Chelsea boots
The Chelsea boot was invented in mid-19th-century England as a short, ankle-high riding boot for women. Its great innovation was a side-panel of elastic that made it much easier to get on and off than a laced riding boot. Also known as paddock boots, they grew in popularity once word spread that Queen Victoria approved the design, only fading from favour in the 1920s. In the 1960s, they were taken up by men into the mod scene, especially when The Beatles and their imitators started to wear them. Now they are back again, as elegant and convenient as ever.
Chukka boots
This is another ankle-high riding boot (the name refers to the period of play in a polo match) but this time with laces. Short laces – the traditional chukka boot has only two or three eyelets on each side of the boot. Originally made of suede, like a desert boot, but offering more support to the ankle, the design has been adopted – and adapted – by fashionable shoemakers in recent years.
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