French Fashion: Flat Boots

Not your typical Francophone, but anyway
The minute I touched down in Paris I started to notice a trend. Everyone (every woman, that is, although some men were the exception) was wearing flat boots.

Now I know that in North America flat boots are supposed to be all the rage right now, at least according to the fashion mags. The only thing is I don't see much of it on the streets. Boots may be in, but in Vancouver women prefer to wear them with teetering (or high or chunky) heels.

But the boots I saw in France weren't just flat and pedestrian. They had a little something extra to make them stand out.

They either had corset laces running up the back, had folds of leather crisscrossing them, shiny buckles or were adjustable (meaning they could fold up over your knee, down below your knee or tucked inside your boot).

And because my feet were hurting like hell with my dumpy heeled boots, I decided my first purchase would be a pair of these comfortable boots that everyone was wearing. And when I say everyone, I mean everyone. The young girls were folding them down and pairing them with tucked in jeans, the middle-aged women were wearing them over the knee with skirts and tights and the elderly were pairing them with long skirts and coats.

When I came to Lyon, I noticed the phenomenon was bigger still. It sealed the deal when Ross's sister, a Scottish woman living in Lyon, had a killer pair of mid-calf black boots, complete with all the bells and whistles.

So the first oppurtunity I had, I snatched up a pair of brown boots for 40 Euros. These boots have the laces going up the back:

And also have the coveted above-the-knee action, which looked great left up, or folded down over jeans (the only time I'll indulge in the skinny jean look...just don't have the figure for it but the boots seem to balance me out).



I have to say these boots were the best investment I ever made. Not only did they make me feel like a sexy Pirate hooker, but they were so comfortable. And coming from me, that says a lot.

Which is why on our return to Paris, I had to snatch up another pair. This time I went for black and something with a more elegant, pointy toe. This didn't mean that they weren't versatile. These boots also went over your knee...



Folded down, pirate-style...



And tucked in to resemble a more elegant look.



Not to mention it also came with a warm, fuzzy lining, the crisscrossing leather straps and shiny buckles. The best part of it all? It took up zero weight and room in my backpack (very important) and cost all of 29 Euros.

It was more than worth it to bring a little bit of Euro fashion back to Canada with me.