How to Match Boots for Hanfu in Winter?

What kind of shoes do you usually choose to match your Hanfu? Perhaps in winter, there are more options than embroidered shoes that can also add a matching style to your Hanfu. For example, boots or leather shoes. Hanfu Shidai gives us some advice on how to match boots for Hanfu in winter.

01 -  Hanfu with Boots - Fashion from Ancient Times

The reason everyone is suitable for embroidered shoes is that they are flat designs, as the flat structure can be a good visual solution, unless you wear a pair of shoes with colors that really don't match the outfit.

But with boots, there are more things to consider, so the boots that have appeared since ancient times can be said to be a design that breaks the traditional plane.

Leather boots from over 3,000 years ago

In terms of the genesis of boots in ancient China, they basically started with the nomads in northern China in ancient times, because of the wear and tear of the grass and stirrups on the shoes, so they needed to have boots with thicker heels and higher uppers to cope with the demands. During the Wei and Jin dynasties, boots were introduced to the Central Plains, and were still mainly used in warfare situations, before slowly becoming a kind of shoe that was also worn by people.

In ancient times, leather shoes were called Di (鞮), Sa(靸), Ta(鞜), etc, and all these words mean leather.

That is, the leather boots in ancient times were made of raw leather. Later, as leather technology matured and more and more craftsmen appeared, leather shoes gradually became soft and delicate. All the way to the Tang Xuanzong's Kaiyuan period, there began to appear to make boots with sheepskin, that is, the emergence of sheepskin boots, so after the Tang and Song dynasties, boots in China's dress fashion, is considered to have really laid the foundation for the set of craft and aesthetics.

The above is about the historical origins of the Hanfu with boots, so how should the Hanfu be matched with boots, and what are the points of attention?

02 - Boots for Hanfu Match TIPS

The Match between Hanfu skirt and boots

The shorter the skirt, the longer the boots can be; the longer the skirt, the shorter the boots can be.

So for the use of boots, it is recommended to try short skirt + long boots, long skirt + short boots, and if you only have short boots, you can use the long socks to adjust the length of the boots. If you only have long boots, you can also moderately adjust the skirt length.

Show the boots

When wearing Hanfu in winter, it is best to show your boots if you want to highlight the structure and elongate your body proportion. Use the heel to adjust the ratio of the skirt length, the skirt and the shoes leave at least 7 cm gap, so that the structure is more distinct.

Boot material selection: glossy or matte?

All boots have a distinction between glossy and matte materials, how to choose? Actually, just remember one thing: glossy boots are suitable for bright colors, while matte boots are suitable for plainer color schemes. But if your skirt is a primary color, such as red, white, yellow, blue and black, then the glossy and matte sides are determined by your second primary matching color. So wear Hanfu reference essential: black short boots > white/beige short boots > black long boots > white/beige long boots.

Adjusting the focus

Use some small accessories or design to adjust the overall shape focus.

Belt: a belt can be used to enhance the waistline by visibly cinching the waist and giving a proper waistline ratio.

Shoe heel: in addition to the waistline, you can also use the heel to adjust, for example, you can wear high heels to lengthen the lower body length.

Accessories: for example, the Qixiong Shanqun(齐胸衫裙) looks like it raises the waistline, but in fact, the use of Pibo (披帛) are actually neutralizing the high waistline.

The above is about matching boots for Hanfu, and most of them are Han element styles, just to provide a dressing idea and suggestion. I hope it will be helpful to you.