How To Style Chelsea Boots As An Adult Man

so a lot of guys out there think a Chelsea boot is a Chelsea boot they're all the same right wrong there are actually three types of Chelsea boots you're going to commonly see out there and you want to know this because you want to make sure you wear the appropriate clothing with the particular type of boot so the first Chelsea boot style I want to talk about is that built off a dress shoe design you can imagine it like cars you've got truck chassis you have car chassis and the difference is you know the frame and everything that's built up the same thing with dress shoes so these right here are going to have a dress shoe built from the sole to the upper to the last that's used to the overall design it's going to be a bit more delicate they're going to use lighter materials when we look at the sole we're going to see using a full leather sole but it's not going to be super thick these are not really made to be weatherproof they're actually made to be dressed up made to be worn with a suit these are boots made to look good first and function as Hardy outerwear second on the flip side we've got the more casual rugged Chelsea boot design this is going to be made with a heavier upper leather the sole is usually going to be thicker and is going to have traction on it you're also going to see the build here we're going to see Goodyear welts we're going to see just a thicker overall design even with the stitching these are made to be you know everyday wears and right in the middle of the two we've got the hybrid design this type of Chelsea boot is going to take from both ends to create something unique something that serves a particular purpose this one right here these are made to look good walk around town and they're not going to be as durable as a lot of the you know tougher uppers that use more of a straight up leather this is going to be suede you got to be a little bit more careful with it but the soles here are made to be walking they're not going to have a whole lot of traction as we saw in the other one a little bit more delicate yet they do have a rubber mixed in with leather with a Goodyear welt so a somewhat rugged design with a bit more style knowing the difference matters gents because these are made to be worn with casual jeans these are made to be worn with a casual suit now build not that first rule you're going to see sometimes it's hard to distinguish between the different styles but if you look closely you can spot the details right here notice the rounded toe that is going to be more casual that curved toe right in there that is going to be for a dressier style boot in addition look at the difference in the toe box height the thickness in the sole it may not seem like much but this is the small difference between a dress boot and a more casual boot now occasionally you will see snip toes out there they are very different than square toes very common in Boots and you're going to see this in both casual and in the dress Chelsea boot style the next rule the style and Chelsea boots is an adult man is to pay attention to the sole and the construction of the boot so in general you want to stay away from cemented from glued shoes I get it some of you guys simply find something on sale it looks good the problem with that is it over time they will fall apart I do recommend going to either a Blake Stitch which you're going to see on a lot of the dress shoes because it has just simply a cleaner elegant and a very light design or go with a Goodyear welt this in general is going to be the most hearty construction and it's going to be the most water resistant now on a Blake Stitch you should be at the bottom of the shoe the sole right there you should be able to see stitching going through the actual sole now when you look on top you're not going to see any stitching on the side instead they do the stitching on the inside of the shoe a Goodyear welt on the other hand will have the stitching at the bottom as well but you should be able to see stitching on the outside and again a lot of dress shoe designers don't like this look so that's why they go with the Blake stitch design that being said if you want something that's more durable the Goodyear welt is where it's at now what about leather soles and traction I'll be honest you're not going to get much traction with leather soles even after they've been worn in yeah you can get a little bit of rubber right here on the heel but if you want traction you want to make sure you go for a type of boot that either has a hybrid design which you can see this one right here has both leather and rubber a little bit of The Best of Both Worlds or you can go with a straight up Rubber Sole now if you really want traction you're going to be leaning towards the more casual style as you can see right here this one right here tons of grooves plenty of traction but again this is not something you would want to wear it with a suit unless it is really bad weather outside in that case you can wear whatever you want all that being said keep it simple that's rule number three so when you're going out there and you're grabbing your first pair maybe your fourth pair of Chelsea boots there's nothing wrong with keeping it simple and repeating a color that's already in your wardrobe if all your dress shoes are black if most of your shoes are brown then gravitate towards that color because you're really just looking to bring in a different style that's going to give you more opportunity to wear it in different situations you don't really have to change up and go with anything eclectic you don't have to go with the style that you're not used to wearing I know for me I would rather go with something simple something yeah that's not going to be flashy but I know I'm gonna wear and I'm going to get miles out of that being said let's go to rule number four which is to double down once you find that you've actually got a pair of chelsees you're rotating them in your wardrobe there's nothing wrong with having a second pair of chelsees that are a little bit different in style maybe going with a suede maybe going with a little bit of traction on the bottom something you can wear in inclement weather or maybe you want something a little bit flashier something with the buckles on it something a color that you don't have a whole lot of shoes in but you've been wanting to try the point being is once you start wearing Chelsea's there's nothing wrong with having a couple to maybe even a few in your wardrobe rule number five The Styling Chelsea boots is an adult man buy the best that you can afford if anything is the hundred dollar sub 100 range most likely it is glued it's not using a good quality upper material these are shoes which are probably not going to last and the 200 to 300 range you're going to find a number of online Brands they do a very good job of actually delivering good quality this video is not sponsored by Thursday boots but I talk about them all the time another great company is Ace marks uh you can also yeah just simply look around you'll find some decent options out there once you go past three to four hundred dollars now you're getting into I think the rarified airway you should expect not only great design but also great quality and I know a lot of you guys out there watching this video have your favorite bootcamp company especially when it comes to Chelsea's guys I would love to hear from you down in the comments what is your favorite Boot Company who are you buying your Chelsea boots from now once you go past 500 usually what you're paying for is either a fashion label or you're paying for individual workmanship because you're buying some you know high-end British or Italian brand and I get it if you are into shoes then go for it but I think for the vast majority of people you should be able to find something in the two to three hundred dollar range which is going to suit your needs and going to last you for years if with rule number six you take care of it as you can see right here these boots have cracked once the leather cracks pretty much nothing you can do about it you're going to need to get a new pair of boots and sad to say those were my Chelsea boots they cracked right there I went through a Wisconsin winner and I did not condition them I did not dry them out properly I treated them like crap and by the end of the season yeah I was paying for it because I had to get a new pair of boots understand that most Chelsea boots are going to use a little bit of a thinner leather especially if they're a dress shoe type of design now the more rugged heavier designs you can be a bit rougher with but I still think that anything that you're spending good money on and that's why I do like to see a man put a little bit of his skin in the game and get a great pair of boots that he spends good money on because you're going to be more likely to clean them off after everywhere get rid of the salt use a little bit of vinegar go on there and then you want to condition them you want to clean them you want to polish why do people polish shoes yes it makes them look better it gives them a bit of shine but it also provides a layer of wax on the shoe that protects it from the elements now what about suede well if you're familiar with the different types of leather out there you know that suede is made from the corium and the corium is going to be one of the lighter looser that threaded basically types of leather that will invite and take in moisture so if you are going to go with suede Chelsea is there any type of suede shoe make sure that it's a weather resistant suede if you're not sure or if you buy something and you know it's more of a delicate build then you can act actually treat it and I would recommend pretty much after every dozen wears going in and treating your suede shoes with a spray there's a silicone out there you can find them online relatively inexpensive you're going to use pretty much the entire can on your pair and this is going to go over it's not going to and you test a small spot you want to make sure it doesn't discolor the suede but this right here is going to protect your shoes from the elements and make sure that they last for multiple seasons and with all that being said rule number seven to styling Chelsea boots as an adult man guys wear them yes you are occasionally I mean this pair right here I've got a little bit of discoloration on the suede but you know what I'm wearing them I love them and here's the thing with any type of clothing eventually it is going to fall apart so don't be afraid to actually wear these find a way to dress up a little bit wear these with a casual suit or dress them down with jeans but if you are going to spend money on Chelsea boots make sure that you get your wear you get your money's worth out of them now gents if you're watching this video you're probably the kind of guy that wants to step up his style but where are you at what's your style score guys I got you covered over at Real Men Real style down in the description of today's video I'm going to link over to my website this is a free quiz that you can take and you can actually get your style score and we'll give you a breakout of how you can improve your style how you can build up your confidence leveraging the science of style that's what I talk about here we use studies we use our experience my research you know I owned a Clothier and I designed thousands of Suits this is something I love to be able to help men so we've got free ebooks over at real Monroe style we've got infographics but starting off in figuring out what your style score is absolutely free so go check it out guys again link into it down in the description of today's video so now let's talk a little bit about the history of the Chelsea boot because when you buy something you want to make sure it's going to be in style right well don't worry for over a hundred and seventy years since the 1850s men and women have been wearing Chelsea boots in fact we have to thank Queen Victoria she was the one that made the Chelsea boot popular so it did start off as a women's boot but nowadays May have taken it on here's the distinctive feature is going to be the stretch and that is the big separation what separates the Chelsea boots from all the different options out there so we don't have an ankle strap we don't have a zipper we don't have a buckle on this instead it slips on and off and it's for ease of comfort now some people talk about how this boot started off as a riding boot that's actually not the case it's always been a walking boot it's always been something now you know the heel right here kind of infers that it used to be used as a riding boot but most boots we see that this right here just simply took the style the design of the day and it made it so it was a very comfortable easy slip-on easy slip off walking shoe which for about the first hundred years of its life was pretty much regulated to just that but then something interesting happened in the 1950s in the 1950s in particular Kings Road in West London we started seeing a lot of intellectuals together we're talking playwrights we're talking musicians and it seemed that a lot of them started wearing what was known at the time is The Paddock boot it became known as the Chelsea boot though because this Chelsea set as they were known all of these young people that were getting together they just started to favor it and they became a fashion trend in the 1960s these same boots were outfitted with what's known as a Cuban heel and that's going to be much longer than this about twice to three times at almost three inches in length and that Cuban heel all of a sudden artists Started Loving this in the 1960s one of the probably the most popular band that's ever existed The Beatles they fell in love with this Chelsea Boot and they helped it take its rise to stardom now Legend has it that in 1961 both John Lennon and Paul McCartney picked up their first pair of Chelsea boots again at the time known I think is Baba boots um and then later Ringo and uh was it George both picked up a pair as well and you see so many photos and this became the mod style you know with the tailored suit with these Chelsea boots and with that hairstyle it became huge in fact the Rolling Stones even started wearing these type of boots and it just became a huge fashion trend for a while they were actually known as the beetle boots and for those of you guys that are Star Wars fans a little known fact but the Storm Troopers in the original Star Wars guess what they were wearing white Chelsea boots yes now for me personally I picked up my first pair of Chelsea boots over 20 years ago and I fell in love with them because of the Simplicity of the ease of slipping them on and off of Simply being able to dress them up dress them down it was the versatility I'm a traveler so it's something that I love not having the lace or unbuckle a shoe when I'm going through security and those were the things that really sold me on the boot and in my opinion are the reason that this boot has become so endearing to so many men of style now let's cover how to wear your Chelsea boots so if you want the dressiest form of Chelsea Booth you're going to go with the dress shoe design you're going to go with a simple black and this is the classic color what we see the Beatles wearing a suit with the Rolling Stones a number of artists musicians nowadays it is pretty CLE classic conservative I think that any guy can pull this off even in a boardroom setting in New York City if you so choose yes technically I know it's not about moral Oxford but you know Simplicity ease a look at the key here though is that you have the design you have the silhouette you don't have anything overly large because sometimes you can buy a boot and you think that it looks like a dress boot but when you under scrutiny you can clearly see that the toe box is either too clumsy looking or you know the sole maybe is a little bit too casual this right here would be on the border because of the rubber of the overall this is more of a hybrid Design This Chelsea boot right here even though it's not in black is more of a dress shoe design I can just feel it I can see the small differences really it comes down to the sole yes they're using a Blake Stitch a little bit lighter a little bit thinner but is a full on leather Sole and it's a small difference but something again if you want to really make sure you're correct when you're wearing it with let's say a blue navy suit a charcoal gray this would probably be the one I would go with even you know in this color right here now with this design right here this is the hybrid this Falls in in between and it's got a Rubber Sole but still a dress shoe type of design overall a very Sleek design it's got the classic Chelsea look except for the color right here which for a lot of people this is a more modern interpretation it's become really popular especially uh you know wearing it with contrast denim maybe a little bit mid to light or even dark denim right there is going to provide the contrast and that's really what these shoes are doing they are going to be we're going to grab attention Could you actually wear this with a suit I think you could a casual suit but definitely not you wouldn't want to dress it up with a navy unless you've got the you know confidence unless you own the company and you just like the combination I do like a medium brown with navy I think it looks really good blue but these right here again they aren't going to be as dressy as a solid dark color but if you've got the confidence if you've got the ability yeah go ahead and pull them off with pretty much whatever you like except for Ultra casual Denim and that's where these boots fall in because of the clunkier heavier design now these are going to be more terrible here get a snowstorm in Wisconsin I would be wearing a pair like this because the traction first and foremost is going to ensure I don't fall on my ass when I'm out walking uh they're gonna you know just simply make sure I stay up on my feet and the heavier use of the leather this leather right here maybe in this video it looks really clean and elegant I'd say when you get up close you see a little bit of a pebbled design and it's thicker heavier and that's great because it's going to be more resistant to water damage or any type of water like that that being said I still treat all of my shoes I condition them especially if they get really wet when I'm going through sleet or snow but overall the design right here and this really doesn't take too much of a shine or I could shine it up if I really want but this design right here is perfect with denim I could even wear this with gray flannels maybe a sweater but I would not be dressing these up with a suit now really quick some FAQs what is going to be the most versatile color I think that black for most men is going to be the best place to start that being set I love Oxblood and if you already are wearing black Oxblood is a great great color maroon that fits right in with so many different black designs and it just adds a little bit of Pop to it dark brown is nice and it's probably you know the majority of my shoes are medium to dark brown but I do acknowledge that when it comes to Chelsea's I usually wear them when I'm dressing something up or I'm wearing really Ultra casual clothing so for me in those situations the black for the dress shoe design the dark brown or the medium brown for whenever I want something more casual now would I recommend a pair of black Chelsea's to be able to wear with black tie again if it's the right style design as a leather sole it is a dress shoe type of chassis right there then I would think that there's nothing wrong with this I know some people are classic you know style guys and I say no you need to be wearing slippers or Balmoral oxfords or patent leather shoes I get that but practically speaking I can see why some guys would wear Chelsea's especially maybe if you want even with a Rubber Sole if you want a little bit of grip it's inclement weather you're there for some type of awards ceremony you know a charity get together I would actually I think they look fine now what about wing tips what about cap toes what about you know type of broguing in the Chelsea boot I think this is perfectly fine but you have to understand this does make it more casual any type of broken makes a shoe more casual that being said they can look really nice especially a medallion right there on the toe and when done correctly not overdone I do think that you can even get away wearing something like this with a suit what about a contrast elastic does that make the boot more casual yes it does and the elastic you want to make sure that they're using a good quality most manufacturers especially all the ones you know I've talked about in my videos over the years they are using a good quality elastic I've never had one break down but it is something to think about the long term unit for gonna have a boot for 20 30 years but in general I'd have to say if you want something that's going to be dressed you do not want to go with a contrast in the elastic all right Jen so what video to watch next how about why the ladies love a man in Boots seriously I improved this video I made it even better if you ever watch this one you need to check out especially if you want to attract the ladies guys I go into the science I go into the details right here yeah click on it it's a good one seriously

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