Striped Top: Giordano
Puff-Sleeve Top: Dorothy Perkins
Jeans: Piper @ Myer
Boots: Duo Boots
Continuing on the cool-weather theme it occurred to me that now might be a good time to talk about that most covetable item... the wide calf boot.
I have big calves. Big, strong, wide, calves.
For years I tried and failed to find leather boots that would zip up over my big, strong, wide calves. It was horrible and demoralising and embarrassing and I hated every second of it, but the ephemeral dream of knee-high boots drove me on.
Every autumn I could be found in shoe shops around Melbourne trying to judge with the span of my fingers whether these, these boots stood a chance of zipping up before daring to ask the sales assistants for my size.
Inevitably they wouldn't, and each time I would be subjected to the same mortifying pantomime as the staff member would struggle with the zip trying to assure me that the boots would stretch, while I red-faced tried to tell them that no, they wouldn't.
Well, thankfully, those days are no more, and thanks to the magic of teh interwebs I have not one, but six pairs of knee high boots!
I thought I'd give everyone a bit of a run-down, pair by pair, of the boots that I have in my wardrobe, starting with my first ever pair of wide-calf boots: The Duo Madrid's:
Duo Boots are a great UK based company that fit boots not just by shoe size, but by calf width too. Such a simple idea, but such a brilliant one!
I've got two pairs of Duo Boots at the moment (you'll see the second pair later this week), but I've bought and retired another three pairs so I've had a fair bit of experience with the brand.
All of the boots at Duo are 100% leather, and personally I've found the quality very good, though I've read a few reviews online from the occasional buyer who hasn't had as positive experiences as I have.
The customer service is excellent, and you should definitely take advantage of it because the sizes and widths can fluctuate between styles somewhat.
International shipping isn't cheap - £20 per pair - but it is extremely fast. I'm on the opposite side of the world and I've never had to wait longer than a week from shipping for my purchases.
One of the best things about Duo Boots is the range that's available: They have different heel heights, different toe shapes, different leather styles and colours so you're not limited to a basic all-purpose style.
