The Ultimate Shoe Guide 2008

If the amazing budget price isn’t reason enough to break your habit of waiting till January to shop for boots, consider this: You’ll span the seasons in these, wearing them with early fall shifts to dead-of-winter woolens. Thanks to the stylish but low heel, your feet won’t hate you for it either.

Elongate Your Legs
You know that heels make your legs look longer, but the style of the shoes has lengthening powers too. These are the trifecta for maximum s-s-stretch. They’re nude (match darker skin tone to a darker hue), come to a point (no risk of stubby there), and don’t rudely interrupt the leg with crisscross straps at the ankle.

From far left:
Suede and metal buckle Sarasota boots by Aerosoles, $160; aerosoles.com.

Patent leather Triclo pumps, Christian Louboutin, $795; net-a-porter.com.