I still remember the embarrassment all these years later. I was about 15 years old and was shopping with my mum (still my number one person for an honest opinion), and I got stuck in a pair of black suede boots from Schuh. I so desperately wanted them to fit around my calves, so I squeezed every last centimetre of life out of the side zip and then couldn’t get out of them. Panic, a hot flush and an emergency payment ensued. I eventually managed to get the boots stretched at a cobbler and wore them in a lot, and they ended up being a pair that worked for some time, but was it worth the public shame? Probably not.
Fact is, knee-high boots are often designed and manufactured with only the slimmest of legs in mind. I’m only a size 10-12 and petite at 5’1”, and if I struggle on this front, I can only imagine that there are thousands of women out there with the same or even worse frustrations when it comes to buying something that plays an integral part in our annual autumn/winter wardrobes. Things have improved since the ’90s because stretch boots are far more common now, but why should we of the “abnormally large calves” crew be so limited with options? Why can’t I find a great pair of leather pull-on knee boots, dammit? Well, now I can, and it’s all thanks to fashion expert Erica Davies’s collaboration with John Lewis & Partners.
