KAMIK Jennifer Rain Boots Review – Your rain boots cost what?

I wound up buying a pair of KAMIK Jennifer rain boots but before I did that, like everyone else, I began to eye the Hunter rain boots. A name that has become an epidemic in the closets of women around the world since the day Kate Moss threw on a pair at Glastonbury back in 2005, sales went through the roof and suddenly a rain boot wasn’t just a rain boot.

KAMIK Jennifer Rain Boots Review

Now, I’ve wanted a pair of these for a whole different reason.

The first being is I am 5’11.

Finding any boot, rain or not, that fits well around my legs is about as fun as shopping for bathing suit when you’re 4 months pregnant (been there, done that). I have a size 9-10 foot. I also have skinny Minnie Mouse legs. Usually most shoe designers assume that the bigger your foot is, the wider your calf will be to compliment your giant foot. Never mind that they’re not even remotely tall enough.

Not the case with me. Giant foot. Skinny legs. Needless to say boot shopping has become a sport. Hunter boots have a tall shaft height which is huge for me when it comes to rain boots.

The second is I wore my old rain boots non stop since moving to the suburbs.

Probably more than any other pair of boots. You try battling for a parking spot in the morning in front of the school drop off. But seriously, between my new found obsession for gardening, hanging out in soccer fields for my daughters games all summer, the never ending soggy Spring weather to the never ending muddy Fall weather, I wore out my basic men’s $20 ugly (and I mean ugly rain boots that I had owned until the heel cracked in half.

At this point the $20 rain boots weren’t cutting it and falling apart, so I was willing to shell out some more money to get a better quality boot.

But Hunter boots are not cheap. They’re a tad above my level of “shell out more money”. And that was the biggest thing holding me back from buying them.

This is because in Canada most retailers have them priced at $159.00 not including tax. With Ontario sales tax we’re talking a precious total of $179.67. I told you, everything is more expensive here (Zappos has them for $135 US). I mean, that’s more than a week’s groceries for us. Needless to say I just couldn’t bring myself to buy them for the longest time (something about being an adult with responsibilities…)

THE HUNT FOR A NEW PAIR OF RAIN BOOTS

But after 3 + years of debate and asking countless friends who had a pair if they lasted, as I had began to read horror stories of them cracking within a year, I finally had saved up some money and thought you know what? This Mother’s Day/belated birthday gift I am going to do it. I am going to take the plunge and buy a pair. I am going to treat myself to a pair of ridiculously expensive rain boots.

Then a funny thing happened in my rain boot hunt. I saw these.

The KAMIK Jennifer Rain Boots.

 

The Kamik Jennifer rain boot.

Who or what is Kamik? Well, they’re a Canadian boot company who I already love given that I buy my kids their winter boots almost every year. And they make a ton of great adult winter boots and I own a pair of winter ones from them. But I had no idea they made such nice rain boots for adults as well.

In my quest to buy rain boots I had tried both pairs in different stores to compare them. And hell froze over. *whispers* I fell in love with the red ones.

Red.

ME.

90% of my wardrobe is black. Red? What the hell?

Did I mention they also get a stellar rating on various retailer websites? And the best part – they cost half of what Hunter’s do. So when I came across them online for a great price I was sold.

So $71 with taxes in later, they arrived on a day where we had a downpour.

 

Hello my pretties…

This was my vain attempt at Fashion blogging. My photographer – my 5 year old daughter who held her own against a Nikon SLR, the pouring rain no less.

I realized after this I would make a terrible fashion blogger even though I do have some fashion posts on here, if only for the sheer fact that I don’t have anyone to take in focus photos of myself pretending to look non-chalant while walking through corn fields in my styled outfits.

How do they do this? Self timer? Tripod? This is effort let me tell you. No wonder they get front row fashion seats for going beyond selfie portraits in the mirror.

Oh look they match my backyard decor. Totally and utterly not planned for photos. Whatsoever. Right.

So about the boots.

Here are the fine points about that ultimately sold me on them:

– Made in Canada. I’m Canadian and it’s so rare to find anything this good Made in Canada anymore so I love to support Canadian companies where I can.

– Waterproof. Given that they’re rain boots I’d like to state the obvious…

– Recyclable. Kamik has this great program that you can send them your old worn down pair of boots and they’ll take care of them for you. No landfill waste. Amazing!

– They’re PVC free (Urban Mama has a great write up about what PVC free means) and made from a synthetic rubber called RubberHE.

– Shaft Height: 16 inches

– Shaft circumference: 15.5 inches

What do I think of the KAMIK Jennifer Rain Boots?

There was absolutely no fake or terrible smell from them upon opening up the box. The rubber is really great and really great quality. The lining inside is solid and no seams that I can see.

People have mentioned that they’re hard to slip on and off and I do tend to agree but not any more so than the Hunters. For the record I went a size down in these. Normally I wear a size 10 (I can get in a size 9 for sandals) but a size 9 fit perfect.

Seriously the red is killing me. I could stare at them all day. Of course it didn’t rain after I got them but instead it snowed and hailed today. Really now, my poor vegetable garden (that’s another post). But I cannot wait to wear these out.

My husband was like “You got the red?” and even I said “I know.” like I was Hans Solo or something. At this price if I want to maybe I can get another pair of the matte black ones.

What…? Who said that?

PS – Since writing this post, I did indeed wind up buying myself a pair of Hunter Boots in Black as well.

 

HUNTER rainboots in Black

Why?

There was nothing wrong with the KAMIK Jennifer rainboots, but sometimes you just want some variety in your closet.  I wear both depending on my mood and my outfits.

But they are pricier so if you want a more budget friendly boot, go for the KAMIK’s – who now come in so many different colors that Red isn’t even the brightest choice.

Exhibit A:

KAMIK Jennifer Rain Boots

DISCLAIMER:

KAMIK did NOT pay me or gave me free products to write up this review. These opinions are solely my own. My upcoming Visa bill assures me of this.