Buying pointed-toe boots has always been a challenge for me because I’m built like a ballerina—not, sadly, in terms of long legs or elegant arms or a swanlike neck, but in terms of feet. I have the bunions of a woman who has dedicated her life to the art of dance, which is ironic because I took ballet lessons for all of three months when I was eight. (I quit after they let me wear the tutu, which was really the only thing I was in it for.) I am confessing this not because I enjoy talking about my feet on the internet, but to establish my credibility when I say that I have finally found a pair of slim, sexy, pointed-toe boots that are comfortable enough to wear all day, even for those of us with less-than-ideal extremities.
Margaux’s Inga boots have a long, squared-off toe and a little kitten heel that measures 1.5 inches—tall enough to give you a bit of a lift, but low enough to be walkable. They come in black leather and a sleek espresso suede, both of which look great with jeans but would also be cute peeking out of long, drapey trousers. The best part is the sizing: Margaux offers its boots in narrow, medium, and wide, and somehow, through the magic of proportion play, the wide does not look wide. They accommodate the fullest part of my foot without looking bulky or breaking up the nice long line.
The first time I wore them, it was to a witches’ dinner that my friend Mo throws every Halloween. She invites 30 of her best female friends over, decorates her home in high goth style, and serves us a theatrically witchy meal. (This time, it was black squid-ink pasta.) Of course, one has to dress appropriately to dine with the coven, so I paired the boots with slim black jeans and a sheer black polka-dotted top. Not only did I get a bunch of compliments, but I didn’t find myself pining for my broomstick on the walk home—the boots were just as comfortable at the end of the evening as they’d been at the start of the night.
They’ve held up equally well on the commute to work. In addition to the extra width, they also come with five millimeters of cushioning on the inside, which is enough to protect you when you’re pounding the pavement. Ever since slimmer toes reentered the fashion conversation, I’ve been faced with the choice between sitting out the trend or hobbling around in boots that fundamentally do not fit. As much as I love a good pair of shoes, I also live for a long walk, and the Ingas, miraculously, let me have both. Really, they don’t feel like heels at all, which is a rare and wonderful thing for a pair of pointed-toe kitten-heel boots.
