Commiserations...I live in Australia so no experience of that sort of winter weather. I'd love to hear about how to train Instas algorithm - I haven't had much success. Thanks.
Winter can be so beautiful and enjoyable but also a bit of a pain in the butt sometimes...
For training IG: I stopped following a large amount of accounts that promote brands, shopping and trends, and replaced them with museum, art and vintage accounts. So far the algorithm seems to think that that's what I'd like to see more of. We'll see if it holds...
I’ve also struggled long and hard with proper winter shoes (coincidentally, around the time I moved to Finland for a short while). It’s sooo hard to find wool-lined boots that are aesthetically pleasing or at least neutral/classic enough to not be a sore for the eyes. When I looked for online recommendations, I found mostly US/Canadian brands which, while I'm sure are perfectly fine, were not an option for me as I couldn't try or easily order them. In the end, I found an European brand called Angulus that was fitting most of my criteria and I've been pretty happy with them (not paid or sponsored or gifted or anything lol). But anyway I just wanted to say that I completely feel your pain and I think people have gotten too used to either freezing in the name of fashion or resorting to ugly sportswear that there doesn't seem to be much incentive to produce beautiful and practical winter shoes.
Yes! The problem is the over-complicated design in warm winter-appropriate shoes. They always have so much going on: weird fuzzy tufts, a gazillion buckles, too many colors in one shoe... You can't wear them with clean-cut, tailored clothes without looking like you have crazy clown feet! And yeah, ordering from the US or Canada is a problem, too, because I like to try shoes on before buying them and then there's customs... just too complicated.
Thank you for recommending Angulus. They seem to have some fairly neutral styles with a wool lining, and I like that their shoes are made in Europe. They look like something I would consider ordering!
Here in San Francisco it's T-shirt-and-sneakers weather (sorry/not sorry), but I do have a suggestion for you. A friend who used to live in Fargo, North Dakota, where the climate is similar to Helsinki's, swore by her Sorel boots for cold, snow, and slush. I like the looks of the Joan of Arctic style, which has the added advantage of a very clever name.
Yes, Sorel boots will definitely keep one's feet warm! They'd be great for hiking. My problem with them is the over-complicated design that plagues so many winter shoes. Too many buckles, tufts of hair sticking out and/or fussy coloring to wear them with every day clothes, like an elegant skirt or a nice pair of tailored trousers.
Here to second Aquatalia! I live in the States in Georgia and while we don't get a lot of snow and ice, it does rain a lot in the winter and the Aquatalia suede boots I have are waterproof and extremely warm.
Wow that shirt and Watanabe knit combo is fabulous. I particularly love the sculpted high collar of the shirt- it has an early 20th century look. I long for fitted yet mannish shirts like this. Hard to find.
Well done for deleting many brands and influencers. I do love some of the brands account. Last week I found myself unable to take my eyes away from the whole of the Celine menswear show. And screenshotted some of the hair cuts which were on the whole better than the clothes.
Thanks! I love this shirt, too. The brand is The Shirt Factory by Linnéa Braun. The quality seems quite nice for the price point. (I found mine at the thrift store)
I have a small group of designers that I still follow, but I try to keep it marginal. You have me interested in the Celine haircuts; I'll have to take a look!
I have worn these for two Winters and Will wear for at least two more. I also can’t imagine wearing Sorel to work or dinner with friends, but these work with everything. Wool lined so my det are never cold. Rubber soles with some height means I’m fartyget away from the cold pavement or snow + I don’t slip. Look very much like a similar boot from the Row, but less expensive. Oh, and they’re light even though they look heavy. I love them.
Finding stylish winter shoes is also a problem here in Sweden. The wool lined I like the most (Unisa do have nice designs) are elegant and in leather but not suitable with the slush and salt on the west Coast.
I think my shearlingcoats are most stylish with a little heel instead of winterboots. It's about the silhuette. If I wear warm and voluminous outerwear winterboots are too much...
That's exactly the problem -- I knew people in other Nordic countries would understand! The shoes that are visually pleasing are not suitable for the snow, ice, slush and salt, and the ones that are suitable, look way too bulky, fussy and complicated to wear with skirts or a nice pair of trousers.
I’ve not truly that I’ve been in the style zone in a while but I like the idea of accepting that it comes and goes so that I don’t go crazy shopping in bid to bring it back.
I hope you find the right boots for you! Please do share a photo of the vintage Finnish winter boots when you come across them, they sound wonderful!
And yeah, I'm beginning to accept that the zone comes and goes, and that I should just embrace it when it's around and not even try to shop when it's not. Easier said than done though!
La Canadienne is amazing quality. I'd love to try the shoes/boots on Vestiare, but sizing runs all over the map for me - I have no idea what my size is anymore and need to try things on risk-free.
Thanks for recommending La Canadienne! They seem to have a great pair of tall shearling boots. I'd love to have the option to try them on somewhere especially considering the price point, and of course shipping and customs is super expensive from the other side of the pond, too. I'll look into second hand options!
I was also coming to recommend La Canadienne. Expensive, but you can find them on Bluefly. Really well made and definitely built for winter. I have also heard good things about Manitoba Mukluks.
La Canadienne has some nice styles -- thanks for the recommendation! The mukluks look like they'd be great for hiking and outdoorsy activities, but not to wear with skirts or tailored trousers... They do look super warm and comfortable!
That Watanabe knit and high collar pale blue shirt is everything! Definitely a screenshot moment. I enjoy reading your writing, as always.
Thanks Christina! Couldn't believe my luck when I found the Watanabe at the thrift store!
Commiserations...I live in Australia so no experience of that sort of winter weather. I'd love to hear about how to train Instas algorithm - I haven't had much success. Thanks.
Winter can be so beautiful and enjoyable but also a bit of a pain in the butt sometimes...
For training IG: I stopped following a large amount of accounts that promote brands, shopping and trends, and replaced them with museum, art and vintage accounts. So far the algorithm seems to think that that's what I'd like to see more of. We'll see if it holds...
I’ve also struggled long and hard with proper winter shoes (coincidentally, around the time I moved to Finland for a short while). It’s sooo hard to find wool-lined boots that are aesthetically pleasing or at least neutral/classic enough to not be a sore for the eyes. When I looked for online recommendations, I found mostly US/Canadian brands which, while I'm sure are perfectly fine, were not an option for me as I couldn't try or easily order them. In the end, I found an European brand called Angulus that was fitting most of my criteria and I've been pretty happy with them (not paid or sponsored or gifted or anything lol). But anyway I just wanted to say that I completely feel your pain and I think people have gotten too used to either freezing in the name of fashion or resorting to ugly sportswear that there doesn't seem to be much incentive to produce beautiful and practical winter shoes.
Yes! The problem is the over-complicated design in warm winter-appropriate shoes. They always have so much going on: weird fuzzy tufts, a gazillion buckles, too many colors in one shoe... You can't wear them with clean-cut, tailored clothes without looking like you have crazy clown feet! And yeah, ordering from the US or Canada is a problem, too, because I like to try shoes on before buying them and then there's customs... just too complicated.
Thank you for recommending Angulus. They seem to have some fairly neutral styles with a wool lining, and I like that their shoes are made in Europe. They look like something I would consider ordering!
Here in San Francisco it's T-shirt-and-sneakers weather (sorry/not sorry), but I do have a suggestion for you. A friend who used to live in Fargo, North Dakota, where the climate is similar to Helsinki's, swore by her Sorel boots for cold, snow, and slush. I like the looks of the Joan of Arctic style, which has the added advantage of a very clever name.
Yes, Sorel boots will definitely keep one's feet warm! They'd be great for hiking. My problem with them is the over-complicated design that plagues so many winter shoes. Too many buckles, tufts of hair sticking out and/or fussy coloring to wear them with every day clothes, like an elegant skirt or a nice pair of tailored trousers.
La Canadienne and Aquatalia (mostly the latter, in the last ten years) have served me well, as far as warm waterproof leather winter boots.
Thank you for the recommendation -- both of these brands look quite promising!
Here to second Aquatalia! I live in the States in Georgia and while we don't get a lot of snow and ice, it does rain a lot in the winter and the Aquatalia suede boots I have are waterproof and extremely warm.
Wow that shirt and Watanabe knit combo is fabulous. I particularly love the sculpted high collar of the shirt- it has an early 20th century look. I long for fitted yet mannish shirts like this. Hard to find.
Well done for deleting many brands and influencers. I do love some of the brands account. Last week I found myself unable to take my eyes away from the whole of the Celine menswear show. And screenshotted some of the hair cuts which were on the whole better than the clothes.
Thanks! I love this shirt, too. The brand is The Shirt Factory by Linnéa Braun. The quality seems quite nice for the price point. (I found mine at the thrift store)
I have a small group of designers that I still follow, but I try to keep it marginal. You have me interested in the Celine haircuts; I'll have to take a look!
I have worn these for two Winters and Will wear for at least two more. I also can’t imagine wearing Sorel to work or dinner with friends, but these work with everything. Wool lined so my det are never cold. Rubber soles with some height means I’m fartyget away from the cold pavement or snow + I don’t slip. Look very much like a similar boot from the Row, but less expensive. Oh, and they’re light even though they look heavy. I love them.
https://www.copenhagenstudios.com/p/cph591-vitello-black/
Thank you for the recommendation, I will take a look!
Finding stylish winter shoes is also a problem here in Sweden. The wool lined I like the most (Unisa do have nice designs) are elegant and in leather but not suitable with the slush and salt on the west Coast.
I think my shearlingcoats are most stylish with a little heel instead of winterboots. It's about the silhuette. If I wear warm and voluminous outerwear winterboots are too much...
That's exactly the problem -- I knew people in other Nordic countries would understand! The shoes that are visually pleasing are not suitable for the snow, ice, slush and salt, and the ones that are suitable, look way too bulky, fussy and complicated to wear with skirts or a nice pair of trousers.
I’ve not truly that I’ve been in the style zone in a while but I like the idea of accepting that it comes and goes so that I don’t go crazy shopping in bid to bring it back.
I hope you find the right boots for you! Please do share a photo of the vintage Finnish winter boots when you come across them, they sound wonderful!
I will!
And yeah, I'm beginning to accept that the zone comes and goes, and that I should just embrace it when it's around and not even try to shop when it's not. Easier said than done though!
La Canadienne is amazing quality. I'd love to try the shoes/boots on Vestiare, but sizing runs all over the map for me - I have no idea what my size is anymore and need to try things on risk-free.
Thanks for recommending La Canadienne! They seem to have a great pair of tall shearling boots. I'd love to have the option to try them on somewhere especially considering the price point, and of course shipping and customs is super expensive from the other side of the pond, too. I'll look into second hand options!
I was also coming to recommend La Canadienne. Expensive, but you can find them on Bluefly. Really well made and definitely built for winter. I have also heard good things about Manitoba Mukluks.
La Canadienne has some nice styles -- thanks for the recommendation! The mukluks look like they'd be great for hiking and outdoorsy activities, but not to wear with skirts or tailored trousers... They do look super warm and comfortable!
And I’m a fan of Camper shoes and boots in the winter.
Sadly I'm in between sizes with Camper, which is a shame because I do like some of their styles a lot! I wish they did half-sizes.
Yes! Me as well. I wish I could find a pair of campers that fit me well.
I loved re-reading this today. Just the idea of being "in the style zone" - I never thought of it this way and yet can so relate.