A letter from a reader

At 62, I finally stopped wrestling with my winter boots

I have never written to a shop before, and I did not expect my first letter to be about a pair of boots.

Every winter the same thing happened. Coat on, scarf on, and then ten minutes on the bottom stair fighting with my boots. Laces that needed double knotting, zips that caught on my socks, bending down until my back complained and I was too hot to go anywhere. More than once I took my coat back off and stayed in.

I thought I had to choose between boots that were easy to get on and boots that felt secure once I was walking. So I chose easy, and shuffled about in my old wellies.

So I gave up. I told myself winter walks were for younger legs than mine.

Then I watched a friend put hers on in ten seconds

After church one Sunday my friend Pat sat down in the porch, slipped her feet into a pair of black quilted boots, pressed a strap across each ankle and stood up. I was still untying my shoes. I asked her what they were, and she told me they were the Wint, from Nottingham Boutique, a little boutique that has been quietly dressing women our age for a few years now. I ordered mine that evening.

What happened at the garden centre

On Saturday Sue and I went to the garden centre for a wander and a scone. It had rained all morning. Three different women asked me about my boots, one of them on the wet path outside, and Sue told me I looked like I had made an effort, which I have decided to take as a compliment.

I did not think about my feet once. No wobbling on the wet path, no stopping to redo a lace, and when we got home I had them off by the door in a moment.

Three things I have learned since

One. One strap instead of laces. You slip your foot in and press the strap across the ankle. No knots, no stiff zips, and no more sitting on the stairs bent double.

Two. They feel secure. The structured ankle keeps the boot where it should be, and the textured sole gives a good steady footing on damp pavements and paths.

Three. They look smart, not clumpy. A quilted black upper with a soft grey fur-look collar. They go with trousers and jeans and sit neatly under a winter coat.

About the price

When I saw the price I was suspicious. Boots that look this well made, I assumed, would either cost a fortune or fall apart by February.

The Wint is £34.95. It was £70.

There is no catch. They have their autumn sale on, delivery is free, and they arrived in a proper box looking exactly as they did in the pictures.

I did go and read the reviews before I ordered a second pair. Just over three hundred of them, sitting at 4.2 stars. Not the suspiciously perfect five you see on some sites, which if I am honest made me trust it more. One woman had written, "No more sitting on the stairs doing up laces. I am out of the door in a minute." That was the one that decided it for me.

What I would tell you if we were friends

If you came round and we sat out on the porch with a cup of tea, this is what I would tell you.

Do not save winter walks for younger legs. Get yourself a pair of boots you can put on in a minute, before the cold really sets in, and go.

They do not look like they were made for somebody half my age, and they do not look like I have given up either.

Caroline