Today's Shoes

Day

Gravati high-lace punch-cap bal boots in dark brown calfskin with single leather soles (10278, 683 last). You may have noticed by now that I have a thing for boots. Back in the late 19th and early 20th Centuries, boots, ankle and otherwise, were very common for dress wear, I would imagine because the dirty streets of the day and the fact that men still rode horses at least occasionally made them more functional than low-cut shoes. They have fallen out of favor over the last 60 or 70 years, however, and it's easy to see why. They're warmer than shoes (since they cover the ankles and lower legs), they're more expensive than shoes (since they use more leather), and they take longer than shoes to get into and out of. Still, I like the way they look, the ankle support that they provide, and the fact that they're a bit out of the ordinary without calling attention to themselves -- a casual observer would probably not ever notice that I'm wearing boots.

Evening

Gravati double monkstraps with twin-needle stitching on the apron and toe "seams" (even though they're not really functional seams) (16617, 671 last).