Jockey Boots

At the beginning of the century, low shoes were the most fashionable footwear for men. Showing a man's ankles was especially fashionable. Boots were only worn by military officers or by others for traveling, riding a horse, or hunting. The increasing popularity of horseracing triggered a fashion for jockey boots in the mid-eighteenth century, and young men began wearing jockey boots for everyday wear. Jockey boots were tall, dark leather boots with a rounded toe. The boot top had loops designed for making it easier to pull the boots on and tops that folded over to show a contrasting color of leather lining the boot. Jockey boots were worn by a select few, but the fashion for wearing them ushered in the larger trend for boots in the nineteenth century.