February 13, 2025

Photo: The Strategist

Drop your eyes to the floor of any subway car right now and you’re almost guaranteed to see multiple pairs of Blundstones. We get why: Strategist staffers have been wearing and recommending the Australian brand’s pull-tab Chelsea boots for years. Lauren Ro says her sheepskin-lined 566s are “the most comfortable shoes I own,” Winnie Yang has had her 550s for nearly a decade, and Liza Corsillo currently rotates through seven different pairs. But are they played out? Are there better options out there? We assembled a panel to discuss.

A few of you have already shared your opinions in the comments, but we want to hear how you really feel — where do you stand on Blundstones? We’ll share the results in a future newsletter.

Also on the site: Kitty Guo talked to music producers Tamer Malki and Rami Abousabe, who make up the DJ duo Bedouin, about how they sleep. And Tembe Denton-Hurst recently tested the beauty world’s newest super ingredient, beef tallow, to satisfy her (slightly suspicious) curiosity. Turns out, when finding the best one, the beefier the better. 

SALE

SPOTTED

Speaking of boots, Liza spotted someone wearing these boots on her commute yesterday and was very curious what they were. Ailbhe Malone suggested these ones from Ganni, but the sole is much chunkier. Sam Daly thinks they kind of look like these Vagabound boots, which leaves us slightly closer. If you know what they are (or if Liza happened to sneakily take a photo of you), email us at strategist@nymag.com. 

(And if you need more boot inspiration, I should probably share that the above hunt began after Lauren said that she keeps spotting these Totemes on the feet of fancy ladies everywhere, most recently Kate Berry of Domino at the MoMA Design Store preview last week.)