I Finally Found A Pair Of Over-The-Knee Boots That Fit My Wide Calves

While everyone else mourns the end of summer, I gladly put away my warm-weather clothes for my much-preferred fall wardrobe. Over the years I have slowly curated a satisfying collection of sweaters, flannels, flowy dresses, skirts, and ankle boots for fall. But I've never been able to find the perfect wide-calf over the knee boots; the top shelf of my closet is a graveyard of not quite right pairs with elastic and ties that cut into my legs in the hope of getting the right silhouette.

Since I never found anything better, it didn't make sense to throw away my own personal island of misfit boots — until I found the Part & Parcel boots that just relaunched today. These over-the-knee boots are beautiful — and they actually fit! They don't look they were made as an after thought, but like someone actually cared about the needs of women with a larger than 15.5” calf. In fact, these boots exclusively come in a 20”, 22”, and 24” calf circumferences with a standard wide footbed. The line was founded by a woman who has been wearing plus-sized clothing since she was a tween and has the first-hand experience of the need for well-made clothes that go above a size 12. Part & Parcel exclusively makes clothes for women who wear sizes 14 - 36.

While I loved the message of the brand, I was dubious at first. I had pretty much settled on never finding a shoe that fit right. These are a rich suede with a flap that goes over the knee in the front. I was able to wear them all day comfortably during one of the couple nice, fall days that Mother Nature decided to gift us this week. I didn't spend my whole day having to pull them up, they never cut into me, and I could walk the streets of New York comfortably. The best part? They are easy to get on and off as they are structured with a zipper, because the first response wasn't to make them some stretchy hybrid fabric you have to weirdly pull on and off and hope for the best. My one piece of criticism is that for now the shoes only come in a flat style, and as someone who loves wearing heeled boots, it's important to have that heightening option in my wardrobe.

So many people have asked me over the years where they can find a good wide calf boot and I finally have an answer I'm excited to share. Click through to shop the shoe and other highly-rated wide-calf boot options because cute shoes really aren't meant for just one size of woman.