Every type of boot that you should have in your autumn 'boot wardrobe'

When I was 15, my mother took me to Paris for the weekend. We drank coffee and did the galleries and, having spotted stylish French women wearing them, bought my first pair of knee-high boots, which I insisted on wearing straight away. Somewhere between the Mona Lisa and the Venus de Milo I lost feeling in my toes, and so ended my first, and only, experience of knee-high boots.

As I’ll be 30 on my next birthday, I reckon it’s probably time I gave them another go. Mostly because they’re the perfect way to update – and weatherproof – the printed chiffon dresses (see Olivia Buxton Smith’s article here, or try Boden Icons for my favourites) that I lived in this summer, and have every intention of continuing to live in well into winter: under trenches now, and warmer masculine overcoats later.

Black, ￡125, M&S; Suede tobacco, ￡325, Russell & Bromley; Snake print, ￡235, Miista 

I’ve tried them with ankle boots, my usual winter go-to, and they look fine, but as they’re long enough to negate the need for tights (joy) that means flashing a bit of calf, which, in my case, is blue-white from lack of sun. It’s not particularly cosy to bare so much leg, not to mention the worry of looking down in a meeting and realising you haven’t shaved your legs since June.

Hence the knee-high boots. Which should be simple to find, but as everyone is suddenly very excited about thigh-highs (pull the other one), are not. Most options can be divided into two camps: those with a four-plus-inch heel – so only good for walking from the car to lunch, and certainly too high for a stroll round the Louvre – and those with no heel at all, which can be rather unforgiving. Cowboy boots are also having “a moment”, apparently (consider the other one pulled).

Green, ￡995, Jimmy Choo; Burgundy, ￡239, Kurt Geiger 

But chin up. Jimmy Choo’s bottle green Minerva boots are, frankly, perfect, but they’re also ￡995, so I’ll move on swiftly – unless your pockets are deeper than mine, in which case, they also come in black and a shade of burgundy charmingly called “vino”. On the high street, the closest I’ve found are Jones Bootmaker’s Thea boots (￡160). Kurt Geiger have some lovely pairs – try the black buttoned Waterloo (￡249) or the burgundy Trance – at the upper limit of walkable heel height. Boden’s pull-on sock style knee-highs add very little bulk, so are particularly flattering, and while I wouldn’t normally recommend suede (puddles), Russell & Bromley’s tobacco pair are too good not to.

The best knee high boots to buy this autumn - and how to wear them

For those not looking into a wardrobe filled with chiffon dresses and stepped hem skirts, the new breed of mid-calf boots will work perfectly with this season’s slightly cropped and/or kick-flared jeans and trousers, as they cut high enough so as not to leave a gap of ankle, but not so high as to raise tucking-in issues.

Miista’s are the best around: if you’re confident of avoiding puddles, try the yellow suede (￡235); if not, their snakeskin-printed leather pair will look brilliant with blue denim. But beware: as they cut across the widest part of your calf, they look shocking with bare legs, so don’t be tempted to pair them with skirts.