This R499 boot saved our winter

Like you we're guilty of playing footwear favourites (case in point, here's us advocating wearing sneakers to the office). Which is perhaps why we became so enamoured with the wear-it-with-everything Chelsea boot this past winter. 

It happened one particularly frigid morning when we swapped out our preferred winter high-tops for the much more grown-up Chelsea boot. After seeing them on everyone from Harry Stiles to Kanye West to David Beckham, we bought a pair for R499 and then left them in their box. It was only after wearing them that we realised how, not only do they look great, they're really comfortable to walk in, too. Add to this how they're able to stand up to inclement weather, and that the only thing easier to slip in and out of at the airport are flip-flops, and we were sold. 

Since that first foray we've been wearing them to work a few days a week – pairing them up with smart trousers and slim fit chinos – as well as playing the field in date-night looks ranging from dark denim to tailored suited-and-booted wedding ensembles. A few months in and the basicthread Highland boot's buttery brown suede still feels as soft as a pitbull puppy's underbelly, the slight heel making us that much taller for the ladies and the elastic panel sides making getting in and out of them a cinch. 

The same boot that defined Swinging London in the 60s will go down as the boot that dominated the winter of 2018 and then threatened to stick around until summer. A bold claim, sure, but given how they're the perfect transitional shoe (we're wearing ours with a lot of flannel right now), we can see ourselves rocking them with light-wash, shredded, almost threadbare, jeans and a longline, scooped hem white T-shirt come summer. 

More badass than a traditional dress shoes and a stylish upgrade to sneakers, priced under R500 there's really no reason why you can't buy several colourways and still pay less than what you would for another pair of premium sneakers. 

And while smart knows that you can still wear your Chelsea boots in summer, wisdom is knowing not to wear them with shorts.