Some thoughts about Moon Boots and Brazilian Fashion

Just found about the Moon Boots, so called Futuristic Footwear For Winter.

They were designed by the Italian Giancarlo Zanatta, inspired by the astronauts’ footwear. I learned that they are puffy, bulky, warm, make no distinction between the left and right foot, and are very suitable for extreme sports, like snowboard, but can also be enjoyed in everyday life (on the red carpet, for example).

Although it's not the kind of stuff I like being seen with around, I'm pretty sure the Moon Boots would really catch on among many Brazilian fellows. And that's weird.

Look, one of the most interesting (or funniest) things about Brazil is its fashion sense. I mean, when you read national editorial stuff, you're gonna find lots of fashion trends towards the "Brazilian culture", with references to its nature, animals etc.

Trouble is, this kind of fashion seems to be designed for the sake of appearances, i.e. for the international community, since the Brazilian streets show off another type of fashion garment, which is precisely (and weirdly) the other way round: it's not unusual to see guys wearing winter caps under a forty-melting-degree sun in Ipanema (and I bet that in Cuiabá too, a Brazilian city known for its searing heat). The same with girls: up and down they wear long barrel fur boots with thick black socks, and dress scarves in daylight, midsummer.

Even Bob Dylan thinks it's fine to walk around Rio
wearing a black coat in a heat of 34 ºC (93 ºF)

Brazil is considered a great place to chill out and enjoy the climate, because the weather is nearly always warm across the whole country. So what's the point of wearing bulky warm boots?

Gossip has it that this fashion style dates back to the colonial period in Brazil and was brought to the country by the Rio de Janeiro's society, who had money but nothing to spend with. Then some Brits, whose factories were going bankrupt due to an increasingly declining revolution and world economy in crisis, found in Brazil a great fashion market, and many others of course.

From then on, all kinds of junk had been exported to the country, including gloves, caps, scarves, boots and - believe me - skiing stuff, which obviously has been useless considering the weather we experience over here.

But truth be told, many Brazilians appraise foreign stuff rather than national one. That's why they're going to endure unsuitable clothes and boots for the Brazilian weather, including the Moon Boots, all for the sake of fashion.