Fall Boots: Spendy vs. Cheap Lookalikes

Images from amazon.com and kohls.com

Can you tell which pair is more expensive?

For 2 years now, I have been wanting a pair of Steve Madden "Troopa" boots in Cognac or Brown Leather (get them here). Last year, in Von Maur, I tried a pair on and walked around in them for about 15 minutes, trying to decide whether the $99 dollars were worth it. As soon as I stepped off the carpeted shoe area and onto the white marble floors in them, I knew that they weren't reasonable. Despite their good looks and name brand, the designer failed to realize that real women would be wearing these boots in the fall and winter…and with winter comes snow and ice. The sole of the shoes were so slick! I could only imagine walking into work, only to face plant in the parking lot…yet, I still desired these shoes. They were real leather and could be worn with skinny jeans, leggings, worn under flare jeans or even with a dress and tights – they are so versatile. 

The other night, after work, I decided to checkout the boots section at Kohls to see if I could find anything on sale (when do they not have sales, right?) I still needed a pair of brown flat-heeled boots, after the zipper on a pair I bought at Target last year busted (can you say cheap?) And guess what I found? The almost-perfect lookalike pair of the Steve Madden "Troopa" boots that I've been pining for. There were a few things different about this mid-calf Candie's pair though (get them here). First, of course, I noticed the price - $79.99, on sale for $50.99, but guess what? I also had a 20% off coupon that would go towards all purchases (blog to come on how to get these coupons without signing up for their store card). Therefore, I could buy these boots for just over $40. The major price difference I would assume is because these Candie's boots were only manmade materials (cry). There are 2 positives though: 1. These boots will give you traction 2. The shoelaces actually stay tied (not to be underestimated!)

Now, in the picture above, can you tell which pair is the spendy Steve Maddens and which pair is the cheap Candie's? Yep, you got it – the more expensive pair is on the left (Maddens) and the inexpensive pair is on the right (Candie's). Guess which pair I bought? ...The cheap ones, duh! I'm usually always a quality over quantity kind of person, but I decided to go for the cheaper manmade pair of shoes since I only had $57 "blow money" (blog article to come on this!) left for the month. Which pair would you have bought?