The sun is shining, the crocuses are tentatively budding and… is that frost coating the car this morning? Spring might be approaching, but the recent arctic weather is a reminder we’re not through with winter. It’s not quite time to put away those winter boots yet. This type of footwear is also being re-evaluated on the catwalks of Milan and Paris, taken out of context and applied to suiting rather than jeans and heavy coats. It’s an interesting proposal; men often wonder what to wear on their feet when smart office attire is called for but the weather outside requires something more substantial than standard Oxford shoes. Now you can tuck them under the cuff of your suit trousers and they’ll marry form with function. There’s also been an evolution in how we regard outdoor attire; the gorpcore trend (which takes its name from the American “gorpmix” packed into rucksacks by US hikers) a couple of years ago saw the rise of functional hiking boots, Duke of Edinburgh-ready fleeces and cargo trousers best suited to a spot of mountaineering worn in distinctly urban environments. That’s had a trickle-down effect - suddenly that boot-of-the-car Barbour and those orthopaedic-looking boots are not just being worn for a yomp up Snowdon. Even 007 is at it; in Spectre, Daniel Craig wears a handsome pair of Danner boots; the Oregon brand has been kitting out adventurers in the wilds of the Pacific Northwest for a century. If you’re eyeing up your old mud-splattered pair with scepticism, it might be worth considering different forms of winter boots for different occasions. Suede or leather variants work for smarter situations; consider them as appropriate attire with a suit. And while the more functional varieties are obviously suited for tackling the great outdoors, don’t entirely discount them for casualwear – they can look suitably rugged with a pair of jeans and a chunky knit. Beretta and Q-engineered gadgetry entirely optional.