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.

 

Hot Hot by Chinese Laundry

The Fire Next Time: Chinese Laundry's Hot Hot platform pump heats up a freezing December.

The Chinese Laundry Hot Hot is so hot we had to take a break from writing to let things cool down! At least that is what we tell Lori when she asks why we forgot to didn't post this last week. (Stupid travel plans.)

Okay, so this content production team isn't perfect, but in terms of a quality holiday shoe the Hot Hot comes pretty close. There's a lot of sparkle out there this time of year. Hot Hot's upper is festive, but restrained—more rippling pinpoints that blingy flashes. And the color? Blush champagne. A wonderfully subtle and shifting warm neutral. Playing up the gold high notes or the redder undertones, you can work a number of outfits back to this shoe.

That's important. The problem with holiday shoes is what to do with them in ordinary time. Consign them to the wilderness of your back closet? Chew toy for the dog? Sometimes we don't know either. Chinese Laundry mercifully takes the stress out of it—Hot Hot will work with your denim or dress looks outside of the month of December.

The obvious answer to "How would you wear this?" is the L.B.D. (or, if you're like some staffers lacking holiday spirit, "I wouldn't." Y'all can just stop reading here.) True, the little black dress with jet black tights would be a punchy and fun party look, especially with some complimentary jewelry. Off the party circuit we see dark denim or cigarette pants—that little sliver of ankle being all-important. Top with a drapey piece and silver, opals, white gold or pearls as accoutrement. The soft, white golds will emphasize the pump's red qualities; silver, pearl and opal will emphasize its glittering light. Stay away from gold or Indian gold looks; the Hot Hot's color balance is too delicate for such bossy, brassy colors.

A five-inch heel with a one-inch platform is going to get you noticed any time of the year, glitter or no, and, possibly-maybe bring you a little bit closer to that mistletoe when Mr. Big walks by at the holiday party. And the thought of that is definitely hot hot.

     

Privilege by Charles by Charles David

Pump Prerogative: The Privilege by Charles by Charles David is a classy and classic pump.

Charles Malka does not golf. The man behind Charles David is simply too busy designing shoes. He considers shoes his only hobby. Having been in the business for 48 years, we assume he is in no danger of burning out. He is a man who lives for shoes. We don't know if that kind of dedication is noble or pathological—or both—but we're glad for it. We can't stop wearing his shoes.

The Privilege is a case in point, and just what it declares: wearing this shining, pointed beauty is something every woman should make her prerogative. To earn it is not about spending money (the $104 dollars aren't prohibitive) but about embracing classic style. This is a trend that got legs back in spring. Neutrals, classic silhouettes and pumps were the vanguard of the trend pack. Privilege continues the trend with a romantic winter look via deep scarlet (favorite), black and camel, all preserved beneath a patent that looks practically slathered on.

The characteristics of the classic pump are a moderate heel (three inches), conservative colors, closed heel and a toe, preferably pointed. Whoops! Looks like we just described the Privilege. Of course, just cobbling together a punch list of details does not an interesting shoe make. The trick is how to own it. Charles David lays claim to classic style through the aforementioned luscious lacquer, a delicate forefoot strap detail, an inset fabric trim and an extended pointy toe that feels Euro without the Trash, and slightly dangerous. Privilege may be the first shoe to weaponize the upper. (Or the second. Dagnabbit, Karl Lagerfeld!! ... )

Classic works for us this holiday season. You can dress it so many ways. We're just swooning over the dark red. It might be our obsession with vampire romances, but nonetheless this shoe just, heh, bleeds cool. The first thing that comes to mind is pencil skirts, but this shoe will hold up under bubble skirts, box pleats, skinny denim ... whatever you want to throw at it.

Privilege succeeds because its classic, clean lines and colors let it work with a huge range of outfits in situations spanning your professional and night lives. Just don't try them out on the golf course—we don't have time for that. Our hobby is looking good.

Tatum by Dolce Vita

The Preferred Fur: The Tatum by Dolce Vita put a dash of rabbit fur on a fab bootie.

You may have seen the Tatum gracing our homepage recently. It's a truly beautiful shoe, full of complexity and texture (and she's not afraid to flaunt it). Let's just take a moment to trace the highlights of this exceptional bootie. To start there's the whiskey-barrel caramel of buttery leather upper. This sits like a decadent dessert atop a five-inch cake stand of a heel. The rounded toe is uncomplicated and classic, a smart decision that doesn't detract from Tatum's transcending feature: a shock of rabbit fur bound like sheafed wheat by twin leather belts. Antiqued brass buckles and zippers melt into the scenery.

It's not your typical party shoe for the holiday season and that's why we're endorsing it as such. Leave the glitz to other, more dependent accessories like the Deux Luxe Navy bag with sequins shown above. We love the pile-on of textures here, and even we are surprised by how well the sequins compliment fur and leather. You know what it is? That navy and caramel/warm-cold tension. They push and pull themselves into a delightful stasis. Get decadent!

We all know fur is huge this season. We're glad to see Dolce Vita use the stuff with such artfulness. The leather belts create a sense of restraint, or, from the fur's point of view, bursting forth. Tatum sure has got a lot of tensions to resolve. Work that out on the dance floor, sister! Let's go!

And that where you wear this: out. Moving. Looking good out in the public eye. Your office holiday party. That other holiday party you "accidentally" crashed. (You've got to look good when photobombing strangers' candids.) Tatum can handle it because this bootie wasn't made for holiday, it was made for simply looking glamorous all the time in these months of weak, raking sunlight and blustering winds. Wear this with a dress. Wear it with a skirt. Wear it with denim, leggings, layered socks ... it can take it. The question is, where will you take her?

Lita Fab by Jeffrey Campbell

Get Medieval: The Lita Fab by Jeffrey Campbell brings tapestries into the fashion limelight.

We haven't seen tapestry this enchanting since our last trip to The Cloisters. Jeffrey Campbell is an artist with his shoes: once he settles on a form he works and reworks it relentlessly with materials updates and embellishments. Us? We are the connoisseurs. We benefit with each new iteration. The latest, the Lita Fab, eschews leather altogether for a rich tapestry fabric that is one part Medieval masterpiece and two parts your grandma's furniture. That adds up to a quirky-cool, sky-high heel with a hidden platform that will rock your look.

It also rocks some trends. The five-inch heel (and two-inch platform) is a comfortable ride and a high-powered bootie. Witness the influence of the laces craze with an eight-eyelet fabric lace-up front. The tapestry, for all its departure from the norm, has a distinctive animal print affiliation. Patterns are good; busy is better.

The Lita Fab is a lot of shoe, but it is an accommodating shoe. We can see this with high-waisted skirts or an ultra-dark selvage denim. Also, gray. (Gray denim is a secret favorite.) Keep the outfit minimalist and let the shoe bear the weight of the look.

Or not.

This is Jeffrey Campbell, after all, and restraint is not the first word that comes to mind. Take it the other way: distressed-to-destroyed denim; bold, chunky (gray) cable sweaters or sweater coats; an animal print clutch or leopard print catseye sunglasses; a carpet bag. Not all this at once, mind you; we'll be maximal, not louche. Take your cues from this shoe and amplify it somewhere else on your outfit.

The Lita Fab is just that: fabulous. We recommend doing it and yourself justice by being nothing less. Enjoy!