All About Fashion Stuff: Ralph Lauren Janessa Two Tone Riding Boots + Sandals

Thursday, March 21, 2013

Over the last fall and winter, I have tried on numerous riding boots and have had no had success. I ordered these R.L. Janessa Riding Boots because I loved the two tone color, plus they were also on sale! Spring is also a great time to buy boots at discounted prices (if you don't mind waiting) because retailers are trying to get rid of their old fall/winter stock. I have lots of dressy boots and wanted a pair of casual boots that I'd wear with weekend or errand-running outfits and thought these would fit the bill.

The biggest issue I have with most boots is the calf circumference running too big (and I'm sure a lot of ladies have this issue as well). I remember wearing my Stuart Weitzman 'Spectacle' Boots while shopping one weekend and this random lady chased me down and said "Excuse me, but where are those boots from because they fit your calves so well and I can never find boots that fit!"

I knew the calf circumference would run big on these boots so I decided to order 1/2 size smaller than my normal size, hoping the calf area would be smaller as well. Not sure if that is logical or not?

I got a size 5 (normally wear 5.5) and the foot area actually fit just fine, but the calf area was a tad big. When paired with jeans, I think it's hard to tell that the calves don't fit. When wearing them with bare legs, its very obvious they are too big. I went back and forth, but finally decided that if I were to keep these boots I could only wear them with jeans and didn't want to be restricted to just that. Another thing that bothered me was the quality of the leather. Even though these boots were on sale, it wasn't extremely cheap to warrant such low quality leather. I really love the style of these boots (esp the 2 tone) and thought about it for a couple of days before returning them.

Circumference of the calf area measures 14".

If anyone has similar boots that fit them well in the calves, please let me know!