Canberra you can check the range out at the Old Bus Depot Markets on the first Sunday of any month. They can take your measurements then and there, and a few weeks later you'll have your spunky new boots.

Now, I know we're coming into summer, and the last thing most of my Aussie readers want to wear is a pair of leather knee-high boots, but please bookmark www.bootsforbroads.com and keep them in mind once the mercury starts to drop. The boots are wonderfully made, and Janice and Elizabeth are a dream to deal with - I had a bit of a problem fitting into the first pair they sent, and without hesitation they provided a second pair that fit perfectly - from my scrawny ankles to my fence-post calves. And if you're still not convinced, they offer a full money-back guarantee. On custom-made boots. Leather ones. Give them a go - you won't regret it!