Fashion in the Snow-These Boots are Made For Talkin’

His and Hers biker boots, a wedding gift and for her, a cold weather solution. Photo courtesy Jennifer Schneider

You would think there was a festival on Capitol Hill. With all of this snow going to turn the ground  into squishy mud, and you look around and expect staid Yankee footwear, but you don’t get it for long. Stand on any street and you will see the utilitarian scuffed black boots with a bit of indeterminate fuzz, the soggy-as-Cornflakes Uggs, the kid in bright green shoes with yellow laces (move on, child), and some L.L. Bean-wear, sure. But before long, one in a parade of festival wellingtons patterned in  sherbert-colored polka-dots, pink paisley swirls, oversized  rainbow bands or banana skin-yellow will march across your path and draw your attention. They could be worn by headless horsemen, as the eye swivels to behold these shiny, bright organisms. Geez, how practical can they be? Are they warm? My God, it is below freezing out there and people are walking around in vulcanized rubber!

The popular brand this winter on the Hill for these fanciful styles, at least for the ladies, appears to be Hunter welllingtons, or knockoffs thereof, in spirited patterns that remind one of those  old-fashioned General Store candy sticks.

They are called festival wellies for a reason–the  outdoor music festivals that have followed in the muddy wake of Woodstock, that always promise a heady good time and a lot of sliding in dew-covered pastures.

That’s not Capitol Hill. Perhaps folks are importing the feeling during these drifting, winter white days that darken into murky nights. The bright wellies cheer up the wearer navigating the fjords of mud and snowdrift and water. Some are even glossy, to reflect the good and repel the bad, one would think.  I asked a few wearers of Hunter boots, and they swear by them when the puffery and sheepskin  promises of other boots have betrayed them. The tall wellies, cotton and leather-lined, depending, keep out the snow and slush, they say, while warmth comes from a good pair of socks. Hmm.

“ I fell in love with my boots while window-shopping in Saratoga, N.Y.,in August – because they are so Seussical,” said longtime Hill resident  and fashion knitter Elizabeth Nelson of her black and white striped Hunters with a splash of red and green, if I recall, on the trim.  “ I justified the expenditure by thinking they would be very practical for rain, which they are.  But I had not anticipated how terrific they would be in snow.  They have a very good grip, are tall enough for deep snow and are totally waterproof, I can stand in a slush-pile with no ill-effect and with a pair of thick socks, they are plenty warm enough,” Nelson said.

Linsey doesn't know the brand of these snow and rain -shamers, but they keep up with the other color in her life. Photo by Elizabeth Festa

I admit, said my friend Laura, I want some, referring to the warm  Hunter welly socks; I am providing the link here in pink .

Ellie Heath, the manager of Dawn Price Baby adores her “leaking like a sieve” Tamara Henriques from the UK, but she is not from Wisconsin for nothing. She has insulated them with Hefty trash bags and warm wool socks, and wears BabyLegs as super long calf warmers. Really! Dawn Price herself also swears by them–and sells them at her store for the young girls and infants, but apparently the older girls buy them for themselves. Ellie showed me the black ones she was wearing. Ellie and Dawn even recommended them for the arms in this frigid weather, to insulate up to the elbows. I can understand little S. raiding my closet, but now  I will have to go through her petite leggings and find that argyle pair!

Warm socks favored by seasoned Hill toes include Ragg wool socks, Wigwam, Thorlos, regular fleece and a brand Ellie wrote on a piece of paper which I failed to memorize, and lost.

Here at The Hill is Home, one contributor has switched from L.L. Bean snow boots  to Hunters for this snow storm series.

“I wore really warm socks and walked for probably close to five miles in them – my feet were toasty and dry the whole time.  It never would have occurred to me to wear them instead of my snow boots but the snow was just so deep and I don’t have snow pants any more,” said our well-heeled Hill blogger.

One woman I met at the intersection of 8th and C Streets SE probably could not have agreed more, as we both looked wistfully at a smashing pair of multi-colored wellies confidently slicing through the mush before us, a we stood their in our mud-brown Uggs, hers soggy, mine cute last month, before the snow made everything rather monotone. Others have said their Uggs are not fairing well in this storm, and one stricken, but otherwise fashionable lady laments her beloved Sorels are in storage.

(I would like to add that many people I spoke with come from the great snowy places Washington D.C.  usually sees with a jaundiced eye–until now.) One native Alaskan I know here does love her L.L. Bean Storm Chaser shoes in dove grey and nautical red, which stay very warm with thin wool sport socks. Of course, she is the kind he digs her car out and drives, so no muddy puddles for her!

For sheer originality and instant gratification and longtime beauty, I have to say my vote goes to the black biker boots  worn by a federal government telecom lawyer and her new husband and given to them as a wedding present last year. Hers are by Chippewa.  “I didn’t think I’d really need them!  I don’t like Uggs and how do people wear them in the snow — don’t they get wet and slip around with no treads?” she stated. Without her biker boots, she would have been poorly prepared for this onslaught, she added.

Slush Puppies, or classic Uggs, as worn by a kind Hill woman who eyed some passing Hunters with longing. Photo by Elizabeth Festa

So-what is keeping you warm–or not–during the Snopocalypse? (And please do not answer, as I just heard my husband say from upstairs, “these  Vasque boots that are 20 years old. From 1990! They kick ass.”  Because I think am writing about pajamas– especially  flannel Christmas-sale specials–worn as outwear, next.)