& the Revival of Hunter Wellies
Fall is up and running in 2023, and as the trench coats come out of the corners of our two inch closets, so do the boots. And thank GOD.
Buckle biker boots have been all the rage for the past few months, thanks to Miu Miu’s five buckle leather tour de force boots. Obviously, Steve Madden immediately released a biker buckle boot dupe where you don’t have to drop a penny and a half to get the look – even though their dupes never do the real product justice, ever. Frye Campus boots also have risen to the top of the food chain in the past few years. Every NYU baddie and their mother has a worn in pair that they bought for over $300 from a sketchy Ebay seller.
All of this is to say that yes, I know that boots are everywhere, especially in the fall. And boots have been everywhere since the beginning of time. This season I feel a personal affinity towards the boot landscape thanks to the revival of the Hunter Wellies. Hunters elicit a surge of intense nostalgia for my middle school self going to play in the rain, or to meticulously pick out which color of zebra print sock I wanted to fold over the top of my boots. Enter Gardener Chic: to position this resurgence of rubber rain boots I have to go down a nature rabbit hole.
Brands were hinting at the revival of Gardener Chic this past spring. Dior’s Spring 2023 Gardening Capsule Collection solidified this resurgence through proving just how chic throwing on rubber boots can be to get your thousand dollar handmade dress dirty. Smaller brands – like Sporty and Rich – followed suit by pairing their clothing with rubber boots and a gardening, nature-heavy landscape. Gardening has grown into the new, fashionable and preppy “it” thing to do. Forget getting martinis after your private tennis match, head to the garden with your rubber Wellies to show just how à la mode you are.
Dior Spring 2023 Gardening Capsule Collection
I’d like to credit my mom for showing me just how stylish gardening can be. This summer, on our way to dinner, my mom asked to make a pit stop to water her delicata squash at the community garden she is a member of. Hesitant to get my loafers dirty, I opted to photograph her while she worked on her…crop? She floated into the garden in her platform sandals, white wide leg pants, and her staple black tee, grabbing the cute little green watering can that looks like it’s out of Snow White. I don’t think that I had ever seen my mom look so stylish in my life. The next time she asked if I wanted to go garden with her, rather than shying away, I grabbed my Hunter boots and styled myself to the max. I put on my denim 90s mom shorts and a worn in Ford shirt, threw my hair in braids, and accessorized from earrings to necklaces to rings as if I was going to the Met Gala. Seeing the garden grow became the backdrop to my own red carpet, my Hunter boots the main character. Every time Gogo would call me, I’d have to respond saying, “Sorry, I can’t talk right now. I’m in the garden.” Immediately she’d ask me what I was wearing.
This association with Hunter Boots and Gardener Chic is not an entirely new concept. Fashion icon Princess Diana was seen in the early 2000s wearing these boots on a muddy path, looking elegant as ever. Kate Moss, the Olsen Twins, and Sara Jessica Parker are other celebs dedicated to the Hunter Brand, to name a few. In the early 2000s, wearing Wellies was a festival staple and an indication that those who wear the boots know how to have fun and get their hands dirty. With the revival of Y2K, it’s no wonder that 2023 is welcoming these boots with open arms.
Hunter Wellington boots now tell a story not only of functionality, but how we pass our free time. If Gardener Chic is replacing the category of preppy, tennis elite, when you put on Wellies, you tell the world that rather than flocking to the Hamptons to lie on the beach, you instead go to a more spacious and private place in Upstate New York to tend to your abundant rose garden, most likely. The move outside of hyper-manicured lawns to a more raw sense of nature that we are seeing celebrities make has now bled into our sense of fashion; it’s no wonder that city girls have added this rain boot into their shoe rotation.
I love Hunter boots, and while I haven’t worn them in a decade or so, I’m so grateful that past Lila never thought to give them away. With Gardener Chic now in full force, I’m ready to get dressed up to get dirty. Now that I’m slightly taller than my ten year old 4’6 self, I can wear my Wellies without feeling like I’m drowning in them. And mom, if you’re reading this, I can confidently say that now I think gardening is cool. You were right.
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