I lined my boots up by the door and realised every single pair was black
Maria KellerBasel, Schweiz · September 2026
I have never written anything like this before, and I want to say at the start that I am not a writer and I am not in the habit of telling other women what to wear.
But my neighbour Val stopped me over the hedge to ask about my boots, of all things, and she was the third person in a week, so it seemed easier to write it down properly.
It starts with a sort-out. Last week I lined my boots up by the front door, the way you do when autumn arrives, and stood back and looked at them.
Five pairs. All black. Every boot I have bought in forty years has been black.
Not because I love black. Because black goes with everything, and that felt like the sensible answer for forty years. It took the sort-out to see what it had actually cost me. From October to March, my feet simply disappear into the season.
How it happens
Winter dressing shrinks, quietly, into a single rule. Do not clash. The coats are grey, the trousers are navy, and the boots are black, because black cannot clash with anything.
And the result is that in the greyest months of the year, when a bit of cheer would do the most good, we dress to match the weather.
What I had wrong
I thought colour was risky, and the older I got the riskier it felt. A red coat is a commitment. A bright dress is a conversation.
But here is what I had not considered. Your feet are the safest place in the entire outfit for colour. Everything else stays in the navy and grey you already own and love, and the boots do all the talking from down there. A wink of it under a trouser hem, not a broadcast.
Colour, at ankle height, is not a risk at all. It is a rumour.
The boots are called the Willow
They are from Hans & Maria Basel, a boutique with a collection that brings a little colour to everyday dressing.
The boots are called the Willow. A neat ankle boot in warm tan with a soft brushed finish, a leopard-print toe cap, and, my favourite part, a wine-red zip running down a cream stripe at the back, like a racing stripe for the school run. I appreciate that is a lot of sentence. On the foot it simply reads as a boot with a bit of life in it.
And they are not just a pretty toe. There is cushioning underfoot, a block heel, and a zip down the back so they go on and off without a struggle. It is the combination of those practical details and the colour that caught my attention.
What happened over the hedge
I wore them on the school-post-office-paper-shop circuit with my usual grey coat and jeans, feeling about eighty percent brave.
Val stopped me over the hedge before I reached the gate. The lady in the paper shop called them “very Judi Dench”, and I have chosen to receive that as the honour it is.
Three compliments in one circuit. My black boots have never once been mentioned in forty years of service.
Three things I have learned since
One. Tan goes with more than black does. I did not believe this either. But the warm tan sits happily with grey, navy, denim, cream and every autumn colour there is, and it lifts them instead of anchoring them.
Two. The back zip is the quiet luxury. Down the stairs, boots by the chair, zip, done. No hopping in the hallway, no shoehorn diplomacy. And it happens to be the prettiest part of the boot as you walk away.
Three. There is a whole colourful collection. It turns out these come from a winter collection of heels and boots in actual colours, reds and purples and prints, which I am treating as dangerous information. Have a look through the collection and check the size guide for the pair you choose.
About the price
I want to be straightforward about this, because price matters to me.
What caught my attention was the combination of the brushed finish, the neatly set toe cap, the smooth back zip and the cushioning underfoot. Those are the details I would look at before deciding on any pair of boots.
You can check the current price at Hans & Maria Basel, along with available sizes and delivery options. I would look at the size guide before ordering, too, so you can choose the right fit.
What I would tell you if we were friends
If you and I were sat with a pot of tea and you asked me, this is what I would say.
If your boot row by the door is also entirely black, nothing is wrong with you. You have just been obeying a rule nobody actually made. Break it at ankle height first. It is an easy place to start without changing everything else you wear.
Not because a pair of boots will change your life. They will not. But there is something in being stopped over a hedge, in the greyest week of the year, because your feet look cheerful, that I had quietly assumed was behind me. It is not.
Have a look at the collection and choose the pair that feels like you. Your favourite coat and jeans can come along exactly as they are.
The black boots have been given the winter off. They have earned it.
Maria
Willow | Iconic Everyday Style Boots
- Warm tan with a soft brushed finish
- Leopard-print toe cap
- Wine-red back zip on a cream stripe
- Cushioning underfoot
- Block heel for an everyday look
- Part of the colourful winter heel and boot collection
View current prices, available sizes and delivery options at Hans & Maria Basel.