Sit, Walk, Strut.

Shorts and Boots from Guilty Brotherhood by Hanneli.

The phenomenon of V-high (vagina high) boots is often associated with a post-Pretty Woman world. I remember reading an article in the Evening Standard on how “Freud thought the shoe or boot was a symbol of the female genitals, too - a gap or perceived lack when the little girl realises that females do not possess a penis.” Accordingly, many many find such footwear (or more accurately, legwear) tantalizing, to say the least.

The boot, sheath-like, rising higher along the female leg draws the male imagination to mysterious heights. Must this always be the case though? On runways, the thigh high boot is not necessarily sexual. Stella McCartney’s Perforated thigh highs, which adorned everyone from Rihanna to Blake Lively were more pointillist than dominatrix. Chloé's most popular version last F/W were flat and made of buttery suede, keeping the silhouette,  but avoiding the hussy domain.

Thanks to Ridley Scott's Robin hood, we learn that the thigh high started as something a man would wear to protect his legs against the rigors of everyday life -- kind of like chaps. The hip wadders of fisherman are not a far cry from some of the boots we’ve seen on runways.

And though women may teeter around in these incredible boots for seasons to come, I believe they are not merely the embodiment of male fantasy, but perhaps a caricature of bygone functional clothing, or nostalgia for a time when the calf or knee wasn’t the limit - for functionality, of course.