3. Rubber Outsoles
Talk to a dress shoe purist, and odds are he’ll tell you that leather soles are the only option for a gentleman.
All well and good in the summer, but try that when there’s a foot of snow on the ground plus months of thaw/freeze cycle ice built up underneath the latest dusting!
Leather soles are sturdy, comfortable, and easy for a skilled cobbler to replace as many times as needed. They’re fantastic — when you can sacrifice a little bit of traction in exchange for all those other benefits.
In the winter, you can’t. You want a rubber outsole with gripping treads. And that can still be dressy. The best-looking winter dress boots achieve this by using relatively thin rubber outsoles welted onto leather soles beneath them, sometimes even with a square of leather still visible between the rubber padding on the heel and toe.
Because they aren’t as thick as the all-rubber sole of a work or hiking boot, these rubber outsoles will need to be replaced more often than others — every two or three years, say, give or take a few depending on frequency of use. But that’s a relatively low investment to make for shoes that work well in the snow and are still discreet enough to wear with a business suit.
If you’re serious about extending your dress boot wearing into the worst winter months, be willing to consider the rubber outsoles. There does come a point where pure leather won’t cut it anymore, and at that point you’re better off wearing a leather boot with discreet rubber padding on the soles than you are switching to winter ski or hiking boots.
4. Boot Upper Height & Ankle Coverage
A good winter boot — dress or not — needs to be high enough to stomp through the occasional bit of snow.
Most dress boots aren’t made with the assumption that you’re going to be wading across unplowed fields or anything like that. They end around the upper ankle, which is just fine for men walking on regularly-shoveled city sidewalks.
Realistically you won’t be doing anything more rugged than that in your dress slacks or business suits anyway, so more height usually isn’t needed. But men who want snow protection all the way up to mid-calf or beyond can always invest in a pair of “half-boots” — a misleadingly named style that’s actually taller than most other boots. The name comes from “half” of the high-boot style, a mostly-obsolete form of men’s boot that rose above the knee.
High-sided boots tend to be pull-on, sometimes with elasticized sides, simply because it takes too long to lace a boot that large up. Some military boots give you the height of a half-boot with a lace-up front, but their chunky soles and oversized eyelets are decidedly non-dressy.
For most men, a high-ankled dress boot, with or without elasticized sides, is ample. Laced boots with a closed (oxford) lacing system are generally considered dressiest, followed by pull-on styles, open (derby) lacings, and finally side or front zippers.
Caring for Winter Dress Boots
Make no mistake about it — one pair of true winter dress boots is an investment. If you’re savvy about sales and discounts you might find one for as low as $100-200, but in most cases it will be more like a $250-$1000 layout for new boots.
And that’s fine, if you take care of the boots. Properly cared-for, good leather will last multiple decades. But if you neglect that care, the lifespan shortens dramatically.
What do I use to take care of my leather boots and dress shoes?
Products I rec are: Leather Honey, Chamberlain’s Leather Milk, Saphir Polish, Meltonian Shoe and Boot Cream, Lincoln Stain Wax Shoe Polish, and Obenauf’s Heavy Duty.
Winter boot care revolves around three basic principles:
1. Clean
Always clean your boots off when you come in from the winter.
A quick wipe-down with a handkerchief or a paper towel before the slush and ice melt on the sides of the boots has time to drive can be a game-changer. That gets the salt and any other chemicals contained in the melt off the boot before it has time to sink into the leather, where it can damage the fibers and in some cases react with the dyes to make the color bleed and run.
So get in the habit of pulling a handkerchief out of your pocket and giving the boots a quick wipe once you’re on your own in the office, or wherever else you work. When you get home at night, go one step further and give them a quick wipe with a warm, wet washcloth, and then towel them off on something clean and dry.
It sounds fussy, but it’s the most important maintenance you can give a pair of good leather boots, especially in city settings where everyone’s dumping salt and melt pellets all over the sidewalks at the first sign of snow.
2. Condition
Leather conditioner helps keep shoes supple and strong. It adds moisture to the fibers that make up the leather, which seems pointless on snowy, slushy days — until you realize that your boots spend most of those days inside, being dried by artificial heat.
Just as people’s noses and lips tend to dry and crack in the winter, so too does the natural, fleshy material of leather. Make a point to condition it at least once each winter and you’ll extend the lifespan of the boots by years.
Applying conditioner is simple: wash the leather off with warm water and a clean cloth, then let it dry and work the conditioner in with a soft rag. Let it stand for a day to soak in completely and then polish the surface to seal the conditioner in.
3. Polish
On that subject: polish is good for more than just a bright shine! Use shoe polish every few months to keep a smooth, hard surface on your boots that repels water and grime.
A basic wax polish works fine for most calfskin and top-grain or full-grain leathers. If you’re wearing something like suede, look for a specialized polish that won’t affect the surface texture. If you’re ever in doubt, test a small patch somewhere out of sight (the heel down near the sole is a good spot) to make sure it doesn’t cause any discoloration.
Some men also like to apply a waterproofing spray to the seams or surface of their boot along with polish, but be aware that many of those are formulated for the synthetic materials or treated leathers used in high-tech outdoors gear. They may cause staining or discoloration on plain leather, so again, test a small amount in an unobtrusive spot first.
Properly cared-for, a cold weather dress boot should keep you warm and stylish, even in the worst winter weather — and it should do it for years
Code:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_U7Os0S_I7k
What do I use to take care of my leather boots and dress shoes?