A Letter From Michelle: The Amparo
A Letter From Michelle
The whole question with a mid-calf boot is whether it stands up.
On smooth leather, the one thing that decides whether a tall boot gets worn or folded away, the six things I would not give up on, and why the Amparo is $89.95.
Women tell me at the counter that mid-calf boots do not suit them. Almost every time, they are describing one particular pair.
It looked right in the store. Then it wore in, the shaft gave up somewhere around the ankle, and what she bought as a mid-calf boot finished the season as a concertina.
A shaft that will not hold its own shape is not a small flaw you learn to live with. It is the whole boot, because everything above the ankle stops doing anything at all.
The Amparo is built the other way round, and you can see it in the photograph above. There is no leg in those boots.
Six things I would not give up on.
It is standing up by itself
Look at what the shaft is doing in these photographs, which is nothing. It is holding its height with nothing inside it. The upper is smooth leather, structured rather than soft, and that is what holds the mid-calf line up where it was cut instead of letting it fold down around the ankle. Everything else on this boot is a detail. This is the boot.
“What caught my eye was the shape of the shaft. I wanted a pair that stood up rather than having a very slouchy look. The stitching and zipper details give them some character without being too much. I wore mine with dark jeans for lunch last week. They’re a nice match for the earthy colors I tend to wear in fall.”
Rosemary T., LancasterThe zipper runs the whole side
A full-length side zipper, opening the boot from the top of the shaft all the way down, with a pull tab at the top to start it. You are not hauling a tall boot over your heel with both hands. You step in and zip up, so the boot closes around your leg rather than being forced over it — and at the end of a long day it comes off without you sitting on the floor.
“The side zipper makes these easier to put on than my pull-on boots. I appreciate being able to open them right down the side. The rounded toe has the room I was looking for, too.”
Joan B., PrescottRoom across the front, where you feel it first
The toe is rounded and cut roomy across the front. That is the part of a boot a woman notices in the first ten minutes and resents all winter, and it is why a thicker sock in January is not a reason to size up. The room is already in the boot. If you are wide across the ball of the foot, this is the shape to look at.
“I’m particular about boots feeling tight across my toes, so the rounded front appealed to me. These give me room for the socks I like wearing in cooler weather. I’ve mostly paired them with jeans so far.”
Denise K., AmesTwo inches, on a base you can stand on
Two inches of stacked heel, enough to change how you stand and not enough to change what you can do with the afternoon. The base is broad rather than narrow, so your weight sits over something instead of balancing on it. That is the difference between a heel for dinner and a heel for dinner, a sidewalk, and the walk back to the car.
“Just enough heel for me, and I like the broad shape. Pretty with a skirt and a simple sweater.”
Martha F., LynchburgThe pale sole is doing more than you think
Look at the bottom edge. The sole is thick and pale, and it sits against the dusty tan upper rather than vanishing underneath it. That one line of contrast is most of why these read as a choice instead of a default, and why they sit next to cream and denim as easily as under a skirt. It is a small thing you will notice every time you look down.
“The dusty tan looks lovely with blue jeans. I especially like the lighter sole—it gives these boots a different look from my darker pairs.”
Karen S., AppletonNine sizes, and the four that are missing
Nine sizes, 5 through 11, all at one price. That is the whole list, and I would rather tell you here than let you find it at the dropdown: there is no 5.5, no 6.5, no 9.5 and no 10.5. Take your usual size. And if yours is one of the four, I would rather you knew now than after you had set your heart on them.
“I bought the Amparo for a fall weekend away. The tan worked with the jeans and cream sweater I’d already planned to pack. I also wore them with a longer skirt for dinner. The mid-calf height was a nice change from my ankle boots. Glad I chose something I could style a couple of ways.”
Paula M., SpokaneThe Amparo, against what else $90 buys
| Most $90 boots | The Amparo | |
|---|---|---|
| The shaft | Soft, so it settles around the ankle and stays there | Structured, and it holds the mid-calf line with nothing in it |
| Getting them on | Pull-on, hauled over the heel with both hands | A full-length side zip, with a pull tab at the top to start it |
| The toe | Narrow across the front, so a winter sock costs you a size | Rounded and roomy, with the space for a thick sock already in it |
| The upper | The material is not named, so you find out when it arrives | Smooth leather, named outright, on a shaft structured to stand up |
| The sole | Dark, so it disappears under the upper | Thick and pale, set deliberately against the dusty tan |
| Sizing | Stops at 10, if you are lucky | 5 through 11, one price, and I name the four gaps |
Why we are clearing them out now
The Amparo was $299.95, and that number was for a structured upper in smooth leather, a full-length side zip with a pull tab, a rounded toe cut roomy across the front, and two inches of stacked heel over a thick pale sole. I am not going to stand here and tell you that is a small amount of money for a pair of boots. But the store turns twenty this year, and my daughters Julie and Amy are both at the counter most days now, which is not something I let myself count on in 2006. We wanted to mark it by handing something back to the women who kept those doors open, so it is going out at a little under a third of what it was.
I will give you the honest reasoning too. Boots are the thing you put on knowing you will still be standing in them nine hours later, which makes them the pair that quietly decides how the day goes. This is the pair you buy before the first cold morning, not on it. If it turns out to be the pair you reach past the others for, then $89.95 was never the point.
★★★★★4.8 out of 5 — from 3,369+ reviews
$299.95$89.95
20th Anniversary Sale — Save 70%
- A smooth leather upper, structured to hold the shaft upright
- A full-length side zipper, with a pull tab at the top
- A roomy rounded toe — room for a thicker sock
- A two-inch stacked heel on a broad base
- A thick, pale sole against the dusty tan
- Mid-calf shaft, cut wider through the calf
- True to size · sizes 5 through 11, one price
- Free UPS shipping · 30-day money-back guarantee
Every size the same price · while sizes last
One more thing, and then I will let you go.
Go and find the tallest boots you own and stand them on the floor with nothing inside them.
If the shaft folds over on itself, you have just found the pair you stopped wearing, and the reason. You were never wrong about mid-calf boots. You were right about that one.
Stand the Amparo up the day the box arrives and run the same test. If it fails, send it back within thirty days and we will refund you.
Go and pick your size.
With love and gratitude,
— Michelle · The Hayes Family Hamptons
SEE THE AMPARO — $89.95 →This is a personal letter from Michelle Hayes, co-founder of The Hayes Family Hamptons. Customer reviews are quoted as written. · Free UPS shipping · 30-day money-back guarantee.