Dress boots are short leather

boot A boot is a type of footwear. Most boots mainly cover the foot and the ankle, while some also cover some part of the lower calf. Some boots extend up the leg, sometimes as far as the knee or even the hip. Most boots have a heel that is cle ...

s typically worn by men. Built like dress shoes, but with uppers covering the ankle, versions of the boots are used as an alternative to these in bad weather or rough outdoor situation, and as a traditional option for day time

formalwear Formal wear or full dress is the Western dress code category applicable for the most formal occasions, such as weddings, christenings, confirmations, funerals, Easter and Christmas traditions, in addition to certain state dinners, audiences, b ...

History

Until the Victorian period, long riding boots were common and dress boots were for more formal occasions, so

patent leather Patent leather is a type of coated leather that has a high-gloss finish. The coating process was introduced to the United States and improved by inventor Seth Boyden, of Newark, New Jersey, in 1818, with commercial manufacture beginning Septe ...

was often used, as well as ordinary black calf.Croonborg (1907). p. 211 Gradually, these boots became more common for formal evening use, so that by the Edwardian era, patent boots were generally worn when there would be no dancing. Patent leather use during day dropped, and formal morning clothes soon incorporated either shoes or plain calf dress boots. In the evening, the wearing of both boots and court slippers similarly declined as shoes came to dominate, though slippers are still worn with

white tie White tie, also called full evening dress or a dress suit, is the most formal in traditional evening western dress codes. For men, it consists of a black tail coat (alternatively referred to as a dress coat, usually by tailors) worn over a whit ...

. As the use of riding boots declined with the advent of

car A car or automobile is a motor vehicle with wheels. Most definitions of ''cars'' say that they run primarily on roads, seat one to eight people, have four wheels, and mainly transport people instead of goods. The year 1886 is regarded as ...

s (automobiles), another use for these short boots developed as tougher alternatives to shoes for harsh weather or terrain, where

hobnail In footwear, a hobnail is a short nail with a thick head used to increase the durability of boot soles. Uses Hobnailed boots (in Scotland "tackety boots") are boots with hobnails (nails inserted into the soles of the boots), usually installe ...

s would originally have been worn with sturdier versions of town boots. Now that shoes are so much more common than boots, and formal clothing is worn so infrequently, this is now the most frequent use of dress boots.

Form

Formal boots

With formalwear, dress boots are now only worn during the day, and are usually now black

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

boots of Balmoral cut (in the English, not American, sense, ''i.e.'' the only seam descending to the welt is that of the toe-cap). The upper is usually softer, made of

canvas Canvas is an extremely durable plain-woven fabric used for making sails, tents, marquees, backpacks, shelters, as a support for oil painting and for other items for which sturdiness is required, as well as in such fashion objects as handbags ...

suede Suede (pronounced ) is a type of leather with a fuzzy, napped finish, commonly used for jackets, shoes, fabrics, purses, furniture, and other items. The term comes from the French , which literally means "gloves from Sweden". The term was fir ...

. Alternatively, the same Balmoral

vamp The VaMP driverless car was one of the first truly autonomous cars Dynamic Vision for Perc ...

is used with a button-fastened upper instead of using the more modern system of shoe laces. The tolerance for fit with this kind of boot is less, so they are more expensive, though more traditional, and a button-hook on the end of a

shoehorn A shoehorn or shoe horn (sometimes called a shoespooner, shoe spoon, shoe schlipp, or shoe tongue) is a tool with a short handle that flares into a longer spoon-like head meant to be held against the inside back of a snug-fitting shoe so that a ...

may be needed to do up the buttons. The traditional use of

buff Buff or BUFF may refer to: People * Buff (surname), a list of people * Buff (nickname), a list of people * Johnny Buff, ring name of American world champion boxer John Lisky (1888–1955) * Buff Bagwell, a ring name of American professional ...

for the uppers is rare. The boots sometimes have toe-caps, which can feature a brogued seam, a reference to their original informal use for business.

Outdoor boots

Although constructed similarly to formal boots, casual or informal boots for harsher conditions sacrifice elegance for practicality, using double leather soles, or even rubber ones. The uppers are made of the same strong leather as the vamp, and tougher materials like cordovan may be used. Walking boots in this style can have

open lacing A shoe is an item of footwear intended to protect and comfort the human foot. They are often worn with a sock. Shoes are also used as an item of decoration and fashion. The design of shoes has varied enormously through time and from culture ...

, and broguing is used as on country shoes. The main colour is brown. Boots of this design were issued to the British and US armies in the 19th century: the

US Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...

-era

Jeff Davis boots The military uniforms of the Union Army in the American Civil War were widely varied and, due to limitations on supply of wool and other materials, based on availability and cost of materials. The ideal uniform was prescribed as a dark blue coat ...

had hobnails and the British

ammunition boot Ammunition boots are a form of military footwear. They were the standard combat boot for the British Army and other forces around the British Empire and Commonwealth from at least the mid-1860s until their replacement a century later in the 196 ...

s remained in service until

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. More recently, boots of this style have seen a revival as part of the

Neo-Edwardian Neo-Victorianism is an aesthetic movement that features an overt nostalgia for the Victorian period, generally in the context of the broader hipster subculture of the 1990s-2010s. It is also likened to other "neos" (e.g. neoconservatism, neol ...

fashion popular among British indie kids.Rag and bone
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Bibliography

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References

{{Clothing 19th-century fashion 1900s fashion 2010s fashion Boots Leather goods Formal wear Semi-formal wear