# LL Bean's Duck Boots: business casual appropiate?



## Fortuno (Feb 23, 2013)

I'm looking for some good rain footwear and noticed many guys on this forum praising the LL bean duck boots. Although we don't get snow here in Buenos Aires (once every 125 years) we get quite a bit of rain, thus I want a "business casual" (khakis, shirt, sport coat, etc) appropriate alternative for foul weather. Are they appropriate? Which of the ones linked bellow would you guys suggest buying?

www.llbean.com/llbeansignature/llb/...-s-waxed-canvas-maine-hunting-shoe-6&subrnd=1

www.llbean.com/llb/shop/31179?page=mens-llbean-boots-8

www.llbean.com/llb/shop/31178?feat=...oots-6&attrValue_0=Tan/Brown&productId=197697

www.llbean.com/llb/shop/22812?feat=...sulate&attrValue_0=Tan/Brown&productId=198435

www.llbean.com/llb/shop/19067?feat=513861-GN3&page=men-s-l-l-bean-boots-rubber-moc


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## Spin Evans (Feb 2, 2013)

As a rule, I don't think that they are business casual appropriate. Some environments might not balk at them, but they simply aren't worth wearing in an office for a full 8 hours. The only climate you have to deal with is the six degrees that those two women keep adjusting the thermostat over. I would suggest either a pair of swims overshoes, or a pair of the Bean mocs, which you can wear outside and then change into more appropriate footwear when you get to work.


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## Ivygrad71 (Mar 22, 2014)

While I own a couple of pairs of these I don't think they pass muster for casual business or any business for that matter. Invest in a pair Tingley overshoes and you're all set.


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## jamesensor (Jan 29, 2010)

I commute about a mile walking. I wear duck boots to work and slip on my loafers at my desk. Problem solved.


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## EastVillageTrad (May 12, 2006)

jamesensor said:


> I commute about a mile walking. I wear duck boots to work and slip on my loafers at my desk. Problem solved.


+1 Wet/slush weather commute wear.


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## 32rollandrock (May 1, 2008)

I wear Maine Hunting Shoes, essentially the same as the low Bean Boots, in slushy weather or heavy rain, but I'm fortunate in that I have wide latitude in how I can dress--I think it depends on your profession. They work well, I think, with tweed trousers and a sport coat. I think of them as GTH footwear that I can get away with at the office.


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## dkoernert (May 31, 2011)

32rollandrock said:


> I wear Maine Hunting Shoes, essentially the same as the low Bean Boots, in slushy weather or heavy rain, but I'm fortunate in that I have wide latitude in how I can dress--I think it depends on your profession. They work well, I think, with tweed trousers and a sport coat. I think of them as GTH footwear that I can get away with at the office.


Same for me. I wouldn't have been able to get away with it at my previous job, but I wear mine all the time when there is foul weather now.


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## 32rollandrock (May 1, 2008)

dkoernert said:


> Same for me. I wouldn't have been able to get away with it at my previous job, but I wear mine all the time when there is foul weather now.


Great to know that there are at least two of us out there. I always feel like an English country gentleman when I wear mine with tweed and a tie. It almost makes up for the bad weather.


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## Fraser Tartan (May 12, 2010)

Hmm. I've spent time in Buenos Aires and the idea of walking around in Bean boots sounds kind of odd. I always felt most appropriate dressing more "city" there, at least in the Microcentro and even in neighborhoods like Recoleta, Palermo, etc. I would feel like I'd be giving the impression of doing some sort of urban lumberjack or streetwear fashion thing with the Bean boots.

Haven't been there since this whole "Americana" thing kicked into high gear several years ago so maybe they wouldn't be so weird there now. Heck, business casual there seemed to be more of the spread collar shirt, wool trousers, and black shoes variety from what I recall. Khakis were odd outside of warm-weather months and still not common then.

Bean boots might be more "Palermo Hollywood" [hip neighborhood] than business casual, know what I mean?

Unlike Conservative Business Dress, appropriate business casual, and casual for that matter, varies greatly by location.


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## Trad-ish (Feb 19, 2011)

32rollandrock said:


> Great to know that there are at least two of us out there. I always feel like an English country gentleman when I wear mine with tweed and a tie. It almost makes up for the bad weather.


Make it three. I'm one with a "wide latitude" of dress as well. I also have some pretty rural locales in my territory so the boots don't stick out quite so much. If I were working in more urban settings, I'd probably do the Swims or just change shoes at work.


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## my19 (Nov 11, 2009)

Trad-ish said:


> Make it three. I'm one with a "wide latitude" of dress as well. I also have some pretty rural locales in my territory so the boots don't stick out quite so much. If I were working in more urban settings, I'd probably do the Swims or just change shoes at work.


I have a couple of pair -- the 8-inch boot and the moc -- and wear them to work on particularly messy days. But I'm a journalist, and my work place is well below business casual. It's more casual-casual.


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## sskim3 (Jul 2, 2013)

I've gotten away with wearing 6 inch duck boots and I work in the financial district in nyc. Usually its slacks and a button down minimum as dress code. I tend to wear heavy pants and a sweater or cardigan when I wear them and make the outfit more casual. Also leave a pair of shoes just in case of meetings.


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## Jovan (Mar 7, 2006)

Negative. There's a line, and it's a thin one, but Bean boots at work are a no-no. I'm starting to feel the same about camp mocs and boat shoes with business casual.


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## Shaver (May 2, 2012)

These things are hideous. The only way they could ever be put on my feet is over my cold dead toes.


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## Langham (Nov 7, 2012)

Fortuno said:


> Are they appropriate? ...


Only if you travel to work on a tractor.


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## Snow Hill Pond (Aug 10, 2011)

Shaver said:


> These things are hideous.


...and yet de rigueur for any college-educated American gent of a certain age.


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## Shaver (May 2, 2012)

^ Honestly?


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## Snow Hill Pond (Aug 10, 2011)

Shaver said:


> ^ Honestly?


No joke. When I was in college you had to have the following (in the correct brand...no knockoffs):

1. LLB Maine Hunting shoes/boots
2. Bass Weejuns
3. LLB/Sebago/Eastland/Timberland Blucher Moccs
4. Sperry Topsiders
5. Woolrich Mountain Parka
6. LLB Field/Barn Coat
7. PRL University Stripe OCBD
8. Duckhead khaki chinos

These items comprised the uniform that everyone wore.

I have to admit that I've moved on to better things with regard to the Bass Weejuns, LLB Blucher Moccs, LLB Field Coat, and the Mountain parka, but the LLB Maine Hunting shoe/boot is still OK in my book.


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## Shaver (May 2, 2012)

^ More and more I come to appreciate the benefits of the English educational system.


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## Snow Hill Pond (Aug 10, 2011)

Shaver said:


> ^ More and more I come to appreciate the benefits of the English educational system.


You're probably right, but our co-eds are prettier.


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## Shaver (May 2, 2012)

^ If you managed to 'pull' any ladies in that get-up then you thoroughly deserve your diploma. :thumbs-up:


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## Snow Hill Pond (Aug 10, 2011)

Shaver said:


> ^ If you managed to 'pull' any ladies in that get-up then you thoroughly deserve your diploma. :thumbs-up:


No problem at all. As I remember, except for the Duckhead chinos, the girls wore the same things as the guys. It does seem strange now that I think about it. But it was the mid-80s. The time of Prince, Culture Club, Michael Jackson, British new wave, etc. A lot of androgyny in the dress code.

I think that this is definitive proof that at the age of 18-21 both men and women look good in anything. It's all downhill from there...


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## FalconLorenzo (Aug 14, 2013)

I frequently wear mine to the office. However, I'm a university student and my "job" is an unpaid internship with the University's government relations office. Most of my day is spent walking to and from class all around campus, so Beans Boots are an absolute necessity, in my eyes. I often wear them with chinos, an OCBD, tie, and blazer. It might not be the "ideal" look but... It is currently March 27th, I'm on spring break, and there is legitimately 6 inches of snow on the ground. At this point the Bean Boot is a part of my survival instincts, I believe!


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## oxford cloth button down (Jan 1, 2012)

Jovan said:


> Negative. There's a line, and it's a thin one, but Bean boots at work are a no-no. I'm starting to feel the same about camp mocs and boat shoes with business casual.


I would wear Bean boots at work, but not boat shoes or camp mocs at work unless it was Friday(I still don't, but I could see it). Bean boots serve a purpose. I also wear in a very casual office (sneakers are allowed), but I keep a slightly more conservative code.


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## 32rollandrock (May 1, 2008)

I was thinking the exact same thing. Back then, chicks did dress the same.



Snow Hill Pond said:


> No problem at all. As I remember, except for the Duckhead chinos, the girls wore the same things as the guys. It does seem strange now that I think about it. But it was the mid-80s. The time of Prince, Culture Club, Michael Jackson, British new wave, etc. A lot of androgyny in the dress code.
> 
> I think that this is definitive proof that at the age of 18-21 both men and women look good in anything. It's all downhill from there...


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## Fading Fast (Aug 22, 2012)

Shaver said:


> ^ Honestly?


This is an Northeast United States "New England Preppy" thing. I grew up wearing them and they seem normal as heck to me. I own four versions and couldn't live without them. I work in finance and on snowy or monsoon days, I have gone to meeting where men are in $3000 custom suits, Hermes ties, et al. and LL Bean boots - it is understood by those who grew up in that culture that it is acceptable. If I hadn't grown up here, I would be with Shaver thinking they look like some sort of weird moon attire.

And in high school and college everyone wore them, guys and girls. Most regions have there "things" that you either grew up there and get or not. I am not going to defend these away from the Northeast, but in the Northeast, they are part of the Wasp / Prep / Trad culture.


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## Shaver (May 2, 2012)

Fading Fast said:


> This is an Northeast United States "New England Preppy" thing. I grew up wearing them and they seem normal as heck to me. I own four versions and couldn't live without them. I work in finance and on snowy or monsoon days, I have gone to meeting where men are in $3000 custom suits, Hermes ties, et al. and LL Bean boots - it is understood by those who grew up in that culture that it is acceptable. If I hadn't grown up here, I would be with Shaver thinking they look like some sort of weird moon attire.
> 
> And in high school and college everyone wore them, guys and girls. Most regions have there "things" that you either grew up there and get or not. I am not going to defend these away from the Northeast, but in the Northeast, they are part of the Wasp / Prep / Trad culture.












Agreed. Approved by Col. Armstrong. Ideal shoes for a moonwalk. :thumbs-up:

Contraindicated in any other circumstance.


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## Snow Hill Pond (Aug 10, 2011)

Fading Fast said:


> If I hadn't grown up here, I would be with Shaver thinking they look like some sort of weird moon attire.


This sounds very close to being an apology. Hold fast. The Brits have their own idiosyncracies. Like this fascination with serving cold dry toast in those cute toast racks.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/foodanddrink/8374222/Eat-marmalade-on-cold-toast-says-scientist.html


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## Shaver (May 2, 2012)

Hmmph! Our *English* idiosyncrasies are often much more baroque than that. :rolleyes2:

I cannot speak to the 'Brits' for, in truth, I have never met one.


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## Fading Fast (Aug 22, 2012)

Snow Hill Pond said:


> This sounds very close to being an apology. Hold fast. The Brits have their own idiosyncracies. Like this fascination with serving cold dry toast in those cute toast racks.
> 
> https://www.telegraph.co.uk/foodanddrink/8374222/Eat-marmalade-on-cold-toast-says-scientist.html


I sometime let my toast cool so that the butter doesn't melt all the way because good butter has a nuanced flavor that gets lost when melted. And I kid you not, I am typing this with a piece of cool toast topped with butter next to my computer.


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## FLMike (Sep 17, 2008)

Fading Fast said:


> This is an Northeast United States "New England Preppy" thing. I grew up wearing them and they seem normal as heck to me. I own four versions and couldn't live without them. I work in finance and on snowy or monsoon days, I have gone to meeting where men are in $3000 custom suits, Hermes ties, et al. and LL Bean boots - it is understood by those who grew up in that culture that it is acceptable. If I hadn't grown up here, I would be with Shaver thinking they look like some sort of weird moon attire.
> 
> And in high school and college everyone wore them, guys and girls. Most regions have there "things" that you either grew up there and get or not. I am not going to defend these away from the Northeast, but in the Northeast, they are part of the Wasp / Prep / Trad culture.


Alas, another Yankee who thinks the world revolves around New York and that everything cool is a Northeaat or New England "thing" that the rest of us wouldn't understand. Bean Boots have been ubiquitous on college campuses across the South for decades. I'm a fourth generation Floridian and I've owned a pair for as long as I can remember. I know LLB is in Maine, but that doesn't mean thier goods are only appreciated in the Northeast.


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## Fading Fast (Aug 22, 2012)

FLCracka said:


> Alas, another Yankee who thinks the world revolves around New York and that everything cool is a Northeaat or New England "thing" that the rest of us wouldn't understand. Bean Boots have been ubiquitous on college campuses across the South for decades. I'm a fourth generation Floridian and I've owned a pair for as long as I can remember. I know LLB is in Maine, but that doesn't mean thier goods are only appreciated in the Northeast.


I am going to assume good will and apologize as, upon rereading my post after your invective, I can understand your interpretation of it. I did not in intend to say that others outside New England wouldn't understand them as an insult, but as a way of saying I thought they were a regional thing. I do not have the opinion that the world revolves around New York (nor the very, very modest home I grew up in NJ), but again, thought they were more of a regional thing. And finally, I did not say, nor do I think, that everything "cool" comes from the Northeast - I love clothes and items from all around the country and world. And, again, I apologize as I believe good manners (and bad) are not regional.


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## Bandit44 (Oct 1, 2010)

Occasionally, I'll lecture/teach in mine. Each semester, the first time my students see me in a navy blazer, khakis, bow tie, and duck boots, they snicker a bit, but they get used to it. A few colleagues still roll their eyes (Yankees, most of them, evidently not ones from New England), but on days where I have to walk to multiple buildings across campus, I have neither time nor the space to fiddle with galoshes. I may be an idiosyncratic, incongruous Bubba, but with all due respect, at least I ain't baroque.


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## Jovan (Mar 7, 2006)

FLCracka said:


> Alas, another Yankee who thinks the world revolves around New York and that everything cool is a Northeaat or New England "thing" that the rest of us wouldn't understand. Bean Boots have been ubiquitous on college campuses across the South for decades. I'm a fourth generation Floridian and I've owned a pair for as long as I can remember. I know LLB is in Maine, but that doesn't mean thier goods are only appreciated in the Northeast.


Aren't you assuming a bit much by his post? All he did was talk about his experience. He never said the world revolved around the northeast. And honestly, I had only seen one pair of Bean boots in person in Florida -- a pair owned by my mother since she was the age I am now.


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## Snow Hill Pond (Aug 10, 2011)

Fading Fast said:


> I am going to assume good will and apologize as, upon rereading my post after your invective, I can understand your interpretation of it. I did not in intend to say that others outside New England wouldn't understand them as an insult, but as a way of saying I thought they were a regional thing. I do not have the opinion that the world revolves around New York (nor the very, very modest home I grew up in NJ), but again, thought they were more of a regional thing. And finally, I did not say, nor do I think, that everything "cool" comes from the Northeast - I love clothes and items from all around the country and world. And, again, I apologize as I believe good manners (and bad) are not regional.


Kudos for handling this well.


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## Shaver (May 2, 2012)

Snow Hill Pond said:


> Kudos for handling this well.


+1. ......


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## FLMike (Sep 17, 2008)

No need to apologize FF. Sometimes "tone" doesn't translate well in writing, and in rereading my post, the tounge in cheek tone that I was feeling as I typed it didn't really come across as I read it. While I have encountered many New Yorkers with an ethnocentric view of things, I wasn't seriously accusing you of having that viewpoint. Actually, I was....that just wasn't my intent. Maybe I need to start using those smiley face thingies.  Apologies back at you. Anyway, my only real point was that Bean boots are every bit as much a Southern prep staple as they are a New England/Northeast prep staple.


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## 32rollandrock (May 1, 2008)

Shaver said:


> Agreed. Approved by Col. Armstrong. Ideal shoes for a moonwalk. :thumbs-up:
> 
> Contraindicated in any other circumstance.


Hilarious, and begs the question: What would Michael Jackson wear?

Not to nitpick, but the tread pattern pictured is not from Bean's supplier in Maine, which leads me to conclude that Armstrong was a sellout, even if he did have the good sense to wear a Speedmaster watch.


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## Fading Fast (Aug 22, 2012)

FLCracka said:


> No need to apologize FF. Sometimes "tone" doesn't translate well in writing, and in rereading my post, the tounge in cheek tone that I was feeling as I typed it didn't really come across as I read it. While I have encountered many New Yorkers with an ethnocentric view of things, I wasn't seriously accusing you of having that viewpoint. Actually, I was....that just wasn't my intent. Maybe I need to start using those smiley face thingies.  Apologies back at you. Anyway, my only real point was that Bean boots are every bit as much a Southern prep staple as they are a New England/Northeast prep staple.


All is good - thank you for this post. And, most importantly, I'm happy to hear that my favorite boot has a broader audience than I knew. I bet though that my fleece-lined ones wouldn't be needed in the South


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## Dave (Mar 17, 2003)

With khakis and an OCBD or polo or button-down sport shirt and no tie, then I definitely think Bean Boots would work. If your definition of "business casual" even includes jeans (dark jeans, preferably), then I think they'd work too. Take a look at what I posted in the trad WAYWT thread and see for yourself: https://askandyaboutclothes.com/com...ad-What-are-you-Wearing&p=1531763#post1531763


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## Allen Smithee (Oct 2, 2014)

There are two hilarities in this thread. Duck boots for business, and not knowing what duck boots are!


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## efdll (Sep 11, 2008)

I've seen Bean duck boots worn for work and it was perfectly appropriate. At a fish market. In Maine.


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## JLibourel (Jun 13, 2004)

Oh my! I had been aware of L.L. Bean's "Maine Hunting Shoes" since before many of you fellows were born. I was aware the name had been changed to "Bean Boots," but the term "duck boots" is a new one on me. I always thought duck hunters typically wore waders or at least rubber hip boots.

Since my outdoor activity has been pretty much limited to the arid, mountainous West, such footgear would be of no utility to me. As far as their being office attire, I would say only in an "anything goes" office, no matter what the weather. I fear there are all too many of the latter here in Slovenly California these days.


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## FLMike (Sep 17, 2008)

We called them "duck boots" generically when I was growing up, whether actual Bean Boots or some knock-off version. I know orange fury wore his at his previous office job in Houston. I personally thought it odd, but I recall others jumped in to defend the practice.


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## godan (Feb 10, 2010)

Business casual boots for deep snow in this area have traditionally been mountaineering boots. When boots were made of leather, most locals would have a pair that were too worn and stretched for high altitude and so found honorable retirement for deep snow in town. That said, one can always see a few pairs of Bean boots that seem to be just right for relatively short walks, especially in urban slush.


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## orange fury (Dec 8, 2013)

FLCracka said:


> We called them "duck boots" generically when I was growing up, whether actual Bean Boots or some knock-off version. I know orange fury wore his at his previous office job in Houston. I personally thought it odd, but I recall others jumped in to defend the practice.


I was actually going to jump in and mention that I wore them at my previous job on especially cold days (VERY liberal business casual policy) because my desk was freezing most of the time. I would never get away with it (nor consider it) at my current job though.

I will say that I do love Bean Boots + Woolrich socks outside of work when it's cold and wet though...


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## Shaver (May 2, 2012)

Heh. "Resident uber-snob". I like it. 

Coo-ee boys, it seems that your Inanity detector is malfunctioning.


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## Trad-ish (Feb 19, 2011)

I was going to reply to the affirmative in this thread but realized:

a) I already had, because 
b) this had become a necro-thread


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## Fading Fast (Aug 22, 2012)

Trad-ish said:


> I was going to reply to the affirmative in this thread but realized:
> 
> a) I already had, because
> b) this had become a necro-thread


Funny, I just went back and realized, we've covered about all there is to say on this one (and I was - as always - too wordy in my earlier comments).


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## Allen Smithee (Oct 2, 2014)

Shaver said:


> Coo-ee boys, it seems that your Inanity detector is malfunctioning.


Well it made FNB's inanity thread, so no, I'd say some people's detectors are working just fine.


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## Shaver (May 2, 2012)

Allen Smithee said:


> Well it made FNB's inanity thread, so no, I'd say some people's detectors are working just fine.


I belive that I hear your mummy calling you in for your supper. Best toddle off, there's a good lad.


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## Allen Smithee (Oct 2, 2014)

Shaver said:


> I belive that I hear your mummy calling you in for your supper. Best toddle off, there's a good lad.


I would have expected a better retort from such a gifted wordsmith as yourself.


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## sskim3 (Jul 2, 2013)

So back to the original post of the thread. It's supposed to rain throughout the day, so here I am in duck boots.


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## Shaver (May 2, 2012)

Allen Smithee said:


> I would have expected a better retort from such a gifted wordsmith as yourself.


You would? Well, how very kind of you to say so. Perhaps you are not such a bad sort after all.


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## Duvel (Mar 16, 2014)

I wore mine today for soggy slogging from home across campus to office. Once I am ensconced in the office, the boots are doffed and the _appropriate _footwear donned. (The latter may be easily transported on one's commute in one's small duffle bag or backpack.)

One removes one's rain boots just as one removes one's rain coat and hat indoors.


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## ouinon (Jun 28, 2015)

Another vote for "appropriate"! I also work in finance at an office with a very liberal dress code. Foul-weather boots are plenty common in business where I'm from, which is even further northeast than New England


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## Duvel (Mar 16, 2014)

For those who wear them in the office, don't your feet get hot?


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## stfu (Apr 30, 2008)

sskim3 said:


> So back to the original post of the thread. It's supposed to rain throughout the day, so here I am in duck boots.


Based on the rest of the clothing you are wearing, the duck boots seem wholly appropriate for _at least_ commuting to "the office" during inclement weather. I think it is sometimes assumed that everyone that posts works in a law practice or in the markets.


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## ouinon (Jun 28, 2015)

Duvel said:


> For those who wear them in the office, don't your feet get hot?


Not mine. I tend to run cold in general, plus my office keeps the air conditioning blasting year round for some reason.


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## sskim3 (Jul 2, 2013)

Duvel said:


> I wore mine today for soggy slogging from home across campus to office. Once I am ensconced in the office, the boots are doffed and the _appropriate _footwear donned. (The latter may be easily transported on one's commute in one's small duffle bag or backpack.)
> 
> One removes one's rain boots just as one removes one's rain coat and hat indoors.


Mine are unlined so no goretex lining for added warmth or any of that fancy jazz. The temps at the office stay pretty cool so the feet don't get too hot.

Fortunately, I am able to take some liberties with my attire since I tend to NOT dress like the rest of corporate America (most of the time).


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## FLMike (Sep 17, 2008)

^Gortex is not for warmth....it's for waterproofing. Thinsulate adds warmth. My MHS have a sock liner containing both. For simply rain, I have the Bean rubber mocs. I would wear neither at work.


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