For women with curvy legs or athletic calves, this time of year usually means footwear frustration. “I can never find tall boots to fit,” says Heather Watterworth, a public relations rep for cosmetics company Mary Kay. “They’re always too tight.” Sure, Watterworth and others like her could go for below-the-calf heights, or uninspired shiny stretch vinyl, but in this season of knee-high chic, those options just don’t measure up.
Happily, according to Town Shoes PR director Crissi Giamos, “This is a fabulous season for fitting different calf widths.”
Knee-highs with generous stretch panels are certainly more and more common, and lace-ups — as long as they lace-up for real — offer adjustable comfort (Rockport, Timberland and Cole Haan all have handsome lace-up styles this season). Giamos recommends giving the popular slouchy boot a try, the type that allows the wearer to pull the boot leg up or push it down. They tend to have a roomier fit; some also have stretch, she says. In terms of brands, Giamos points to David Dixon, Kate and Mel, and the Town Shoes private label.
In fact, an encouraging number of companies now make boots with curvy-calf appeal. Toronto boutique Trove offers Bos & Co., a Canadian label which offers styles with a more generous leg fit. Ron White carries an impressive variety of suitables by Cole Haan, La Canadienne, Mephisto, Stuart Weitzman and Frye, as well as the Ron White signature line (RonWhite.ca ships across Canada and internationally). Ecco boutiques may also yield a find; the brand prides itself on its forgiving cut that fits a range of calf sizes. And for the online-savvy, US-based WideWidths.com offers wide, extra-wide and super-wide calf sizes from companies such as Blondo and Naturalizer.
A good shoe-repair shop may also be able to supply a better fit, either by stretching the boot shaft or putting in an insert. Such shops are not always easy to find, but the best ones are usually known to local shoe-store staff.
From top, Cole Haan Lyric tall boot, $398; Lacoste Tobie slouch boot, $275; Ecco Hancock boot, $275.
Got super-slender calves? Click here for skinny-fit suggestions.
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I love that you posted on this! I’ve been looking for a pair of wide-calf friendly boots forever, and I finally found some at Urban Outfitters (of all places!). http://www.urbanoutfitters.com/urban/catalog/productdetail.jsp?id=16427338&navAction=jump&isProduct=true&parentid=MORE%20IDEAS&isProduct=true&cross-sell=true&guide-bn=true
Shhhh — don’t tell! I thought Metro had decided to use only the tips for slender calves; turns out space issues mean this one is actually running next week. I accidentally jumped the wide-calf gun. Whoopsie!
Congrats on your own find!
Ha! Saw your slender-calf story in the Metro this morning and wondered if you might do a follow-up for curvy calves. Guess who’s shopping this weekend? :)
Happy shopping, Heather! Rockport has a particularly nice pair of knee-high laceups I’m coveting myself just because — definitely check them out. And lemme know how you do! xo
Did someone say boots? :-)
Like I need to read about MORE boot options. As discussed… I think I’m done for this year!
Still so happy we got an extra 40% off today. Such a score.
Ah ha ha ha! Your calves don’t give you any fit troubles, Miss Chloë boots, so you certainly don’t need these boot options. And thanks for outing me as having done a little shopping today, lady! *grin* (For anyone interested, right now Anthropologie is offering 40% off all garments, including sale items. I got three things for under $100.)
Unheard of by Anthro standards.
Michelle, we need a pic of these Chloë boots!
Thank you for this post Janine! Finding boots to fit my huge calves has been an issue for as long as I can remember! Time to find me some boots!
Good luck — remember that your best bet is to ask the store staff for help. The females will certainly know the stock well (Crissi at Town Shoes said they all try the merch on to see how things fit). And sometimes lace-ups are your best bet, if the laces aren’t just for show. A friend of mine with hard-to-fit curvy calves found success with a pair of knee-high lace-ups from Rockport last year. This year’s style is slightly different, but still a lace-up.
I need to send this to my best friend! She has the worst time with this!
Feel free, Ainamakeup! Your friend will want to scroll down these comments too — folks are leaving some great additional tips (thanks, everyone!).
These are all ok options, but for gals with more than just slightly-larger calves most of these brands won’t be an option (I LOVE Rockports, but even their “roomy” boots are not wide enough in the calf!)
I spent about a year searching for viable Canadian wide-calf boots, and particularly somewhere that I could actually try them on for fit! I wrote about how I was able to find some 18″ beautiful Ros Hommerson boots at a local Toronto shop called Shoe Avenue.
Another local-ish option is Miller Shoes, they ship nationally and also have a physical location in Hamilton. Finally, WideWidths.com was also recommended to me but I didn’t want to order online.
Just Google for each of these shops and you can find their websites. To all my curvy girls, out there, good luck! :)
Thanks for this, Ginger. Love the additional info.