WHAT I’VE GOT: Allen Edmonds Long Branch Boots

Apologies for the double-post, just catching up here.

Let me take you way back, to when I was a freshly minted college graduate, working my first job in an architecture firm in the big city. I needed a pair of boots: something I could wear to client meetings in the office, then directly onto a site. Everything I found was either way too dressy, too culturally connotive (think oil-baron-on-TV boots) or a little too hard-wearing. That is, until I found this pair.

Yes, they were crazy expensive. Yes, they were a weird Frankenstein shoe, what with the dress-shoe-brouging and Vibram rubber soles). But at the same time, those crazy qualities make them perfect. They look great dressed up, dressed down or simply worn. They were happy traversing snow, conference rooms, the subway and most places in between.

These boots are seriously built to last. I’ve had to learn to care for leather, and sure they’ve shifted in color —but they’re my go-to shoe regardless of the day or occasion.