page_title: Fashion boot
section_title: 1970s and 1980s
hierarchical_section_title: Fashion boot / History / 1970s and 1980s
caption_attribution_description: English: Rachel Ray in knee-length fashion boots, 30 January 2009(2009-01-30), cropped from Flyscooters Rachel Ray Zellweger &amp; Connick Jr. 1-30-09.jpg, author Allegrosalsa
context_page_description: A fashion boot is a boot worn for reasons of style or fashion. The term is usually applied to women's boots. Fashion boots come in a wide variety of styles, from ankle to thigh-length, and are used for casual, formal, and business attire. Although boots were a popular style of women's footwear in the Nineteenth Century, they were not recognized as a high fashion item until the 1960s. They became widely popular in the 1970s and have remained a staple of women's winter wardrobes since then.
context_section_description: Although fashion boots and particularly 'go-go boots' are often described as 'typical' of 1960s fashion, it wasn't until the 1970s that boots became a mainstream fashion staple for women; for many women in the 1960s, boots were seen as "a superfluous accessory" more suitable for teenagers and college girls than a grown woman while, in 1968, 75% of office managers surveyed by The New York Times disapproved of their female staff wearing boots to work. By contrast, in 1977, boots made up 20 percent of all women's shoe sales in the United States and the end of the decade saw fashion boots occupying multiple pages of mainstream mail-order catalogs by companies such as Sears, Wards, and Kays.
  The early 70s were typified by tight-fitting, vinyl boots rising to the knee or higher. These sometimes had mock lacing on the front and zipped up at the rear; they could be worn under the new maxi dresses, which had slits in them to show the leg. An even higher combination was the Pan-T-Boot, a single garment combining stretch tights with boots. In summer, pale, high-legged boots in printed or open weave fabric were teamed with summery dresses; these often had extensive cut-outs, so that they were more like high-legged sandals than conventional boots. Platform-soled styles were also popular. The multi-colored suede and canvas over-the-knee boots produced by the London store Biba were so sought-after that queues would form outside the store when a delivery was due. By the late 1970s, form-fitting, shaped-leg boots were being replaced with straight-legged designs, frequently worn over jeans or other pants, which were often pulled-on rather than zip-fastened. As well as high-heeled dress boots, more rugged designs, by companies such as Frye, were widely worn. The end of the decade saw a growth in popularity of shorter, calf-length boots, often worn layered with socks and tights, and a revival of interest in over-the-knee and thigh-length boots, which were popularized by punk and new wave performers such as Blondie's Debbie Harry.
  
  In contrast to the preceding decade, the 1980s saw a sharp decline in the popularity of high-legged boots. Instead, ankle boots in a variety of styles were particularly popular, as were low-heeled, calf-length, pull-on styles. Knee length boots, if worn at all, tended to be low-heeled, pull-on styles, sometimes referred to as "riding boots", that were combined with long skirts. In the late 1980s, over-the-knee boots made a reappearance; these were loose-fitting, low-heeled styles in suede, often brightly colored or decorated with brocade. In 1990, Karl Lagerfeld included thigh-length satin boots in his Fall/Winter Couture collection for Chanel, using the boots as an alternative to leggings, but it was not until the following decade that the inherent elegance of classic dress boot styles was rediscovered.
caption: American television personality, Rachael Ray, in knee-length, black leather fashion boots, January 2009
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