What Uggs Price actually costs is a range rather than a number, and the gap between the low and high end here is mostly materials and finishing. Small production runs cost more per unit, which is why a lesser-known label can be dearer than a famous one. Cost per wear is the only figure that matters, and it favours the plain expensive thing over the interesting cheap one. A stacked heel walks better than a block of the same height. The groups below run from the decision that matters most to the ones you make afterwards.

What decides this is shaft height, calf width and sole grip. Everything else is preference. Two from the first group show the range: Akira's AKIRA GOLD HALOED BLACK LACE UP BACK BOOTIE at $100, and Beginning Boutique's Blythe Chocolate Suedette Foldover Boots at $120. The first is the easy entry point; the second is where the money goes. A stacked heel walks better than a block of the same height. Measure your calf before buying anything with a shaft above the ankle. A higher price mostly buys materials and finishing, and occasionally it buys nothing at all.

Boots want either a skimming trouser or nothing below the knee at all. From the second group, Akira's AKIRA GOLD SPARK CAMO COMBAT BOOTIE ($80) is the one that earns its place, because it works in more than one context without being restyled. The third group is smaller and deliberately narrower, boots, for the decisions you make after the main one. None of this needs the whole group. One piece from each is usually enough.

There are 20 boots here from 16 brands, $69 to $398, all in stock when this was written. We would not buy all of them, and neither should you. The Sak's Paloma Clog Boot - Leather - Black at $69 is the low-risk way in, and Varley's Eileen Chelsea Nappa Boot at $398 only makes sense if this is a category you already use constantly. Read as a set, they get you close to Uggs Price without any single purchase being compulsory. Nothing here is included because it is famous, and price is not used as a proxy for quality anywhere on this page. If you take one thing away: pay for the thing that touches your body and economise on the thing that sits on top of it.