Shoe blog

Cougar Boots: Warm Enough for Canada, Pretty for You

Dear World,

In case you haven’t noticed, I wanted you to know that I love my Cougar Boots, which are made for snow but will keep out the world of cold, grit and rain as well. New York is a place full of cold, grit and rain, especially these days.

I have been wearing them for about seven days straight. They’re Canadian boots, so it’s apt that I just got back from snowy Montreal where they came very much in handy.

In fact, I brought the gold Manolo flats in the background of the photo to your left, but because it was so freezing cold, never wore them. I opted for my Cougars every day instead. And don’t think I wasn’t attracted to the name. “Hello Canada! I’m Wearing Cougar!”

I like that these Cougar Boots, entitled Ringo Star, can hold up against lots of walking, and don’t take any breaking in. I wore them for probably five hours of walking per day, for four days straight in Montreal. That’s 20 straight up hours of testing, right out of the box, and the only place that hurt was my calves (which is normal for that much stair-climbing). No sore feet! No numb toes!

Photos in white after the jump…

To sum up: Incredibly warm in below-zero weather, not slippery on snow, easy to wear, leather upper, 17.5 inch shaft (just below my knee) and 17.5 inch circumference (snug) and cute with a little faux fur lining? Win.

Another cool thing is that there is no tongue behind those laces. It’s just a faux tongue, so you get the cute effect of lacing, but no water seepage into your boots, even in deep snow!

The only things I’d let you know are:

1. The heel is definitely present, at 1.5 inches, so if you’re used to a completely flat boot, that may take a little adjustment (but it was fine for me since I wear wedges and heels).

2. The laces might require some tightening and untightening, which is quick and worth the look. A lot of times I could slip my foot in and out without doing that.

3. You might need to chop the long laces, double-knot them because they are a bit slippery, or get different ones.

I’m thinking about getting colorful ones for mine. The casual shoelace is the place for the serious shoe diva to have fun, after all. I’d like to start a wacky shoelace collection, and I’m thinking a print like paisley or checks or houndstooth would be fun for my black boots, or silver would be add a little holiday joy to tromping through this winter’s snow.

Or you could choose just to blend into the snow with winter white!

Cougar Boots Ringo Star, $184 at Zappos.com