When you buy through our links, Business Insider may earn an affiliate commission. Learn more Along with the leaves changing and the air getting chilly, knee-high boots are an undeniable harbinger of autumn. They start to come out in early fall, paired with mini skirts and bare legs.
As the weather gets colder, you start to see them worn over pants or tights, announcing that the new fashion season has begun. But they're surprisingly hard to get right. We tested for the best knee-high boots by trying lots of brands in different price ranges.
We took walks in them to see how comfortable they were, wore them on weekdays and weekends to see how easy they were to style, and put them to the test against similar styles to see which ones we liked best. These are the best knee-high boots we found on our years-long testing journey to find the best of the best. For more of our rigorously-tested boot coverage, see our articles on the most comfortable boots and the best ankle boots .
Our top 3 favorite knee-high boots: "This knee-high boot has a three-inch heel, but you won't feel it at all when you're walking because of the cloud-like padding," says style editor Samantha Crozier. If you have issues with knee-high boots bunching or being too wide or too narrow, these are for you. DuoBoots lets you pick an exact calf width and shaft height.
These are the petite version, which is amazing if you're five-foot-three or under. "The heel height, pitch, and wide-calf fit, and option for a wide fo.