Patent Publication Number: US-2012042545-A1

Title: Interchangeable fashion footwear component

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION 
     This application claims the benefit of co-pending application Ser. No. 61/376,123, filed on Aug. 23, 2010, entitled INTERCHANGEABLE FASHION FOOTWEAR COMPONENT. 
    
    
     FIELD 
     The present invention generally relates to a footwear accessory and, more particularly, to an interchangeable fashion footwear component for adorning footwear. 
     BACKGROUND 
     Dress boots and fashion boots come in a variety of styles, sizes, and lengths of the shaft. Fashion boots have become quite popular but may also be fairly expensive thereby limiting the number of pairs of boots a person can own. Additionally, boots take up more space than a typical pair of shoes imposing a physical limit on the number of pairs of boots a person can practically own. 
     Another fashion consideration with shoes in general is a person, particularly women, prefer to coordinate outfits with matching tops, bottoms, hair accessories, jewelry and shoes. If a person only owns one pair of boots, she is limited to a single style or must limit the frequency with which she wears her boots. 
     Various attempts have been made to change the look or style of a pair of dress or fashion boots. One device includes a boot cover that covers the entire shaft of the boot to change the appearance of the boot. Although this changes the look of the boot, a shaft cover is often expensive and cannot accommodate the various shaft lengths limiting the wearer to certain shaft covers matched to a pair of boots with a certain shaft length. Other devices include attaching a cuff around the opening of the shaft with snaps or clips so that different cuffs may be interchanged to provide a different look to the boots. This often requires a physical modification to each pair of boots such that the boot cannot or would not be worn without the cuff in place. Still other devices have been proposed which combine a sock with an inwardly turned decorative cuff that may be folded over the top of the boot opening to provide a decorative look. These combination sock-decorative cuff devices require that the boot be sized to accommodate a user wearing socks, and typically must be washed after each wearing limiting the materials and design of the decorative cuff. 
     SUMMARY 
     The present invention includes interchangeable fashion footwear component which has a decorative cuff which fits around the perimeter of the opening of the shaft of a boot. The decorative cuff may be held in place by an adjustable strap which extends downwardly into the heel portion of the boot engaging the user&#39;s heel when the boot is worn. The decorative cuff may include an elastic component to accommodate various boot opening circumferences. The decorative cuff may include an adjustable fastener to accommodate various boot opening circumferences. 
     The adjustable strap may be shortened or lengthened to match the shaft length of the boot. The strap may be removable for washing separately from the decorative cuff. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a perspective view of an interchangeable fashion footwear component of the present invention on an ankle boot. 
         FIG. 2  is a perspective view of the interchangeable fashion footwear component of  FIG. 1  with the vamp and shaft of the boot removed to show placement of a strap in relation to a user&#39;s foot. 
         FIG. 3  is a perspective view of the interchangeable fashion footwear component of  FIG. 1 , removed from the boot. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     As required, detailed embodiments of the present invention are disclosed herein. However, it is to be understood that the disclosed embodiments are merely exemplary of the invention that may be embodied in various and alternative forms. The figures are not necessarily to scale, some features may be exaggerated or minimized to show details of particular components. Therefore, specific structural and functional details disclosed herein are not to be interpreted as limiting, but merely as a representative basis for the claims and/or as a representative basis for teaching one skilled in the art to variously employ the present invention. 
     Moreover, except where otherwise expressly indicated, all numerical quantities in this description and in the claims are to be understood as modified by the word “about” in describing the broader scope of this invention. Practice within the numerical limits stated is generally preferred. Also, unless expressly stated to the contrary, the description of a group or class of materials as suitable or preferred for a given purpose in connection with the invention implies that mixtures or combinations of any two or more members of the group or class may be equally suitable or preferred. 
     Referring to the figures, an interchangeable fashion footwear component of the present invention is generally indicated by reference numeral  20 . The footwear component  20  includes a cuff  22  and an adjustable strap  24 . The cuff  22  extends around the upper opening  26  of the shaft  28  of a boot  30 , and may include a lip curving around to an inner cuff  32  which covers or is just below the rim of the shaft  28 . The cuff  22  may have a cylindrical or tubular shape sewn or knitted into a tube. The cuff  22  may include elastic along the upper  34  and/or lower  36  edges and/or the lip  32  to permit the cuff  22  to expand to accommodate different sized boot openings  26 . 
     Alternatively, the cuff  22  may be made of a strip of material and may wrap around the perimeter of the opening  26  of the shaft  28  and close at the front  38 , side or back. The right free end  40  may include one or more hook fasteners  42  which engage a loop  44  on the left free end  46  and allow the cuff  22  to be adjusted to fit different sized boot openings  26 . Other fasteners such as buttons, ties, snaps or Velcro®, for example, may be used to adjustably secure the free ends  40  and  46  around the boot opening  26 . 
     The cuff  22  may be made of leather, cloth or other material adorned with rhinestones or other embellishments. The material may be cloth of various colors and/or patterns selected to complement the wearer&#39;s outfit or other worn accessories. The free ends  40  and  46  of the cuff  22  may include tails  48  and  50 , respectively, which may extend down over the vamp  52  of the boot  30  or may be tied into a bow, for example. The free ends  40  and  46  may be sewn together to meet at the upper  34  and lower  36  with adjustable material like elastic. Other accessories  54  may be attached to any place on the cuff  22  for further embellishments. The cuff  22  may be made of just embellishments or embellishment hook hanging from the lip of the inner cuff  32 . 
     The strap  24  may be constructed of an elastic or other band of material and secured to the inside of the cuff  22  by stitching or hooks, for example. Alternatively, the strap  24  may be removably attached to the inside of the cuff  22  by Velcro® or hooks, for example. The strap  24  may include a left  56  and right 58 portions which are adjustably joined together by a strip of Velcro® 60 or other releasable-adjustable fastening material to form a stirrup  62 . The strap  24  may be a single piece of elastic  56  secured to the inner cuff  32  by hooks and have an adjustable slider, or other releasable-adjustable fastening components to form a stirrup  62 . The length of the stirrup  62  may be adjusted to accommodate different height boots from ankle boots to mid-calf boots to knee boots. The stirrup  62  is placed inside the heel  64  of the boot  30 . The wearer&#39;s foot  66  slips through the stirrup  62 , which is then held in place by the wearer&#39;s heel  68 , and consequently holds the cuff  22  in place around the opening  26  of the boot  30 , along with the wearer&#39;s leg  70 . If the footwear component  20  is worn with a high sandal or toga sandal, for example, the strap may be made of a clear plastic material or a nude or skin colored material to help hide the strap. The placement of the sandal strap  24  may be placed forward from the heel to the underside of the foot to accommodate different sandal styles. 
     To use the footwear component  20 , the wearer places the strap  22  inside the boot  30  and wraps the cuff  22  around the upper periphery of the opening  26  of the shaft  28  of the boot  30 . The cuff  22  is adjusted to fit around the shaft  28  and is secured in place by the fasteners  42  and  44 . The wearer may adjust the length of the strap  24  so that the stirrup  62  rests at the bottom of the heel  64  of the boot  30 . When the wearer places her foot  66  into the boot  38 , the wearer&#39;s heel  68  holds the stirrup  62  in place, consequently holding the cuff  22  in place. 
     If the wearer wants to use the footwear component  20  with another pair of boots it is simply a matter of adjusting the cuff  22  and strap  24  as necessary to fit the shaft height of the particular pair of boots. And may adjust the circumference of the cuff  22  upper  34  or lower  36  to accommodate the new size. After one or more wearings the strap  24  may be removed from the cuff  22  and washed. 
     It is to be understood that while certain now preferred forms of this invention have been illustrated and described, it is not limited thereto except insofar as such limitations are included in the following claims.