These Boots are Made for Walking
…and Hiking…and Dancing

No need to sacrifice style at the altar of function

by Patricia Kutza

When is the last time you sacrificed style for function in your search for a versatile boot?

While many of my memories of growing up during Chicago’s rainy April months Chicago have faded, I still can vividly recall wearing those heavy black galoshes.  These boots were puddle-proof, but they were a bear to fit over my shoes.  My feet sweated in them big-time and the fashion statement they shouted was “safe but sorry-looking.” 

I’ve lived through quite a bit of wet weather since those days, settling down in northern California where we get some serious rain in the winter months.  This year, after years of swaddling everything but my feet from the rain, I went on a hunt to find some good boots that can confront our weather in style.  I was pleasantly surprised to discover that today’s marriage of smart technology and fashion design means that I don’t have to sacrifice style at the altar of function.

I’ve long been fascinated by the inventions produced by W.L Gore & Associates, the company, whose flagship invention, GORE-TEX®, really revolutionized both sports outerwear and footwear.  GORE-TEX® is a waterproof, windproof and breathable fabric that, since 1976, has been used in such varied applications as medical implants, wire and cable insulation, sealants and survival gear.  When I got an eyeful of the ECCO Wave GTX boot and read that it was lined in GORE-TEX, I searched no more.

This is one good-looking boot that can literally be worn by itself.  I like the circular stitching of its polyurethane outsole.  A side zipper and adjustable strap gives a glove-like fit.  After a few steps I literally had to look down at my feet to confirm that I was still wearing them.  They are amazingly light-weight.  While the waterproof feature is important to me, I also love the breathable component that absorbs perspiration.  In GORE-TEX-ese (quoted from their website), the reason why that’s possible is because “The pores in the GORE-TEX® membrane are 700 times bigger than a water vapor molecule, so perspiration can easily evaporate through and you can stay dry from the inside out.” “The boots come with the company’s Guaranteed to Keep You Dry® promise, which is reads like a footwear credo:

If you are not completely satisfied with the waterproofness, windproofness, or breathability of a GORE-TEX® product then we will repair it, replace it, or refund your purchase price.

Folks who get off on using cutting edge technology will love these boots.  But so will those boot wearers who don’t give a fig about fluoropolymer membranes and nodes interconnected by fibrils.  They’ll get off on knowing they have a  boot for all seasons and, for all the right reasons…like walking and hiking and dancing.  That’s all I need to know.

For more information:

ECCO Wave GTX boots
Colors:  Black, Coffee
$155
Store locator for finding ECCO Wave GTX boots:
http://www.gore-tex.com/locator/fabrics/StartLoc.jsp?site=goretex_en_US