Ladies - name your favourite wellies!

[Clara]

We´ve had our first rain and I need wellies! Posh ones!

Anyone like to recommend a pair of good quality, comfy and (preferably) warm wellies?

Clara x.

[Shirley]

I like my muckboots.... not cheap but they've lasted REALLY well and keep my feet warmer than my other ones... which I also like btw... purple rubber ones by Hunter that gave a donation to the woodland trust. I've even worn them with a skirt when I first moved and didn't have anything else to wear for a week - you can even buy matching liners for them (bit extreme methinks)

[Stonehead]

Hunter Boots.

Tough, comfortable and made in Scotland.

The OH swears by her Argyll Ladies (£32), while I wear Century 4000 Super Safetys (£45).

They're not a cheap boot but they're hardly expensive either, especially given their longevity.

I've had £10 wellies that lasted just six to eight weeks with our sort of use (up to 10 hours a day in all weathers, all terrains and with chemical exposure as well). My current pair of Centuries have just started to separate at the join between upper and sole after three years and three months.

Brilliant boots.

PS Look under Leisure and Farming as well as Ladies's Boots on their site.

[ina]

Dunlop safety wellies. They always break at my right heel first. I've now discovered that my boss's wellies (he wears the same, also the same size) always break on the left first. So next time one of his breaks, I'll get the right one, and I'll have another pair to last me a few months! I go through about two pairs a year - but that's spending up to 8 hours in them every (working) day.

[fenwoman]

We´ve had our first rain and I need wellies! Posh ones!

Anyone like to recommend a pair of good quality, comfy and (preferably) warm wellies?

Clara x.

Why do they have to be posh? My fave wellies are ones I have been bought as a gift or hwat I have found cheap or secondhand. The only thing which matters is that they keep my feet dry. Son bought me some lovely pink fleece welly socks last xmas so feet are always warm in them. My present wellies cost me a fiver on ebay some 3 years ago. Just plain green ones but that's fine. Splashed full of mud even posh wellies just look like wellies. Besides, why pay £50 or more on wellies which phillistines like me don't recognise as anything special and even if I did, would scorn you for wasting so much money on a mere pair of wellies. Posh wellies are like designer handbags to me. I wouldn't recognise them if they bit me on the nose, expensive ones don't keep your feet any drier than my cheap ones. My last wellies were a quid at the car booty. I lived in them most of the time. They lasted about 4 years and the only reason I don't still wear them is that I trod on nails a couple of times and they leaked, which didn't bother me as I put my feet into black bin bags before putting them into the wellies but son forced me to throw them and buy new ones as he said I looked like a poor old yokel
Trouble is, I am a poor old yokel.
I must admit, if I had pots of money I would love some snazzy wellies like you can get on ebay for £20. Some with flowers on maybe. But £20 buys me a lot of wheat or a dog vaccination or 5 cases of cat food so I guess I'll carry on with my plain green cheap ones for a while yet.

[Clara]

Guess what I meant by "posh" wasn´t designer or flashy but good quality. I don´t mind paying out for something that will last a long time and be comfy (I live in mountainous terrain so they´ve got to be supportive) ..... but then if I can get that cheaply so much the better

Posh is a bit of a slang word in our house, kind of like saying "nice" without saying "nice".

Like the sound of your fleecy welly liners - very "posh"!

[Stonehead]

Besides, why pay £50 or more on wellies which phillistines like me don't recognise as anything special and even if I did, would scorn you for wasting so much money on a mere pair of wellies.

Why? Because I'd rather spend £45 on one pair of really good, warm wellies with good grip that last three years (so £15 a year) than spend £80 a year on eight pairs of cheap wellies that are cold, slip in the mud and fall apart. Which option is the more wasteful?

I also like the fact that Hunters are a British-made boot and not something stamped out in a Chinese sweatshop.

As for scorning people who make the decision I did, well, go ahead and scorn away but that comment does jar more than a little with your earlier comments about rudeness.

[fenwoman]

Guess what I meant by "posh" wasn´t designer or flashy but good quality. I don´t mind paying out for something that will last a long time and be comfy (I live in mountainous terrain so they´ve got to be supportive) ..... but then if I can get that cheaply so much the better

Posh is a bit of a slang word in our house, kind of like saying "nice" without saying "nice".

Like the sound of your fleecy welly liners - very "posh"!

Do they have to be full length wellies? My best ever boots were a pair of muckers I had given to me. Very warm, rugged, and supported my ankles beautifully. I wish I could afford another pair.

[Clara]

Do they have to be full length wellies? My best ever boots were a pair of muckers I had given to me. Very warm, rugged, and supported my ankles beautifully. I wish I could afford another pair.

Ideally they need to be up to my knees, as there is a path below my land where the water crossing it can get so deep that the stepping stones are submerged. I have to hop skip and jump across this tomorrow morning en route to a yoga workshop - without wellies - just my luck I´ll end up on my arse. Doing a headstand covered in bright orange mud - not a good look!

[Shirley]

I certainly wouldn't buy a particular make of wellies just to impress someone... no point in that at all... I agree with Stonehead's comments about not buying stuff from a sweatshop. I like the fact that the Hunters are rubber too which is a natural material rather than sweaty plastic. When mine wear out I'll definitely replace them with another pair of Hunters.

[fenwoman]

Besides, why pay £50 or more on wellies which phillistines like me don't recognise as anything special and even if I did, would scorn you for wasting so much money on a mere pair of wellies.

Why? Because I'd rather spend £45 on one pair of really good, warm wellies with good grip that last three years (so £15 a year) than spend £80 a year on eight pairs of cheap wellies that are cold, slip in the mud and fall apart.

Why either or? Why not spend £15 on a good pair of thick wellies with lots of treat? Why do good wellies have to cost £80? I've never had an £80 pair of any footwear in my life. I live in my wellies in winter and they have to grip on the slippery wet clay mud. £15 would be a dear pair of wellies for me.
I have never equated expensive with being good necessarily.

I also like the fact that Hunters are a British-made boot and not something stamped out in a Chinese sweatshop.

Yes I know. Some people can afford to buy £80 hunter wellies. I personally don't know anyone who can afford them but most of the people I know are poor smallholders. I think over Stamford there are lots of rich horsey folks who wear Hunter wellies but they wouldn't be friends with the hoypolloy that I am a member of

As for scorning people who make the decision I did, well, go ahead and scorn away but that comment does jar more than a little with your earlier comments about rudeness.

Why? Just because I would scorn someone for spending loads of money on mere wellies how is that worse than being rude? I mean, you wouldn't 'see' me being scornful would you? Or hear me say that I thought you had more money than sense, as I wouldn't say it, but my penny pinching habits and tight budget would mean that I might indeed scorn someone for spending so much on a pair of rubber boots designed to keep your feet dry. What should I do? Look at their wellies with envy? They're just wellies!!!
My friend's daughter tries to justify her designer handbag to me too. She ha never quite managed to get me to see that her £400 bag does anything different to my market £5.99 handbag. Mine holds my purse, hers holds her purse, mine holds my keys, hers holds....er...no...she won't put keys into hers in case they damage it. It's just a handbag!!!

[fenwoman]

I certainly wouldn't buy a particular make of wellies just to impress someone... no point in that at all... I agree with Stonehead's comments about not buying stuff from a sweatshop. I like the fact that the Hunters are rubber too which is a natural material rather than sweaty plastic. When mine wear out I'll definitely replace them with another pair of Hunters.

Yep, my present ones are proper rubber too. I have never worn plastic ones.But I might if I see some cheap ones with flowers on. Keep some poor Chinese person in a job they will too

[Clara]

Hunter Boots.

Tough, comfortable and made in Scotland.

The OH swears by her Argyll Ladies (£32), while I wear Century 4000 Super Safetys (£45).

They're not a cheap boot but they're hardly expensive either, especially given their longevity.

I think I´ve been eyeing up the same boots as your OH, they look sturdy and mention that the footbed is ergonomically designed (which will help keep my footing in these hills!). I´d have to order them from the UK as trying to get wellies in the south of spain is laughable, though they are needed in the mountains in winter. So I´d be taking a risk on the fit and I often find that boots are quite baggy round the ankle and calf as I´m quite petite. So here´s a personal question....How do Mrs Stonehead´s fit? Is she slender or shapely calfed? ....... I don´t quite believe I just asked that.....

[baldowrie]

fenwoman, stonehead I can see both side of the story.................

stonehead boots are expensive and he could probably get cheaper ones but come the winter he would regret it as he would probably end up with frost bite in his toes.

fenwoman like you I can not afford the boots stonehead buys, but come the winter I wish I could and when I visit him and look round his pigs my cheapos do slip when it's wet

Basically you buy the best you can afford...so if any one has a pair of size 3 'posh' ones they no longer want.............

[ina]

Yes, I'm afraid the cheap wellies don't do it for me, either. I do have a pair that I bought myself before I came to work on this farm - but they are only good for the garden, and only in not-so-wet weather (so not this year!); the Dunlops I use now I don't have to pay for myself. BUT: If you work with livestock (bigger livestock, I'm talking about), you need safety boots, unless you want your toes squashed on a regular basis. (They even come in handy when the vet trods on your toes. ) And I've not seen any cheap ones of that kind. Unfortunately, the hard toe caps also tend to make the material break fairly quickly; so in fact it might make sense if we spent even a bit more than we do now (can't remember, but I think the Dunlops are £25 or £30), if the material is better! Have to look into the Hunters - £45 is not that much more than we pay now, and if they last 3 times as long, they'd be a lot cheaper.