I am not a tiny person. I was 5 feet 9 inches tall when I was nine years old. I am also, courtesy of my father's side of the family, not a slim delicate slip of a person. I've got broad shoulders, long legs, and calves that are not slim and slender. I have to have wide-leg boots, or they won't stay up (and I -=hate=- constantly pulling up my boots like they're recalcitrant knee socks.) Above-the-knee boots are actually preferable since, on me, they're just at or barely above my knee, not halfway up my thighs like they appear on some of the models used. I'm a bit proud of myself, because while I do have several pairs of high boots, I do not have multiple colors in each of the styles that I have. And they're not all black, either. (Most of them are. But not all of them are. Oh shush.)

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LifeStride Fair Sandal

I like the look of these! They don't constrain my toes or heel, so I can get shoes that are not too wide, but don't try and compress my feet. The dual straps along the sides, the mix of textures, all nice details without being too visually busy for my preferences.

LifeStride Fairway Sandal

Yes, I like LifeStride. I like shoes that are comfortable, don't look clunky, don't cost $200 per pair, and aren't spike heels. LifeStride may sell spike heels, but they sell a lot of wedges and 1.5-2-inch heels, which is where my personal comfort zone is. The Fanfairs, I have multiple pairs in black and one pair in dark navy. There's a two-cross-strap version called Fetch. I am not going to make that purchase happen, even though my inner Plastic is pouting at me for not doing so.

Bella Vita Paula Gladiator Sandal

Wedge sandals with stretchy straps so that feet don't feel confined and don't get rubbed raw. They work for slightly dressier outfits, but likely not for formal events. (As a SIM-card-carrying geek, I think the last formal-dress event that I attended was...oh...over a decade ago. I don't do "formal events." Formal events are like cosplay with every last erg of fun surgically removed.) My only concern with this style is that, over time, the elasticity in the straps around the ankle breaks down, and you've got shoes that don't stay in place quite so well. I haven't yet taken the one "worn-out" pair to a shoe repair place to see if they can replace those bands, or if I'm totally out of luck once those go.

Aerosoles Good Role Ankle Boots

These heels are almost too high for me to wear comfortably - they're 3 inches, and that almost starts to get to the point where I can't wear these for a full day of walking. But...damn it, they're cute! They look good, the soles are comfortable, and with practice and familiarity I can get more used to the heel height. They're not spike heels, so balance won't be quite so much of a problem. I have these in black and grey. I like the look of the wine ones, but honestly don't know that I'd wear that color too often.

Spring Step Estella Wedge Sandals

The wedge heel is about 1.5 inches high, and made of synthetic cork - very soft and springy! The arches are leather, and the design is laser-cut, so they're really good detail and very clean designs. A bit of Scotchgard to keep the uppers waterproofed and the wedges dirt- and water-resistant, and I've got some very nice spring/summer sandals that dress up or down well. I have these in black, and one pair each in light tan and the iris-blue in the photo. (That cat is Amy. She decided to come supervise the shoot.)

Faux-suede brown over-knee boots with buckle and strap detail

I kind of wanted these in black, but they were sold out in my size. Then I wanted them in wide-calf, and that option was sold out in my size in all of the colors. So...I took a chance, and ordered a pair of these in brown, size 10. They are a little difficult to pull over the knee, and (dammit!) the inside isn't smooth and nicely finished so I don't have the option of folding the top 1/5 down and wearing the boots that way. But...there's a little bit of give, because of a fabric triangle that's supposed to be a visual accent. so I should be able to make these fit somehow. If not...they can be a little slouchy. They fit my feet without pinching, there's enough room that I can add gel inserts if I want, and I like how they look.

These came from The Site That Must Not Be Named (not the very best selling model, and they make it im-freaking-possible to cancel your membership without just cancelling the card that's tied to the account) so I didn't want to list the style name or the site name. Their items aren't known for being super high quality, and they're probably designed by fashion students and apprentices, then made using budget materials and probably won't last more than a few seasons without starting to show signs of wear and tear. But...shoes do not have to be disposable. If they end up working out well for me, I'll happily take care of them and find ways to repair them and keep an eye out for major failings, so that I can keep them from utterly falling apart. It's astounding, for example, how much life you can add to a pair of shoes just by having them resoled, or by having more durable soles put on them before you've worn them more than half a dozen times. These boots cost me USD$20. (That was the Black Friday weekend sale price.)

Faux-suede over-knee lace-back boots

Oh dear lord, the saga of these boots...! They were featured in a promo email in late July - they weren't available yet, but people could pre-order them. I clicked through and put a pair on pre-order. A month later, they still haven't come available for ordering. I called customer service and asked them what was going on, and by the way could I change the size? The person says sure, let's do that...silence on their end...the agent deleted it from my pre-order queue. Hang on, says she, I'll see if I can get it back. 20 minutes later the call is cut off, and when I try calling back I have a hell of a time getting through to a person. Two weeks later while doing a websearch on the style name, I found them listed for sale on the Canadian version of this company's site. I asked a friend in Canada if she'd buy me a pair of these boots and I'd pay her back, plus pay for further shipping down to me. Sure, says Friend, no problems. So she goes to the site...and she has to go through their whole dim-damn "sign-up-and-build-a-profile" routine. Finally after about 15 minutes she's signed up, has the boots in her cart, places the order...and the damn system doesn't recognize her address. She says that they've had a few other companies who can't seem to figure out how to deliver packages to them. No, it's fine, I say, you've spent lots of time on this, thanks for trying, let's not drive ourselves further into the crazy. Then along comes early November and when scrolling through boots on this site, I spot them. Quickly, before the fracking things can be taken down again, I placed an order. Two weeks later, they were mine!! They weren't wide calf, but I ordered a pair anyway and prayed for the best because of the whole lace-up-the-back thing. I've worn them around the house for five hours and never had the dreaded "slouch-down" problem, so I lucked out! Persistence paid off.

These are also from The Site That Must Not Be Named. I was really cheesed off at their crap sales model and bait-and-switch advertising. By the time I did see this style available for purchase, the black ones (which I'd really wanted) were all sold out in my size. I NEARLY got a second pair during the Black Friday sale, but stopped myself, saying that if I couldn't get a second color, it made absolutely zero sense to buy a second pair no matter how much I liked them. By Saturday evening they were totally sold out anyway, so...see there, I saved myself some money. And I do have one pair.

This doesn't include my other summer go-to's, Bass Sunjuns, which have been around since the early 80s. (I remember a cousin who really really really badly wanted a pair because they were The Hip Cool Thing. I fell in love with them later, when I bought a pair because they were under $35 and had a good reputation. Since then, they've been less easy to find some years, but they're always around.) Every year I have to reaccustom my feet to those, because the straps will rub raw spots on my feet at first; but after a little bit of seasonal toughening, I can wear them all day, several days in sequence.

I've also recently started wearing some slouchy ankle boots from Report. They're not close to the ankle, so I have to either have my pant legs tucked in or bulging out with the boot-tops underneath; but I can wear these with socks, they're flat, they've got a nice ankle-buckle detail, and they're slip-ons. They feel a little bit like dressed-up house slippers, but there's no fuzzy padding sticking out; and they're definitely soled for outdoor wear. (Maybe not climbing or hiking outdoor wear, but certainly walking on city streets and sidewalks.) They may come to replace my trainers for my winter go-to shoes, though when it's snowy or pouring rain I'll stick with the trainers.

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