Review: The Tory Burch 'Brita' Riding Boot--A failed romance

One item I didn't talk about in the Economist article last Friday, was the part where the article notes that people return at least a quarter of the clothes that they order on-line.  I kind of chuckled because I DEFINITELY contribute to that statistic.*  The most recent example of this was the Nordstrom Anniversary Sale:  Of the three pairs of shoes, two bags, dress, and two camis I ordered, I've returned four items . . . a whopping 50% and I'm considering returning one more item.  Yeah, if Nordstrom decides to discontinue their free shipping/free returns policy because it is no longer financially feasible, I might be partially to blame.

One big problem with ordering stuff on-line, of course, is that in the virtual world, it's hard to tell that that nice cream blouse is actually see through or that those bags won't fit all of your books or that J.Crew suddenly changed their sizing again . . . As fun as it is to browse things on-line, it's not until you see it in person that you can really tell if it's going to work for you.  (err, note to all the Manti T'eo's out there, this also holds true for on-line relationships) That's what happened with the Tory Burch riding boots I ordered.

Disclaimer: This is a very, very sad story.  I suggest having tissues on hand or at the very least playing this song in the background.

Once upon a time, in the Nordstrom Anniversary sale of 2012, I fell in love with the Tory Burch riding boots.  They were everything I had been looking for: smooth polished leather, a gorgeous cognac color,  just the right touch of sophistication.  BUT, I waited too long to order them and they ran out of my size.    Heartbroken and a little desperate, I settled on a cheaper alternative.  Like most rebound relationships they quickly fell apart and I was back to square one.  So, imagine how I felt when I was browsing the Nordstrom Preview Sale last month and there they were.  In all their glorious, cognac-y, shiny leathery glory.  And, this time they were going to be mine . . .

Only, (and guys this is hard for me to share) . . . they didn't work out.  Apparently, if you're short and buying boots, you have to pay close attention to the shaft length (the length from the heel to the top of the boot).  Well, to make a long story short, the Tory Burch boots have a shaft length of 17 inches and the length from my heel to my knee is about 16.5 inches.  You can see the problem.

No matter what I did, the back of the boot kept knocking into the back of my knee in a really uncomfortable way and I couldn't really sit down while wearing them.  I loved them so, so, so much but for the price I couldn't settle on something that was less than perfect.  Not being able to sit down was a big downer.  Also, the boot itself kind of made my foot look disproportionately large.  I think I should have paid attention to the reviews and gone down half a size but the boots still would have been too tall for me.

I think if you're a little taller than I am and really want to invest in a good pair of boots, these would be amazing.  Then you can come visit me and I can tear them off your dead body drool over them some more.  Now excuse me while I go research leg lengthening surgeries and troll the internets for a petite alternative.