2026 is the Year of the Fire Horse, and equestrian style is everywhere, from tweed blazers to barn jackets. On Pinterest, searches for a riding boots outfit are up 80%, and barn jacket outfit searches are up more than 1,100%. Here’s how to wear the riding boot now, in town, without looking like you lost your horse.
Why Is Equestrian Style Everywhere?
Part zodiac, part runway. PureWow ties the year’s equestrian mood to the Fire Horse, and Harper’s Bazaar puts riding boots on its list of fall/winter 2026 boot trends, next to chestnut leather and refined Western shapes. It also suits the moment. A riding boot is a working shoe that turned into a classic: flat, tall, and built to soften with every season instead of wearing out.
A riding boot is a working shoe that turned into a classic.
What Makes a Riding Boot Different From a Knee-High Boot?
Height is the same, attitude is not. A riding boot is flat or nearly flat, with a close-fitting shaft and a clean, unadorned line. A knee-high fashion boot usually adds a heel. The Ramona Riding Boot keeps to the original idea: a 15-inch shaft, a sleek tapered toe, a three-quarter-inch stacked heel, and an inside zip so it slides on over slim trousers.
Riding Boot or Biker Boot?
This fall the two keep meeting in the middle. Harper’s Bazaar describes the season’s riding boots as “equal parts moto- and equestrian-inspired,” and the Burke Biker Boot in Espresso Brown sits right on that line. It has a mid-calf shaft, a two-inch stacked block heel, and four tonal buckles running up the side, like tack on a saddle. Wear the Ramona when you want the clean stable line. Choose the Burke when you want the same mood with more edge, over straight jeans or under a midi skirt.
How Do You Wear Riding Boots With Jeans?
Tuck them in. Riding boots belong with slim or straight-leg jeans pulled inside the shaft, so the boot shows from ankle to knee. Dark indigo looks sharpest, and chocolate-brown denim is the fall alternative. Keep the top half relaxed so the outfit reads city, not stable: an oversized cable knit, a men’s shirt, or a quilted vest. If your jeans are wide, let them fall over the Burke instead.
What to Wear With a Barn Jacket
The barn jacket’s corduroy collar and waxed or canvas body want leather below the knee. Four formulas to copy:
• Barn jacket, gray crewneck, slim jeans, and the Ramona Riding Boot in black.
• Barn jacket over a plaid shirt, straight jeans, and the Burke Biker Boot in Espresso Brown.
• Barn jacket, cream turtleneck, wool midi skirt, tights, and the Ramona Riding Boot in Dark Chocolate.
• Barn jacket, knit dress, and the Tilda Loafer on warmer days.
Add a silk scarf at the neck and you have the whole equestrian look without the jodhpurs.
Bernardo Has Been Here Before
The flat tall boot isn’t new to us. A vintage Bernardo advertisement from our archive, headlined “Secrets of a Boot-Legger,” shows a knee-high suede boot with a slim buckle strap at the ankle, standing among empty bottles. Same idea, decades earlier: a flat, close-fitting shaft, one piece of hardware, nothing extra.
Can You Wear Riding Boots With a Skirt?
Yes, and it may be the most modern way to wear them. A flat tall boot under a midi skirt balances volume with structure. Try a pleated wool skirt that stops just at the top of the shaft, with opaque tights so boot and leg read as one. When tall feels like too much, the Rema Ankle Bootie keeps the riding line short: a sharp tapered toe on a three-quarter-inch heel, like a paddock boot cut for town.
Find the Ramona, the Burke, the Rema, and every other height in the boot collection, handcrafted in a family-owned factory in Brazil. More Style Notes live in The Journal.
