Pair of boots

Object type
Top boots ended just below the knee. They are so called because the top was turned down to reveal a softer or lighter coloured leather, allowing greater mobility when riding and walking. They had leather or string loops on the inside to help with pulling them on.

Ownership & Use

Top boots came into fashion during the 18th century. Before then, boots were largely reserved for riding, hunting, travelling and military use. During the 1730s a growing interest in horse racing led to the rise of the jockey boot as an item of fashionable clothing. In the 1780s the jockey boot was renamed the top boot, possibly to dispel any associations with the working classes. In the following century, however, top boots were replaced by ankle boots for everyday wear. The Whole Art of Dress, or, The Road to Elegance and Fashion (1830), written by a cavalry officer (Effingham Wilson), reported: 'The top boot is almost entirely a sporting fashion ... Although they are worn by noblemen and gentlemen in hunting, they are in general use among the lower orders, such as jockeys, grooms, butlers.'