Reviewing pieces that won’t make it into my wardrobe

In my second post on this theme (read the first one here), I’m taking a look at another piece that has entered the trend cycle which I won’t be purchasing. I think it’s important to stop and consider trends before we get drawn into buying them simply because they’re there, or because we’ve seen enough other people wearing them. Over-consumption is such a huge problem in the fashion industry, and resisting pieces that we aren’t going to get much use out of is an important step we can take as individuals to tackle this.

However in this case, I haven’t had to try to resist this trend at all. I usually steer clear of superlatives when it comes to style – something that I don’t like could look great on you, and ultimately fashion is an expression of individual personality. But this is one trend I can say I really, genuinely dislike. Boots often seem to be a source of grief for me (I never fell in love with cowboy boots either, despite their ubiquity over the past few years), but these seem almost designed to tick every box on the list of things I don’t look for in a boot. The most striking example is probably the Loewe Toy Panta, sported by Emma Ratajkowski for the fall 2023 show. Jonathan Anderson is no stranger to creating impactful pieces that still manage to transition to everyday wear, and these boots are no exception. The fact that Zara and the likes are already selling their own slouchy offerings shows that this trend, in some version or another, is here to stay. It shouldn’t be surprising given the rise of 2000s fashion over the past year, but goodness I wish this was one trend we could have skipped.

I think my main problem with this style is that it highlights my main issue with buying boots. Many times I have bought a lovely sleek pair of boots thinking I’d finally found ‘the ones’ only for them to slowly but surely slouch down and get weirdly baggy around the ankles. It’s almost a bit of post-modern fun on the part of Anderson to ‘reclaim’ this issue, but there’s a reason I don’t like it happening. They feel strange to wear, and are difficult to style with an everyday wardrobe. I can’t look at these boots without thinking of pirates – perhaps especially because first time round (in my lifetime anyway) they were in vogue at the same time as the height of popularity for ‘The Pirates of the Caribbean’. Is it possible to wear these boots without feeling at least a little bit Jack Sparrow? And that, for many reasons, is not something anyone should be aiming for.

Beyond my personal dislike for the trend, I think there’s something to be said for styles like this being inherently a bit of an issue. Boots, and shoes in general, should be an investment piece. They’re expensive, often difficult to resell, and incredibly hard if not impossible to recycle. Should we be buying deeply trend-led pieces like this, knowing that we’ll only wear them for a season or two before they’re relegated to the back of the wardrobe or the charity shop/landfill? It’s hard to pinpoint any shoe style as especially ‘timeless’, as they all have their moments in the fashion sun, but, for the sake of our wallets and the planet, it’s probably best to pass on pieces like these which are so incredibly of their moment that you’ll be cringing at them a few years down the line.

So all in all this is a trend I’m very happy to skip!

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What do you think of slouchy boots? Are you happy to see their return or do you wish they’d stayed in the past? What other trends are you passing on this season, and how do you keep your clothing consumption down? I’d love to hear any advice you have on how to dispose of boots and shoes too – please share in a comment!