We’ve not had much of a summer, have we? Short, sharp bursts of sun and oppressive heat cut through monsoon-like stretches of rain and grey skies. It’s made dressing through the last few months a turbulent game of dice with the four seasons in one day. Denim maxis trail through puddles, summer dresses fly up around necks in the hurtling winds – precarious weather does not a chic outfit make. And as we find ourselves all of a sudden firmly in autumn, appropriate footwear remains a serious question.
Well, I have the answer. You’ll have seen them on Dua Lipa, Rita Ora, Olivia Neill and all your fave cool-girl influencers. They’re strong and bold and pair as easily with a sweet little minidress as they do under wide-leg jeans or the denim look du jour, the jort... Behold, the biker boot.
It’s a nostalgic and familiar shoe, for sure. But forget the steampunk aesthetics or early aughts originators for now. The celeb girls are pulling on Miu Miu’s chunky version, but that (OFC) comes with a hefty price tag. Vagabond’s Eyra boot is a revelation that’ll last you through the seasonal switch-ups and trend cycles.
The Swedish brand’s boots have sold out several times over for a reason. They’ve got a striking square toe, perfect for stomping across the last festival of the holidays, through the changing leaves or tapping the pavement outside your local pub as the temperatures drop. And did we mention they come Cosmopolitan UK editor-approved?
I copped them in the oily brown, which goes with all the current colour palettes I’ve been cycling through with my wardrobe: soft pinks, bright reds, cornflower blues and butter yellow.
Meanwhile, our Social Manager – and the Cosmo office's verified biker boot queen – Jess Bantleman has been repping this season's updated version of the Eyra Tall Boots that feature the same square toe and silhouette, sans buckle detailing if you're after a more streamlined design.
Still can’t quite shake the Kate Moss and Sienna Miller at Glastonbury circa 2010 feeling? Well, I believe that a good biker boot affords a toughed-up nonchalance that stands the test of time. Bring it up to 2024 sartorial speed with contrasting styles on the rest of your body: think chic tailored workwear, or the balletic tulle and feminine silks – there really is something in the wrong shoe theory TikTok is currently obsessed with. Vroom, vroom.
And if you’re looking for alternatives, Free People, Steve Madden, and Reformation all have their own iterations of the buckled boot. Elsewhere, Depop, Vinted and eBay are abuzz with secondhand versions – try searching for Harley Davidson, Frye, and Sergio Rossi. Key search words when diving into the vintage and secondhand sites are also ‘harness boots’, ‘buckle boots’, ‘motorcycle boots’ or ‘Moto boots’.
Happy hunting!
H&M Biker boots
Reformation Francesca moto boot
Free People We The Free Janey engineer boots
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Anna Cafolla is Cosmopolitan UK’s acting site director – managing the day-to-day running of the website, as well as overseeing video, e-commerce and social for the brand. Anna has a background in culture, fashion, and social affairs journalism – profiling Saffron Hocking, Robyn, Shygirl, and Naomi Osaka; investigating fashion archives, the Irish abortion rights movement, Generation Alpha's developing tastes, women's shelter closures and social media conspiracies in turn. Find Anna on Instagram.
