Thursday, November 24, 2011

Review: Anthropologie Brass Tacks Boots

Disappointing. As I'd feared, the Brass Tacks boots (now $98) didn't quite live up to my expectations. Reviews on Anthro's website pointed to a narrow shaft, and one reviewer said the boots looked good on her 12" calf. I received the boots today and the calf circumference is about 13.75 inches. It looked pretty ridiculous on my 12 inch calf. I'm having some camera issues but will try to post a pic soon. The leather is stiff and good quality, but seems like it will scuff easily, so some sort of protective spray may be a good idea. The shaft is unlined. The fit is true to size. My usual size 6 fit well, with room for socks. 

For those of you with 13.5 inch calves, this is a nice boot.
 It may also work with leg warmers or thick socks, if you have 13 inch calves. I haven't experimented much with this but saw a pair of leg warmers at Athleta that seem like they could work. 

Ordering info: Anthro is currently having a promotion of 25% off sale items through Sunday. 
On Black Friday, from 6am to 11am, they're offering 50% off sale items. The discount is reflected once you add the item to your cart. According to the site, all sizes are still available. 

6 comments:

  1. Hello again,

    Just wanted to let you in on another tip. I recently purchased the Dolce Vita Donner boot and tried it on my 12" calves. Not surprisingly, they were too big. I tried them on with legwarmers and it didn't look terrible, but still felt the overall look was a bit silly (with the boot shaft being too big for my calves). So I took them in to a shoe repair and got them taken in for $90. (A bit pricey but worth it for me because I have been searching for perfectly fitted boots for years). Got them back and am pretty happy with the results. Fits perfectly on my calves now. Just a tad too big in the ankle area (nothing could be done about that) but overall I think the look is way better than if I had not gotten them taken in. In case you are interested, I went to the Cobbler's Bench in Silver Spring, MD: http://www.silverspringdowntown.com/go/cobblers-bench-shoe-repair

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  2. @AnonymousThanks for the tip! It's good to know that there's a place near DC for me to check out. I didn't expect that it would be so $$ to get the calves taken in! That's a good heads up for those of us who are thinking about trying it out. I'm going to try Philips shoe repair in Petworth, DC in a couple of weeks and hope to write a post later about using a cobbler to adjust calf length.

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  3. Have you tried the Brrlin boot made by Simple? I found them on Zappos:
    http://www.zappos.com/simple-brrlin-black where they are currently on sale in 2 colors. Listed circumference is 13", but they have a unique back and a buckle so you can adjust them. I have 12" calves also and I was really happy with how these fit. (Note, they run small, so size up!)

    Also, Style & Co had a boot a couple years ago (the Harvey) that fit my calves. Not sure if it's available anywhere or if they'd have other styles that would fit.

    Good luck! I get so frustrated with boot shopping! Looking forward to see what else you find!

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  4. @AnonymousThank you for the heads up re: the Simple boot! I am ordering them now to review for the blog. They are super cute!

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  5. I was wondering if you would be able to post some photos of these boots. I ordered them during the black friday sale, but I just found out today that the web order failed (even though I recieved a confirmation). I'm curious to see what the look like in real life.

    By the way, I have 12.5" calves and I have La Canadienne Dorina boots. They're super comfy, have good padding in the footbed, and fit perfectly on my small calves. They're well made and worth the $300 price. You should give them a try if you like the style, I highly recommend them. Good luck with the search!

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  6. @AnonymousI'm so sorry, I returned the boots yesterday morning. If you're in the DC area, I returned a size 6 to the Georgetown Anthro store. I think they look pretty much exactly like the picture. I really liked them but I just didn't feel they would look good for someone with < 13" calves, unless they were tailored. Thanks for recommending La Canadienne - I'll include them in my next boot roundup. The price tag is a bit steep for me at this point but I believe you when you say it's worth it -- all the other reviewers seem to have said the same.

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