Boots & skinny legs

I've always had skinny legs. In middle school, I developed an extreme self-consciousness about them, and I never wore skirts for that reason. I didn't want anyone looking at my legs. When I worked as a door-to-door canvasser for an environmental group in Texas (babes in bear country), I wore jeans the entire long hot summer cause I wouldn't wear shorts in public. I actually didn't wear a tank top until I was 24. I basically wouldn't wear any clothing that would invite scrutiny of any sort.

Despite the fact that an ex used to call me "chicken legs," I don't care so much about the skinniness anymore. I'll wear skirts and dresses, anyway. But the skinny legs still get in the way of my finding the perfect pair of boots.

Boots are a tricky item of clothing. With the wrong details on a pair, and suddenly you're a cowboy, a butch lesbian, a hooker, or an inter-galactic space traveller. For me, though, the trickiest detail has been the circumference around the calves. They're always cut wide and so gap and flap around my legs. No matter the style of boot, I always end up looking like I'm wearing puddle jumpers.

So imagine my surge in optimism when I clicked on "Narrow Calves" in the boot guide on Nordstrom.com and a few options came up. My greatest hope comes in this form, on its way to me in black and brown and arriving next week.