Lets start at the bottom

Ankle boots are probably the most precarious item of clothing in existence. Every inch of those ankle-grabbing odes to brilliance spells death:

The reason ankle boots are so precarious is that they only go with a certain kind of outfit. Tights, flared pants, and very very rarely, cropped pants. (Please don't wear them with a skirt, thats pathetic). And for some reason they almost always seem to command attention.

This kind of thing would only work on a model:

And even then this is barely passable:

So what does a regular person with a pair of stunning ankle boots and no idea of what to do with them do?

1. ALWAYS REPEAT THE COLOUR. If the boots are black, throw on a back cardi. If they're beige, put on a beige belt. By reinforcing the colour, you're sort of welcoming the boots into the outfit, making them fit in to the family, making an excuse for them being there.

Of course black is the exception to every rule.

Unfortunately red is not:

2. Don't mistake the 'reinforcing the colour' rule as a command to reinforce the design. If the boots have a buckle, stay away from buckles for the rest of the outfit. If the boots have a design, make sure the rest of the outfit is extremely basic, unless you want to look like you've walked straight out of a Bollywood film.

3. And this rule just goes for all boots in general: Do not match them with your purse or clutch unless they are black!!

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