Monday, November 25, 2013

Preview of upcoming reviews

A quick heads up that I ordered the following boots and hope to have reviews up within 2 weeks. Because of the Thanksgiving holiday, I'm not sure I'll have them before the end of next week but I'll try to get the reviews up as soon as I can. 

I featured these in my very first boot roundup because I loved a picture of them from a Garnet Hill catalog. I recently received an email from a helpful reader who said that a size 5.5 fit her just under 12" calf. She was very happy with her purchase so I decided to pull the plug. I have a soft spot for boots with a built in sock. They are available at Amazon, ShoebaccaShoes, Heels, and Online Shoes. Please note that returns on outlet items at Shoebacca are not free. I paid about $15 for return shipping on a pair of boots. 
Corso Como "Radar"
A couple of readers said these fit their narrow calves well and were well-suited to shorter/petite women. One noted that a size 9.5 had a 13.75" circumference and 14.75" shaft (so helpful!). Available at DSW
Franco Sarto "Candy"
After hearing so much positive buzz, I caved into curiosity and ordered Aquatalia's Unity boots (review), despite the hefty price tag, when an Espresso pair in my size reappeared on Amazon. 


I really want to review Minnetonka's front-lace knee-hi boots ($86) but will probably order them once I put up the other reviews. I've seen pictures online and although I can't be sure they're good for narrow calves (a few of the reviews on Zappos focus on how they can be adjusted to accommodate wide calves), I'm hopeful. Also at Online Shoes
Minnetonka "front lace knee-hi" boots
I can't promise the reviews will be very timely, but I hope to have them up by the end of the first week of December. Happy Thanksgiving and a big thanks to all of you for supporting this blog!

~ Little Contessa

Friday, November 22, 2013

Review: Enzo Angiolini Deanja Boots

So I ordered the Enzo Angiolini Deanja boots with the hope that they would be comfortable, with clean lines and enough of a heel to be dressy / skirt-friendly, but not too much of a heel to make walking difficult. The calf circumference on my size 6 was approximately 12.75" and the shaft height is between 14"-15"

For the price ($100-$170) and the fact that these are leather boots, I expected the quality to be more substantial. The leather has a "crackled" look to it, which is fine but the material itself is quite thin. The shaft circumference was a good fit to the top of my calf when viewed from the side (I'm wearing very thin stockings in the pictures below so the fit would be better with jeans). However, I don't like the front view. The outer side of each boot has a small elastic/fabric panel at the top and I think this caused the boots to "fall out" at the side. Also, the boot shape is almost cylindrical, so the shaft seems like it's almost the same circumference throughout when viewed from the side. I would have liked it more if it was a bit more tapered throughout the leg. The ankle wrinkles very easily, especially when viewed from the front (although I can't be sure if this is more pronounced because of my thin ankles).

Sunday, November 17, 2013

A list of narrow calf boot successes

A reader suggested that I compile a list of all the boots featured on this blog that worked well and could be options for skinny calf ladies. She said that having all the boots in one place would mean that she didn't have to scroll through every single post to figure out which reviews were good ones. That was really helpful feedback and I totally agreed. I put together the following list based on boots that I reviewed as well as ones from boot round-ups that received positive feedback from readers. I can't decide if I'll keep adding to this list or write these lists periodically (assuming that we find many more boots that work!). 

Thursday, November 14, 2013

Boot Roundup

In trying to find the next pair of boots to review, I came across the following options for a boot roundup. As always, I haven't tried these on, but base my selections on descriptions, reviews, and tips from fellow skinny calf Contessa's :)

Sidenotes
* Thanks to all of you who friended / liked me on Facebook! It's so great to see how many other skinny calf ladies are out there and rockin it! Hopefully the page will make it easier for us to share quick and timely tips. 
** Unrelated, but I realized that Amazon is having a sale - 30% off $100 on select boots/shoes. Good deal!

Friday, November 1, 2013

New Facebook page and a giveaway (for a different blog)

I decided to create a Facebook for this blog since it may be an easier way to share posts and it would allow me to post quick updates. This would be helpful if I get a good tip and want to share it quickly or--to use a recent example--to notify readers if I return boots that were out of stock. Right now, I update each post and it's probably a pain for readers to keep checking them. So feel free to "friend" me! But I made all the posts public so you can still see the posts and comments if you prefer not to.

Also --and I apologize for the digression since this isn't related to boots-- I found out about a contest recently and thought it was pretty exciting. I don't read a lot of fashion blogs but I do enjoy Effortless Anthropologie and I suspect that some of you are fellow Anthropologie fans. EA is holding a pretty great contest to celebrate that blog's 5 year anniversary. I wanted to share it because I suspect some of you might be interested (and because it allowed me to get another entry into the contest :). More info about the contest after the jump.

Don't worry, I'm still searching for boots!