Sorelli Tall Lace by Sorel

From Wassail to WTF?: Sorel boots carry you through good snows and bad.

A winter is bounded by two distinct experiences: the Wonder and the Lament: the first snowfall of the year and the acceptance that winter is a miserably dark, cold wedge of the year. (In Chicago these realizations may occur at the same moment.) The first inspires Yuletide excitement—carols, cookies, eternal reruns of A Christmas Story on TNT. It is sentimentally picturesque. The second is one of surrender just this side of despair: trudging through the grimy snow, falling in the slushy snow, freezing in the crusty, brittle ice-snow.

Sorel is the company that makes the boot that gets you through both these experiences and into the relief (or at least respite) of spring. (Look for a story on Wellingtons come rainy March.)

Currently a subsidiary of Columbia Sportswear, prior to 2000 the Kaufman Footwear boot was exclusive to Canada. (It remains ubiquitous up there.) We spent last winter begging Lori to carry Sorel after a trip to Montréal. This year she relented. We are in love with the Joan of Arctic, (cue it ... ) the closest we carry to the classic Sorel look. However that love is unrequited because greedy customers beat us to the register and we are nearly out of stock. Fine. No it's fine. We're getting more in January. We're also smitten with the Sorelli.

The Sorelli is a big boot (but leaner than Joan), but it fits. If footwear ever deserved the adjective "impermeable," you are reading about it. The foot is a handcrafted, natural rubber duck. The upper is quilted wool with a nine-eyelet tie-up. Sorelli doesn't have the iconic fur or lace reinforcements of Joan of Arctic—it's less showy and more practical for both the snow drift and the slushy curb. The wool upper helps you look smartly turned out, even in rugged weather that makes you want to turn in. Sorelli is fashion for the inclement weather set—no more suffering for your look.

How to wear this boot is really a question of when. Temperatures and snowfalls will dictate when the Sorelli or Joan of Arctic must be employed. Wearing a Sorel on a snow day is like flooring a Bigfoot monster truck down a fire road while everyone else is trying their best in a Hyundai Sonata. You'll gain traction, protection, confidence and a smug disregard for the misfortunes of others. Rest assured you may feel as miserable as the rest of your fellow-travelers navigating the snow and ice, but your feet will be toasty, cozy and happy—a feeling we're hoping grows from the ground up to get us through the ever-near winter blues.