Michelle Oliver: These boots are made for styling

Now that the weather is finally cooling off, I am excited to start styling all my boots. I have accumulated quite the collection and am excited it’s finally fall. I have pulled together a few of my favorite ways to wear boots.

After recently starting a new job, I am challenged to put together new outfits for work. I like to switch things up and I think boots are a great way to accomplish that. I have a variety of boots in different sizes and colors. I truthfully love them all.

One of my favorite go-to outfits is leggings and boots. I tend to wear this combination a lot during winter time. I like to wear black leggings with tan knee high boots and then add a cute, colorful sweater for warmth.

Leggings are typically thin and, if it is really cold outside, I love the added comfort of a large sweater. A new trend I also like is boot socks. There were so many adorable styles from last season, and I have already seen new ones this season.

My advice for this outfit would be to wear dark leggings. I have seen some white or tan leggings and I would caution you strongly to not wear them during fall and winter. They tend to take away from your outfit.

Another great way to wear boots is with a dress. I recently purchased a dress I had originally intended to wear it with heels. The other morning I was throwing together an outfit and decided it was way too cold outside to wear this dress with heels. I threw on my boots just to see how they would look and loved it.

In the picture accompanying this column, you can see that I paired this charcoal-colored dress with tan boots and a light-gray scarf. I can’t tell you how much I love this outfit. It is comfortable yet classy. I added some statement earrings to help give it some sparkle and a little flair.

My final recommendation on how to wear boots would be with jeans. I have a really comfortable pair of knee-high brown boots that are a great contrast with blue jeans. I like to wear these with skinny jeans and a cute top. I tuck the jeans into my boots so that the outfit is mainly about the boots.

You can also wear a pair of booties with skinny jeans, which gives it a completely different look. Either way I love pairing a scarf with outfits like this to help add color to the ensemble.

During winter, layering is always in and wearing a scarf helps achieve that. I will typically add a few simple accessories so that I don’t overpower the other details.

Feel free to have fun with these outfits if you decide to recreate them. Boots are a great way to change the look of any outfit, and be sure to try out new ways to wear them and test your limits. Had I not tried boots with this dress, I would have never realized how great it looks together.

This story was originally published November 14, 2014 at 3:27 PM with the headline "Michelle Oliver: These boots are made for styling."