Somewhere in-between the excessive amounts of money I spend on maintaining my tan and the latest you-tube beauty fads I convince myself I cannot carry on living my life without, and the money I reluctantly part with to maintain fundamental necessities like heating and food, is a vast black hole. A black hole that has an inescapable magnetic force that uproots my hard-earned cash from the safety of my purse, drawing it into the purchasing of shoes against my will.
However, amongst the fountain of shoes spilling from my shoe bin and the once neat singular layer of my more pricey footwear purchases that has now turned into a double, no (who am I trying to kid) triple decker shoe sandwich, there is one form of footwear that (like the black hole that pulled me to hoarding this abundance of shoes in the first place) that season after season, year after year I gravitate towards.
The black boot. Got a drinks date and want to look nice enough to be asked on a second date but don’t want to be tottering into your local boozer in stilettos? Black boot. Stressing about your outfit for an interview being too casual? Black boot. The accomplished shapeshifter of the footwear world. Managing to take you from doing the weekly shop, to a night out and any event in-between, and look appropriate.
It was in Prada’s Autumn/Winter Ready To Wear Collection that the trusty backbone of my own, and many a shoe-hoarder’s collection was re-incarnated. A-symmetrical necklines in bright pink and red satin skimmed the models’ chests, with the hem lines of the gowns just grazing the model’s calves as they stomped down the catwalk, displaying the boot in question in all it’s glory; an army of heavy-duty elegance. A mash-up of builder’s steel-toe capped boots and the intimidating platformed lace-up numbers (those of a gothic tendency choose to wear). An interesting duo of inspiration, yet when fashioned from the smooth, dark buttery leather and elegantly embossed on the tongue with the classic Prada badge, it works. I mean, it’s Prada, of course it works!?
A certain half Dutch, half Palestinian, 5 foot 7, 23 year old stepped out of her hotel onto the streets of Paris fashion week in a pair of the said boots. Miss Bella Hadid, the girl who possesses the power to make the pastel, diamante embellished, velour, low-rise blur of the 2000’s go from the decade fashion purposely forgot, to baby-doll dresses, matching tracksuits and rectangular semi-opaque shades being a crucial part of most people’s wardrobe. Yet again, Bella so much as walks past something- it turns into a trend.
The jarringly preppy matchy-matchy bubble-gum pink blazer and shirt combo was kept casual with the unbuttoned blazer revealing the top of the high-waisted mom-jeans. The flatteringly loose legs of the jeans were roughly tucked into the top of the laced up boots, showing them off in all their calf-length glory. Accessorising the look with a baguette-style black leather shoulder bag swinging from the baby-pink structured shoulder pad of her jacket, face severely covered underneath a black NY baseball cap, and typically Bella rectangular shades- a fond nod to her favourite decade.
It is a simple fact that the vast majority of people can’t afford to part with the equivalent of 4 month’s rent over a matter of footwear, however great the pull of the black hole. So, we have to thank our trusted old friends; ASOS and Zara, whose price tags make for more comfortable shopping, for cashing in on the ‘Bella effect’ creating a couple of pairs with suspicious similarities to the Prada Monolith leather boot. Not that we’re complaining, because they have allowed even us mere mortals to be able to appreciate the re-birth of the evergreen of the shoe world who’s fashion longevity is a sturdy as their soles.
Words by: Ella Winfield
Graphics: Katie Janes
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