Zimpapers Logo

Craig Twist-Fashion Correspondent

As the temperatures continue to drop, most ladies have been wearing boots coming in all shapes and sizes. 

What snore striking is most women really struggle to wear boots in winter, rather, in general regardless of this cold season not because they are not used to wearing them but simply because they lack the fundamentals in how to style them, with all due respect.

As a personal stylist and a wardrobe editor, a lot of women always say to me that there is something off about their outfits in boots, either they don’t fit well with their work attire or they just don’t find the right ones to complement their body right.

There are quite a number of different type of boots but the ones we want to delve into are ankle boots, Chelsea boots, combat boots and knee high boots as they are the more common in our communities.

The secret to look classy and elegant in boots is to understand your body and what you want to achieve from your outfit (apart from keeping yourself warm).

For taller ladies ankle boots, same as Chelsea boots, look nicer with skinny jeans however they have to be slightly longer so that they can be folded back to reveal the skin between the jeans and the boots to reduce the length of you’re your legs than what they are actually are. 

The gap between the shoe and the skinny jeans draws an illusionary horizontal line as if to cut your legs making your legs look shorter.

If a lady is tall, having a contrast between the trousers and the boots, again, creates a break that shortens her height  for example light coloured jeans will do with black ankle boots. 

Naturally, our eyes move from left to right so any break between your outfit reduces your height and the vertical stripes make you look taller.

For shorter ladies, from my past experiences, most of them would want to portray the image of being tall meaning your trousers have to match your shoes to make your legs look longer. 

Another hack is to tuck in the black skinny jeans in the ankle boots, that way it creates a continuation of one colour from top to bottom. Folding jeans is only ideal for taller women, when done by ladies with shorter legs it creates an illusion of them being even shorter. 

If you are not the trousers type and you prefer skirts in this winter, your leggings or tights have to be the same colour as your boots to lengthen your height. 

Chelsea or ankle boots with a short or knee length skirt are a no-no for shorter ladies unless if you are to wear an exact colour as your skin tone so that it conceals the horizontal lines which make you appear shorter.

The combat boots (like the ones our uniformed forces wear) have been trending lately this season. 

Most women have been wearing them with cargo pants but also look nice with short or long dresses for the taller ladies and for their shorter counterparts keeping the monochromatic or dressed tonally portrays a taller silhouette as it creates vertically lines than when worn with a dress or skirt. 

For shorter women, tucking in skinny jeans in them creates a nice ensemble to your winter outfit.

For shorter women, no matter how cold you are please don’t wear fur or UGG boots and I will explain why. 

Fur boots like UGGs, even though they fulfil their purpose of keeping your feet toasty in winter, they are too bulgy and make you look even shorter which is not complimentary to your overall elegant look. 

If you say you are really desperate to be wearing your fur boots then make the colour be the same as the trousers, that way they create an illusion for a  longer legs silhouette. 

For taller ladies the fur boots are perfectly fine because they become more of ankle boots than midcalf due to ladies height. 

Knee high boots look good for both taller and shorter ladies this winter whether they are paired with a mini or short skirt, dress or shorts, as long as they are concealed in the garment they become more flattering