These boots are made for distinction.

From the historical persepective, boots have traditionally been the prerogative of menswear and were the dominant form of men's daytime footwear up until the early twentieth century. When men first started to wear knee high riding boots in town even when not riding in the 18th century, Richard 'Beau' Nash was known for stopping men in the street and confronting them with: "Sir, you have forgot your horse!" Throughout the 19th century boots remained a prominent feature of men's daytime footwear.It was said that George 'Beau' Bummell had his boots polished with champagne.

Even until the early decades of the 20th century boots for men in the form of button boots and Balmoral boots were standard fair for any well dressed man.It is simply fascinating to note that the majority of men's footwear are boots but with the women's footwear, the shoes dominate. In fact if you look back further in time before Queeen Victoria popularised the wearing of Balmoral boots by women, you rarely if ever see a depiction of women wearing boots.

Still it seems a shame that something so obviously elegant as the button boot that was such a staple of the gentleman's wardrobe has fallen by the wayside. That said, more recently, Winston Churchill still favoured Balmoral boots. However overall, despite the exception of the likes of Churchill, boots as part of daytime business wear have been in decline since around the 1920's. Wellington boots once sported by the likes of Mr Darcy of 'Pride and Prejudice' are rarely seen worn by men except as equestrian wear. Jodhpur boots and chelsea boots are today the only remnants of the tradition of wearing boots of equestrian origin for daytime wear, and certainly the more elegant examples of these boots can certainly still be worn with a suit as was once commonly done in the nineteenth century.Perhaps, the trend towards wearing Oxford shoes - a trend started by rebellious university students - in place of boots is part of the process of increased social egalitarianism. Maybe boots will however someday regain the once illustrious place they once held in menswear. They certainly exude a great sense of authority, that would have immediately identified the wearer as being a man of distinction, as well as further helping to prevent the shins from peeking underneath the trouser cuffs. One day we may then see the trend towards wearing low cut Oxford shoes as the very start of the slippery slide down the slope towards everyone wearing sneakers. Names and sketches of the different styles you can find at shoe-patter.com