Sometimes I find out about brands and I can’t believe I didn’t already know about them. Sometimes my friends tell me about brands and I think I’m listening at the time but actually I’ve probably had a couple of glasses of wine and I’m not concentrating properly. And sometimes I come across a brand and its shoes are so amazing I literally can’t stop talking about them. Blundstone boots are all of these things.

Blundstone – or Blunnies, as I have discovered they are more commonly known – are sturdy leather boots from Tasmania and the brand has been going since 1870. My mates who have spent time in Australia and New Zealand have tried to tell me about their virtues in the past and I now have to put my hands up and say I was a complete fool for not listening. I’d seen them in The Natural Shoe Store too, but until I got a dog, I wasn’t as obsessed with finding the perfect outdoor boots as I am now. (side note – The Natural Shoe Store now stocks both my books, En Brogue: Love Fashion. Love Shoes. Hate Heels. and En Brogue: The Trainers Guide. Self-promotion plug over!)

Anyway! What’s so great about Blunnies? Firstly, they look great. The leather is so soft and smooth that they look like rubber from a distance (and if you’re lucky, the members of your Pilates class will line up to stroke them because they look so lovely. This happened to me). The classic ones are brown with a ‘rustic’ ready-worn-in look but I love my black ones with electric blue sole and elastic gusset (they also come in a red option). Second, and probably most importantly, they are INCREDIBLY comfortable. Like, in my top three ever most comfortable shoes kind of comfortable. And, considering how many pairs of shoes I’ve hoarded over the years, that’s saying something. The more you wear them, the more comfy they get, until you can’t very well imagine having to wear anything else.

I wear my Blunnies every single day. They’re the first shoes I put on in the morning to walk the dog, and the last I wear in the evening to, well, you guessed it, walk the dog. They’re brilliant for weekends because they look snazzy enough to take you from country walk to pub lunch. And I can tell you from experience that they are completely waterproof too, having got caught out in a hail storm of biblical proportions when I was wearing mine, as well as needing to wade through a few unexpectedly deep puddles. I don’t think I could live without them now. So if you’re looking for walking boots, weekend boots, or just a lovely pair of comfortable Chelsea boots, Blunnies come highly recommended from me. If a little belatedly…