Shyheels

Yes, OTK boots are a hot fashion item - but in suede or fabric or calf leather. I've not ever seen anybody strutting their stuff down the high street in PVC boots. PVC jeans, yes, but not boots. It could be that they appear at clubs etc. Places the like of I do not go! I do see a lot of mainstream/high street OTK boots worn around though. I don't own any PVC boots, or indeed anything PVC other than my much-loved pair of PVC Topshop jeans. Agreed: combining PVC boots with PVC jeans would indeed put one squarely in the fetish corner or else, as you say, make one a very high octane pun rocker!

If it is marketed as PVC OTK boots I think you can be fairly certain they would meet anybody's definition of thigh or crotch boots. People who are marketing PVC boots are not usually concerned about the Vivian effect. Quite the opposite.

An interesting point you raise. It is a seeming contradiction, I know, but I have my own logic. I am not into boots, or even PVC, for any fetish reasons. I like fashionably tall boots - conservative, classic - and like the bohemian/rock-chick look of PVC jeans. PVC thigh boots are made almost purely for the fetish/bedroom market and they look it. That is not a criticism. They are designed and sold for a particular set of purposes and they meet those purposes quite well, I assume. They just so happen not to be purposes that interest me. I am, I might add, in no way being judgemental about anyone who does like their fetish/dominatrix gear or wearing PVC boots in the bedroom - each to his own and more power to their elbows. My OTK boots are very conservative and classic - dark grey suede, dark brown suede, pull on, flattish heels (pretty much like that of a standard men's brogue) They are - if I say so myself - fashionable, and in no way suggestive of fetish. There is a huge difference in style (and price!) between my boots and the thigh-high stiletto heeled PVC boots found in specialty shops and on eBay. My PVC jeans are high street jeans - Topshop Moto Jamie Jeans - that happen to be made out of a stretchy sort of PVC instead of denim. They look and wear just like standard jeans, and matched with softer things like soft pastel jumpers and brightly coloured canvas trainers, give a funky boho look but without going over the top. Again, there is certainly nothing fetishy about either the jeans, or the way I wear them. I do not, I might add, wear my OTK boots with my PVC jeans. That would be ghastly.

That is true - except for the fact that I want OTK boots! ;-)

They can be chilly when you put them on, that's for sure. But they soon warm up. On a hot day I suspect they could get quite sweaty. On damp cold days, worn with a jumper, they are quite nice indeed. At least these Topshop ones are. Very comfortable to wear. Just like wearing regular jeans. The squeakiness is not bad with these jeans, just enough to remind you with a smile you're wearing PVC but not enough to be irritating.

One of the things I like about my Top shop "PVCs." Is the flexibility and slight stretchiness of the material which still manages to shine like classic PVC. These jeans are very comfortable to wear.

I agree. And I think Freddie is right on the money when he says that the OTK description on any boot that extends beyond the knee, no matter how far, is to soften the image for high street marketing. OTK boots in this marketing-speak, are 'fashionable', while 'thigh boots' are those naughty things worn by dominatrixes.

I might add that when my teenage daughters noticed my dark grey OTK boots (biker style; flat heel; Vibram sole) with my dark grey jeans they didn't bat an eye. Oh, are those new boots? Nice.

As a dedicated boot-wearing guy who owns hardly any shoes, I can never understand how people - male or female - can keep stiletto pumps on their feet!

Indeed they are! A very generous interpretation of over-the-knee! Nice sleek-looking boots by the way My OTK boots would be 5-6" shorter than those, I would guess, and then they slouch a bit too for a more relaxed look

Tall boots are great at protecting trouser legs from mud and splashes. It is a shame that men have been socially bullied away from a type of footwear that was traditionally - right up until recent decades - considered masculine and is by all accounts eminently practical. I intent to get some calf OTK boots so I can wear them in inclement weather.

To be honest, when I am wearing my dark grey boots and my dark grey jeans one would have to look twice to register that I am wearing boots. They are extremely comfortable and I generally forget I have them on.

Yes, but not when I am travelling - not because of any 'embarrassment issues' but because of the hassles of taking boots off at security, especially pull-on boots. It's bad enough with hiking boots. As a result my boots tend to get left at home on trips as they take up lots of room in a suitcase and I prefer to travel as light as possible. I also tend to need hiking boots on my assignments, not fashion boots, so another reason they stay home. I am trying to figure out a useful style of tall boot - perhaps ones with ankle zips and Vibram soles - that I could take with me and use in the field. I might add that I don't wear my present boots out in the rain either! They are very nice suede and I am very protective!

I wear my OTK boots over my jeans. I wear stretch skinny jeans - but not spray on ones - so there is no billowing of trouser leg around the boot tops and am further fortunate to have long slender legs to help me carry this off. I wear dark blue jeans with my brown OTK boots and dark grey jeans with my dark grey boots. In the latter case boots and jeans blend in quite well together. Nothing about my appearance screams "look at me". Baggy ankles are a fact of life with pull-on boots. It is something I've had to get used to, and barely notice now. I take your point in not liking the look.

Two more things to say in favour of PVCs - on cold soggy dreary days such as this, when the rain is streaking down the office windows, a pair of slinky PVC jeans is nice and warm and snug to wear. Throw on a jumper, get the coffee perking, and you're set! And the other great plus, of course, is that PVCs never need ironing... :-)

Interesting thoughts, re stilettos, but I think they are so firmly fixed in the public's mind as part of the corporate, celebrity and high fashion world that there is no fear at all of their slipping into the fetish twilight. I really don't see the OTK description as vague, although precisely where the boundary for OTK ends and where thigh boots begin is a matter of choice and therefore subjective. The company that makes my boots has a cut off of 60cms on shaft length - anything above that and you are talking (and paying for) thigh boots. That seems a fair mark. I am six feet tall and while my 60cm pull-on boots slouch a bit, were I to have more snugly fitting zips I could get away with 52-55 cms and still have the tops just "over the knee". Someone, say 6'4" could get boots with snug-fitting 60cm shafts and be just OTK. Most of the boots I have seen advertised as over-the-knee would pretty much be just that, just clearing the top of the knee cap, or touching the very bottom of the thigh. It seems as though there is a broad industry and fashion world understanding of what OTK means and is.

Yes, it took me several months to get on board and I very nearly gave up and stopped checking in. That is surely a barrier. One of the things I like about this forum is that it genuinely seems more for guys who like heels - or tall boots in my case - as guys, without all the CD talk and skirts and make-up and handbags etc you find on HHP. I have no interest in any of that stuff at all. I like wearing my boots and dressing in what I would consider a tasteful and indeed conservative masculine manner. I do not see my fashion choices for tall boots to be the least bit perverse or fetishy. I am not on any social media - such as Facebook - and have absolutely no interest in joining up.

Indeed, the definition of OTK is interesting. As Freddie points out, the term 'thigh boot' has definite sexual connotations, to say nothing of the boots themselves and so OTK has been embraced by high street retailers. And why not? They want to shift stock, move boots and over-the-knee is a far more agreeable term in a suburban, high street, non-fetish environment. The movie Pretty Woman is more than 30 years old now yet it still casts a long, long shadow over the sales of over-the-knee and thigh boots. Over-the-knee boots (at whatever height up the thigh) are much in vogue this year, as they were last year as well, and if you read any fashion column or blog about this enduring fashion trend that movie is almost certain to be referenced somewhere in the piece - typically high up and generally in the paragraph where the author reassures her readers that they needn't fear looking like Julia Roberts ("Vivian") in Pretty Woman if they give in and buy themselves a pair of these trendy boots and then giving them advice on how to tone down the sexiness, and what works and doesn't work. Apparently Brokeback Mountain exerted a similar negative impact - for a while anyway - over the sales of cowboy boots. But nothing like the enduring power of Pretty Woman! My own boots come an inch or two over the knee - the classic OTK boot. But being pull-ons they slouch slightly and so they really come to just barely above the top my knee cap. Both pairs are suede - one dark brown, one grey. I was reluctant to get smooth black leather - at first - because I really wanted to steer clear of any suggestion of fetish (I guess I was leery of the Vivian effect too) I am more comfortable with wearing OTK boots now - totally at ease in fact - and so have plans to pick up a pair in black calf. These will be slightly lower still - 52 cm shafts instead of 58 or 60 as my other two are. With ankle zips they shouldn't slouch though. When I wear them I make a point of dressing casually but neatly - jeans and jumper, nice shirt, generally sober colours, nothing flamboyant. A simple masculine look that avoids dandiness as well as androgyny. Thigh boots never really appealed to me, let alone crotch boots. They are far too fetishy for my tastes.

Yes, indeed, OTK boots are extremely fashionable right now. I suspect at some level they owe their popularity to the hint of raffishness they offer - a little more daring than ordinary knee boots but without the dreaded Vivian effect of the thigh boot. A naughty-but-nice median, especially when in softer materials like suede and in greys or earth tones. Wearable anywhere. Why any boots have open toes is a mystery to me - and not one I am the least interested in solving. I'd prefer they just vanished from view. No sense and not very appealing - a double whammy. I have a couple of pair of OTK boots - one in dark brown suede, one in dark grey suede, both pull-on styles with flattish heels. I wear them a lot, and not just for their ease in getting them on, although that is a big plus in my book. I have plans to get yet another pair, in soft black calf. Very nice looking and useful boots, these over-the-knee styles..

As a middle aged guy with a creaky back, having had some serious disc troubles in my time, I am really coming to appreciate my love of pull-on OTK boots, especially in the early mornings when the back has not properly warmed up and putting on cycling shoes or hiking boots - let alone tying laces - is painful. That goodness for tall pull-on boots. From a seated position, one merely holds the top of your boot between thumb and forefinger, tosses the main body of the boot out in front of you, then slide your foot down the long shaft and into the footbed. Repeat with the other boot. Then stand up. You're done. Good to go. No painful bending and lacing. Perfect. I am sensing a growing market for OTK boots among us ageing baby boomers, of both sexes.

Not my wife's cup of tea either - anymore. She used to be quite a rock chick though and liked her PVC way back when. That said, she is very understanding. When I was having trouble finding my size (they sold out really fast) she made quite an effort on my behalf to help me track down a pair. Yes, Funky Bohemian - my occasional look at the office. The joys of being self employed. Dress down Fridays like nobody else's!

Before I posted I wrote and asked them if they were going to re-stock and they said they were going to, this week. I really like them. They are classic rock-chick jeans only made of (slightly stretchy) PVC instead of denim. Classy. Not cheap, no, but worth it (to me). I wear mine with jumpers and trendy Converse trainers, to dress-down the hard shiny PVC look. Nothing fetishy, more funky bohemian.

Nearly. I got rid of the others - the Topshop ones were exactly what I wanted. they seemed to have been exactly what others wanted too - they sold out like hotcakes.

Nice days indeed. While I never much cared for the winklepicker look, the cuban heeled Chelsea ("Beatle") boots held a lot of appeal.

I have long fancied the idea of owning and wearing a pair of rock-chic style PVC jeans, but for the longest time finding such wear on the high street - avoiding the fetish stuff - proved to be nearly impossible. Happily though, PVC appears to have come back into fashion in a big way, judging by a few of the fashion blogs I've read. Topshop has made a version of their classic rock-chick Moto Jamie Jeans http://www.topshop.com/en/tsuk/product/clothing-427/jeans-446/moto-black-vinyl-jamie-jeans-6106483?bi=80&ps=20 in shiny vinyl (black, red, yellow and white). They sold like hot cakes, but I was fortunate enough to be able to buy a pair in shiny black before stock ran out. (I understand they will be restocking them as of next week) I really like them. They are very well made, high waisted, classic skinny jeans - ankle grazers - but in shiny vinyl/PVC rather then denim. Nothing fetishy, just rock-chic cool. I wear mine with a long wool jumper and trendy canvas sneakers to tone down the overt tartiness of PVC. More the boho fashion blogger look. Not cheap, at £55, but then not often found on the high street and certainly not this well made. There is a reason they sell so quickly. Quite nice and worth a look if you are in the market for PVC jeans.