Thigh-high boots, known also as thigh-length boots or simply thigh boots, are boots that extend above the knees to at least mid-thigh. Other terms for this footwear include over-the-knee boots, a name originally used for 15th century riding boots for men. These are sometimes called pirate boots, especially when cuffed. Over-the-knee boots are sometimes abbreviated to OTK boots. Lengths vary from reaching just over the knee to reaching almost to the crotch (referred to as crotch boots or crotch-high boots).
Thigh boots are made of materials such as leather, synthetic materials (including vinyl and sheet latex) or fabrics (including silk and polyester microfiber). Many are constructed with zippers, but some are designed as pull-on boots. Heel heights vary, but most styles are either flat or have high heels greater than 3 inches (7.5cm). Heel styles vary from metal spikes to chunky. Like other boots, they can also have platform soles.
Thigh boots are considered by many to be erotic or kinky. They are used as fetish clothing in boot fetishism and shoe fetishism and also as part of leather fetishism and rubber and PVC fetishism. Cheaper thigh boots are often worn by female models, prostitutes and dominatrices, so many people consider them icons of such trades. Because of the latter, they are often associated with sadomasochism. Nevertheless, they are frequently sold by couture designers, perhaps because of the implied eroticism. Thigh-high boots are considered by many a symbol of women's power, authority and sex appeal.
The visual appearance of thigh-high boots depends on the length of the legs. Samantha Clark, in her book Outfits in Minutes, writes: "The shorter you are, the less leg there is above the top of the boot, when wearing footwear that ends above the knee. A very high heel helps to give the illusion of height, but when there is much more boot visible than leg; the effect is to optically foreshorten you."[1]
Laced leather boots were fashionable throughout the Victorian era for women. By the end of the 19th century, over-the-knee length laced leather boots were becoming a trend among London prostitutes wanting a style that would appeal to foot fetishists and clients interested in finding a dominatrix.[2]
1960s
Kinky boots, also referred to as fetish boots, are boots made typically with patent leather and high stiletto heels.[3] Their extreme characteristics intended to present a dramatic sexy appearance, such as by a prostitute or dominatrix. Characteristics often include very high heels, thigh- or crotch-high length, or unusual colors or materials.
In women's fashion, thigh boots run through cycles in both popularity and design. As referenced by several authors, the popularity of the motion picture Pretty Woman hurt the credibility of thigh boots as wardrobe staples.[4] Nevertheless, in any fall fashion season, one or more designers and retailers will take a chance on their appeal.[citation needed]
Like shoes in general, fashion thigh boots are marketed through several different channels. A key differentiator among these channels is the price point and construction:
Couture fashion designers marketing thigh boots will vary from year to year. Introducing a boot model is typically tied to the designer's theme for the line. These boots will typically be marketed at the highest price point for thigh boots and, usually, for shoes in general. Fashion designers market similarly, though at a lower price point.
A number of couture shoe design houses regularly include thigh boots in their collections, and the price point will be at a premium, just as with the couture fashion designers. Examples of these designers are:
Couture fashion designers regularly use the shoe design houses to design the boots and shoes for their collections.
Thigh boots are a regular staple of several Italian boutique brands, including:
Gianmarco Lorenzi
Left and Right
Le Silla
Loriblu
Icône
The price point for these boots can be very high, particularly at retail boutiques, but will vary more than for couture designers. Some brands are available through eBay sellers and clearance sellers at discounted prices. The lowest price tier is typically the fashion retailers. Retailers who regularly market thigh boots in their line include:
In Autumn 2010, thigh-high boots repeated as a fashion highlight from Autumn 2009. Designers and fashion houses who showed them with their designs included:
The Autumn 2009 fashion season featured thigh-high boots as a key fashion accessory for the season, resulting in the style being declared a fashion trend in early 2009. Reaching a wider audience through fashion magazine editorials, the footwear style was shown in two different feature layouts in the September 2009 issue of US Vogue.[9][10] Numerous high street fashion stores featured thigh-high boots in their Autumn 2009 collections, with many fashion designers also featuring them in their ready-to-wear collections.
Miuccia Prada pushed the margins of fashion with her thigh boots designed for fashion.[11] One version even featured garters to suspend the tops from a belt. Right behind her was Stella McCartney,[12] featuring three crotch-length boots with synthetic uppers, in following with her usual animal-friendly practice. All three had snipped toes and extreme stiletto heels, and one featured a multi-patterned, pierced upper.
Other design houses showing thigh boots in their Autumn 2009 lines included:
As for the couture shoe designers, Christian Louboutin marketed no less than four different styles in Autumn 2009 – a front-lacing mid-thigh length with sculpted heel and hidden platform (Supra Fifré), a crotch-length, skin-tight boot with hidden platform, a chunky mid-thigh boot (Contente), and a chunky platform mid-thigh boot. In addition to one heeled thigh boot featuring an elastic cuff just above the knee and two pairs of flat over-the-knee boots in their couture line, Jimmy Choo's limited edition capsule collection for H&M[19] featured a mid-thigh black leather boot with a four-inch heel.
Spring 2009
Givenchy[20] kicked off the thigh boot trend conspicuously out of season in early 2009 with a western-style thigh boot in black leather.
Autumn 2008
Fendi[21] supported the thigh boot cause in Autumn 2008 with a chunky suede boot that featured a metallic leather accent around the ankle of the boot and at the top of the heel. The boot was carried by several different retail outlets and was available in black, brown, taupe, and gray.
Autumn 2006
Karl Lagerfeld styled all of his designs in the Autumn 2006 Chanel collection[22] with thigh boots. The boots were finished in a variety of materials, including black suede and different shades of blue denim.
Autumn 2005
Karl Lagerfeld showed the Chanel[23] black leather thigh boot with many of his Autumn 2005 designs that actress Anne Hathaway later wore in The Devil Wears Prada, which made her a fashion icon.
Autumn 2003
Narciso Rodriguez[24] created a stir in Autumn 2003 when almost half the models in his ready-to-wear show were wearing thigh boots with his clothing line. The boots featured four-inch heels and pointed toes. Phoebe Philo at Chloé[25] showed leather and suede thigh boots in several colors, including red and green, in addition to the more typical black and brown.
Autumn 2001
Roberto Cavalli[26] showed many of his designs in Autumn 2001 with thigh boots. The boots featured four-inch heels and pointed toes.
Thigh-high boots in contemporary media
Thigh-high boots have been worn by many celebrities in recent years. Ariana Grande has incorporated many styles of thigh-high boots into her signature look. Because of this many articles were published advertising thigh-high boots, resulting in a surge of demand for the item.[27][28] This could also be linked to the fact that the years of 2018–2019 saw a trend of popular 90's trends becoming fashionable again.[29]
Black vinyl fetish thigh-high (or thigh-length) bootsRed vinyl fetish thigh boots as art
Thigh boots as articles of fetish clothing date back to at least the 1950s when Irving Klaw used them in the costuming of the women in his erotic photography. Since that time, they have been a staple of fetish and adult photography. For instance, Bob Guccione photographed the 1982 Penthouse Pet of the Year, Corinne Alphen, in a pair of black leather thigh boots for her feature layout. Similarly, Dwight Hooker photographed the Playboy 25th Anniversary Playmate, Candy Loving, in white leather over-the-knee boots for her layout.[30]
Until the 2000s, fetish thigh boots were generally distinguished from fashion boots by being more extreme in many design dimensions, particularly heel height and platform height. In the late 2000s, this trend slowly changed as some couture designers, particularly Christian Louboutin, experimented with more extreme designs in their shoes. Consequently, the difference between the two now[when?] is more a function of the materials used. In particular, fetish thigh boots tend to be constructed of polyurethane (PU) or vinyl (often[when?] incorrectly referred to[by whom?] as patent leather).[citation needed] In addition, they are generally[further explanation needed][vague] produced in China and sold at low cost[clarification needed]. Some European cobblers have specialized in higher-priced thigh boots for the fetish market.[citation needed]
Iconography and symbolism in motion pictures
Motion pictures in which thigh boots were prominent in an actress' wardrobe include:
In the 1990 film Pretty Woman, the protagonist, Vivian Ward (played by Julia Roberts), wears her black vinyl thigh boots throughout much of the first part of the movie as a symbol of her role as a prostitute.
In the 2006 film The Devil Wears Prada, the protagonist, Andy Sachs (played by Anne Hathaway), completes her ugly-duckling-to-swan transformation by strutting confidently into her employer's offices wearing a pair of Chanel black leather thigh boots.[31] Andy's wardrobe for this scene and the rest of the movie was styled by noted costumer, stylist, and designer Patricia Field.
In the live-action films 101 Dalmatians and 102 Dalmatians, Glenn Close (Cruella) wears thigh high red PVC and thigh / crotch high black PVC boots respectively. Her boots end up stained in molasses and mud.[32]
Footwear refers to garments worn on the feet, which typically serve the purpose of protection against adversities of the environment such as wear from rough ground; stability on slippery ground; and temperature.
A fetish model is a model who models fetish clothing or accessories that augment their body in a fetish-like manner or in fetishistic situations. Fetish models do not necessarily work exclusively in that form of modeling.
Fetish fashion is any style or appearance in the form of a type of clothing or accessory, created to be extreme, revealing, skimpy, or provocative in a fetishistic manner. These styles are by definition not worn by the majority of people; if everyone wears an item, it cannot have fetishistic, special nature. They are usually made of materials such as leather, latex or synthetic rubber or plastic, nylon, PVC, spandex, fishnet, and stainless steel. Some fetish fashion items include: stiletto heel shoes and boots, hobble skirts, corsets, collars, full-body latex catsuits, stockings, miniskirt, crotchless underwear, jockstraps, diapers, garters, locks, rings, zippers, eyewear, handcuffs, and stylized costumes based on more traditional outfits, such as wedding dresses that are almost completely see-through lace, or lingerie for men.
Rubber fetishism, or latex fetishism, is the fetishistic attraction to people wearing latex clothing or, in certain cases, to the garments themselves. PVC fetishism is closely related to rubber fetishism, with the former referring to shiny clothes made of the synthetic plastic polyvinyl chloride (PVC) and the latter referring to clothes made of rubber, which is generally thicker, less shiny, and more matte than latex. PVC is sometimes confused with the similarly shiny patent leather, which is also a fetish material. Latex or rubber fetishists sometimes refer to themselves as "rubberists". Male rubberists tend to call themselves "rubbermen".
A boot is a type of footwear. Most boots mainly cover the foot and the ankle, while some also cover some part of the lower calf. Some boots extend up the leg, sometimes as far as the knee or even the hip. Most boots have a heel that is clearly distinguishable from the rest of the sole, even if the two are made of one piece. Traditionally made of leather or rubber, modern boots are made from a variety of materials.
A miniskirt is a skirt with its hemline well above the knees, generally at mid-thigh level, normally no longer than 10 cm (4 in) below the buttocks; and a dress with such a hemline is called a minidress or a miniskirt dress. A micro-miniskirt or microskirt is a miniskirt with its hemline at the upper thigh, at or just below crotch or underwear level.
Shoe fetishism is the attribution of attractive sexual qualities to shoes or other footwear as a matter of sexual preference, or an alternative or complement to a relationship with a partner. It has also been known as retifism, after the French novelist Nicolas-Edme Rétif (1734–1806), also known as Rétif de la Bretonne, who wrote a novel about it called Fanchette's Foot, which preference or penchant seems to have been if not "all the rage" at the time at least known to have been practiced or suffered by more than handsful of somewhat important individuals of that period.
John Sutcliffe was a British fashion designer and fetish photographer, famous in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s as a designer of clothes for aficionados of leather, rubber and PVC fetishism, with an emphasis on rubber and leather catsuits, cloaks, and gasmasks.
Boot fetishism is a sexual fetish focused on boots. Boots have become the object of sexual attraction amounting to fetishism for some people and they have become a standard accessory in BDSM scenes and a fashion accessory in music videos. Boots are seen as perhaps the most fetishistic of all footwear and boots are the most popular fetish clothing attire.
Christian Louboutin is a French fashion designer. His stiletto footwear incorporates shiny, red-lacquered soles that have become his signature. Initially a freelance designer for fashion houses, he started his shoe salon in Paris, with his shoes finding favor with celebrity clientele. He has partnered with other organizations for projects including limited edition pieces, gallery exhibits, and a custom bar. His company has since branched out into men's luxury footwear, handbags, fragrances, and makeup.
The ballet boot is a contemporary style of fetish footwear that merges the look of the pointe shoe with a high heel. The idea is to restrict the wearer's feet almost en pointe, like those of a ballerina, with the aid of long, slender heels. When upright, the feet are held nearly vertical by the shoe, thus putting nearly all of the body's weight on the tips of the toes. However, a properly tight fit will hold the shoe to the wearer's instep and heel, thereby reducing the weight on the wearer's toes.
Jodhpurs, in their modern form, are tight-fitting trousers to the ankle, where they end in a snug cuff, and are worn primarily for horse riding. The term is also used as slang for a type of short riding boot, also called a paddock boot or a jodhpur boot, because they are worn with jodhpurs. According to Tara Mayer, "Jodhpurs … exemplify the material and cultural exchanges between Britain and its Indian colony in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries."
Fashion in the 1970s was about individuality. In the early 1970s, Vogue proclaimed "There are no rules in the fashion game now" due to overproduction flooding the market with cheap synthetic clothing. Common items included mini skirts, bell-bottoms popularized by hippies, vintage clothing from the 1950s and earlier, and the androgynous glam rock and disco styles that introduced platform shoes, bright colors, glitter, and satin.
Roger Henri Vivier was a French fashion designer who specialized in shoes. He is best known for creating the modern day stiletto heel and for placing a chrome-plated buckle on an elegant black pump, which became a must-have fashion statement for many celebrities and stars in the 50s and 60s. His namesake label is Roger Vivier (brand).
Go-go boots are a low-heeled style of women's fashion boot first introduced in the mid-1960s. The original go-go boots, as defined by André Courrèges in 1964, were white, low-heeled, and mid-calf in height, a specific style which is sometimes called the Courrèges boot. Since then, the term go-go boot has come to include the knee-high, square-toed boots with block heels that were very popular in the 1960s and 1970s; as well as a number of variations including kitten heeled versions and colours other than white.
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 19th 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.
Russian boot is the name applied to a style of calf- or knee-length fashion boot for women that was popular in the early part of the 20th century. Russian boots fell out of favor in the 1930s, but were the inspiration for the high-leg fashion boots that returned to popularity in the 1950s and 60s. Today the term Russian boot is sometimes applied to the style of low-heeled boots worn by some folk dancers.
Herbert Levine is an American luxury shoe label founded in 1948 by Herbert Levine and his wife Beth.
Fuck-me shoes, alternatively fuck-me boots or fuck-me pumps, is a slang term for women's high-heeled shoes that exaggerate a sexual image. The term can be applied to any women's shoes that are worn with the intention of arousing others. It is sometimes used to imply condemnation against the women who choose to wear them or in a misogynistic fashion toward the women who wear them.
Over-the-knee boots, OTK boots, are long boots that fully or partly cover the knee. Originally created as a man's riding boot in the 15th century, in the latter part of the 20th century, the style was redefined as a fashion boot for women. Over-the-knee boots are also used as a work boot in circumstances requiring additional protection for the legs.
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