In any event, there are few things more miserable than cold, soggy feet. Third, a boot must be well padded. Look for padding on both sides of the ankle, up the front of the shin and around the heel. Some, like the BMW Gore-Tex boot, use a combination of both hard plastic and ballistic foam, while others forgoe the superior combination and use the foam or hard plastic alone. The hand is often the first thing to make contact with the street in a spill, from your natural inclination to break a fall by throwing out your arms and trying to break your fall with your hand.
Gloves basically come in three styles and two constructions.
They should be snug when you buy them, not tight but not able to be pulled right off either. Wet hands suck, period. Giving leather gloves a good waterproofing treatment will help, but in an extended downpour you'll still end up with purple hands and pink fingernails from the leather die. BMW makes an excellent Gore-Tex glove, and Olympia and others make waterproof variations as well. One trick is to tuck the gauntlet of the glove into the sleeve of the riding jacket - with waterproof gloves, water intrusion is usually through the gauntlet and short of tucking them in no velcro or snap will close that opening enough to keep out water.