How to Style An Aircast

Now that I'm a few weeks out of the boot, I can see a bit more humor in it. After making as many jokes about my aircast as possible, I figured I might as well write it all down!

So you’ve done something stupid, say kicked a mountain lion in the face or tripped over a crack in the sidewalk, and have a broken foot now.  Just in time for summer, no less! How are you going to wear all the cute strappy sandals that coordinate so well with your flirty summer sundresses?  Don’t worry, I have the essential guide to working that boot, a.k.a. an aircast. I’ll keep it simple for you, and boil it down to a two-pronged approach.  

First off, summer usually calls for light and bright colors, but unfortunately aircast manufacturers haven’t gotten the memo.  You have a couple of options here - first, embrace the black. Not your typical summer look, but use your monochromatic styling skills and make it work!  You can go all black, black plus denim, black plus white, or if you’re really not feeling it, make sure there is just a touch of black in the mix of your colorful wardrobe.  It doesn’t have to be much, but just a pop of black is what you need to really feel pulled together and make the boot work. The second option is a bit more involved, and for the true fashionista. This is to take matters into your own hands, and add some pizzazz to that boot!  Depending on your skills, you can do a couple of different things here. Entry-level pizzazz would be spray-painting it a solid color - say you like to rock pastel pink in the summer, there you go, a perfect match for all your cute outfits. If you’re really feeling funky, embrace your inner artist and add some cool graffiti.  Everyone will be so impressed with your talent, they won’t even notice you hobbling around! The second good option for jazzing up your boot takes a bit more work, but its camouflage powers are even greater - cover up that bad boy. You can make covers in any material to match each outfit, the possibilities are endless here. We’re talking crisp tailored cotton to match the pencil skirt you wear to work, flowy silk with your boho sundress, even a stretchy lycra fabric to match your itsy bitsy teeny weeny yellow polka dot bikini!  The key here is to make sure you’re not adding bulk - you already have the world’s biggest cankle going on, you don’t want to add to it. Make sure your cover skims your boot’s curves, not engulfs them. The final option is for those who really can’t be bothered to put in the effort for fashion (no judgement here, just throwing it out there!). And that is to give in and wear maxi dresses all summer. Sure, they are cute and breathable, and work well, but that giant toe will be sticking out the whole time, so you’re not really fooling anyone except the casual passer-by.  

Once you have the camouflage down, it’s time to figure out how to strut your stuff, i.e., not walk like Frankenstein’s monster.  Yeah, your doctor probably has told you to take it easy and stay off your foot by sitting all the time, but who wants to do that all summer? Trust me, it’s hard to sashay in a boot, but you can do it!  There is only one simple little step here, and that is to make sure your other shoe is both cute and the correct height. I cannot stress this enough, once you figure out that magic height, no one will know the difference and you'll be speeding all over the place!  Get thee to thy shoe closet and start trying them out, and don’t stop until you have the perfect shoe. I would try to stay away from the stilettos, but luckily wedges are in, and you can still be cute and strappy, at least on one foot.  Depending on your camouflage method, you can stick with a single black sandal option, or find a few colorful ones to mix it up. The beauty of this method is that packing for all your fun summer getaways will be super simple and you can bring double the number of shoes, because you’re only bringing one of each!

Once you’ve got both approaches down, you’ll truly be able to rock your summer in style!  Who knows, you may even start some trends, but hopefully no more mountain lions will be harmed in the process.