SOREL delivery day was always one of my favorite days of the year.
And when I say delivery, I mean delivery.
Every fall, an insane amount of SOREL would arrive at Dear Lucy. Boxes everywhere. Boots stacked up. New styles coming out of tissue paper. The store suddenly looking like fall had officially arrived.
And then we would sell an insane amount of it.
Vermont customers love SOREL — and for good reason.
SOREL made sense for the way we actually lived. The shoes had to look good, obviously, but they also had to work.
September and October meant apple picking, walks at Shelburne Farms, UVM Parents Weekend, soccer fields, chilly mornings and those beautiful Vermont fall days when you wanted to be outside as much as possible.
Then eventually came the snow, slush and ice.
But I'm not ready to talk about that yet. 😂
The serious winter SOREL edit can wait.
Right now, I'm shopping the part of the collection I always loved buying for fall — the clogs, sneakers, loafers and lighter waterproof boots that get you from September straight through those first cold days.
If I were sitting down to place my SOREL Fall '26 order for Dear Lucy, this is what I'd buy.
Buying SOREL Was Always a Little Different
When I bought SOREL for the store, I wasn't simply looking for the warmest boot.
That came later.
For fall, I wanted shoes that could handle Vermont life without looking like weather shoes.
Could she wear it apple picking?
Could she walk around Shelburne Farms in it?
Would a UVM mom wear it all weekend for Parents Weekend?
Could she throw it on with jeans on a rainy Saturday and still feel pulled together?
And, most importantly:
Will she actually wear it?
That's still my test.
So I went through SOREL's current collection exactly the way I would have gone through a line sheet for the store.
These are the pairs that made my imaginary order.
1. Ambler™ Waterproof Clog
THE WEATHER-READY CLOG. 🤎
A waterproof clog?
Easy yes.
This is exactly the type of shoe I loved finding in a SOREL collection because there's a real reason for it to exist.
You get the easy fall clog silhouette, but the waterproof construction makes it considerably more useful when the weather isn't cooperating.
I'd put this with baggy denim and a sweater now, then add cords and chunky socks when it gets colder.
Practical, but it doesn't scream practical shoe.
That's the sweet spot.
MAKES MY SOREL FALL BUY. ✓
SHOP THE AMBLER WATERPROOF CLOG →
2. ROAM’N™ Zip Boot
THE FUN BOOT. ❤️
Every buy needs something that makes you stop.
This would be mine.
The ROAM'N Zip Boot is sporty, unexpected and exactly the kind of shoe I'd use to keep a fall assortment from becoming a sea of sensible brown and black boots.
And I love the color.
I'd keep the rest of the outfit incredibly simple — baggy denim, an easy sweater, maybe a jacket — and let the boot be the interesting part.
Because not every shoe needs to quietly blend in.
Sometimes you need the fun one.
MAKES MY SOREL FALL BUY. ✓
3. Out N About™ IV Chelsea Rain Boot
THE RAIN BOOT THAT DOESN’T LOOK LIKE A RAIN BOOT. 🌧️
This is such a SOREL shoe to me.
It's waterproof. It's practical. It makes sense for fall.
But I'd wear it even if there wasn't rain in the forecast.
And that's important.
I always wanted weather shoes on my floor that customers were excited to buy before they actually needed them.
I especially love the earthy green here. With denim, cords and a chunky sweater, this feels like Vermont in October to me.
Apple picking?
Absolutely.
MAKES MY SOREL FALL BUY. ✓
SHOP THE OUT N ABOUT CHELSEA →
4. Kinetic™ Ember Lux Sneaker
THE FUN SNEAKER. ❤️
Another important part of a good buy:
Not everything can look the same.
I love having something sporty mixed into all those loafers, clogs and boots.
The Kinetic Ember Lux gives the assortment that little jolt it needs — modern, cool and such a good pop of color against all the brown, cream and denim I'm wanting this fall.
I'd wear these with slouchy jeans and the simplest sweater.
Let the sneaker do the work.
MAKES MY SOREL FALL BUY. ✓
5. Joan Rhapsody™ Zip Wedge Boot
THE COMEBACK. 🖤
Oh, this one.
I had to include it.
Over the years at Dear Lucy, I sold hundreds of versions of the SOREL Joan wedge.
Hundreds.
It was one of those shoes women came back for again and again, and seeing SOREL bring a Joan wedge silhouette back immediately caught my attention.
The new version is the Joan Rhapsody Zip Wedge Boot, and there's something very fun about seeing a shoe concept I remember selling so well reappear in the collection.
Styles come and go.
But when something genuinely worked for customers, you remember it.
If I were still buying for the store, there is absolutely no question I would have wanted to see what the new Joan could do.
Sometimes a bestseller comes back for a reason.
MAKES MY SOREL FALL BUY. ✓
SHOP THE JOAN RHAPSODY ZIP WEDGE →
6. ROAM’N™ Clog RVT
THE COZY ONE. 🤎
Apparently I would have bought more than one clog.
And I'm okay with that.
The ROAM'N Clog RVT fills a different spot for me. This is the cozy, slightly outdoorsy one I'd want to throw on constantly once mornings start getting colder.
Relaxed denim.
Cords.
Leggings.
Chunky socks.
Done.
This is exactly the kind of shoe that might not look like the star of the buy when you're placing the order — and then suddenly you're reaching for it four days a week.
MAKES MY SOREL FALL BUY. ✓
7. Revel Ave™ Loafer
THE ONE THAT ALMOST MADE THE BUY. 🤎
Now we're getting into the part of buying that I think is actually interesting.
You can't buy everything you like.
And I already have a brown loafer problem this fall. 😂
If I were building an actual Dear Lucy floor and had already committed to three other brown loafers, I probably wouldn't bring in the Revel Ave.
Not because I don't like it.
I do.
The rich brown, substantial sole and slightly rugged SOREL spin on a classic loafer are all very good.
But at some point as a buyer, you have to look at the floor as a whole.
Sometimes it's not that you wouldn't buy the shoe. You already bought its spot.
If I hadn't?
This would be in.
WOULD HAVE MADE MY BUY. ✓
8. Kinetic™ Array Sneaker
I ADDED IT FOR THE SOLE. 🐢
Yep.
Sometimes that's enough.
Look at the tortoise sole.
That's exactly the kind of detail that would catch my attention during a buying appointment because it takes what could have been another black sneaker and gives it a reason to be on the floor.
I really wish SOREL still had better stock in the lighter version because that would have been an immediate yes for me.
But even in black, that tortoise sole gets me.
Sometimes the entire buy comes down to one great detail.
MAKES MY SOREL FALL BUY. ✓
9. Out N About™ IV Classic Waterproof Boot
THE CLASSIC. 🤎
You can't really make a SOREL fall buy without an Out N About.
This is the dependable one.
Waterproof. Easy. Practical. The boot you're very happy you own when the weather changes halfway through the day.
And I love this color for fall.
It's softer than automatically choosing black and looks exactly right with denim, leggings, cords and a big sweater.
Every shoe floor needs the exciting styles.
It also needs the ones you know women are actually going to wear.
This is that pair.
MAKES MY SOREL FALL BUY. ✓
SHOP THE OUT N ABOUT IV CLASSIC →
The Part of SOREL I’ll Save for Later
There is, of course, an entirely different SOREL buy coming.
Winter.
That was when things got serious in Vermont.
Snow boots. Ice. Slush. Warmth. Traction. The shoes you keep by the door from December until you finally decide winter is over — which, in Vermont, could be approximately May. 😂
I spent years watching which SOREL winter boots customers came back for, which ones worked and which styles earned their place season after season.
But we're not there yet.
It's early September.
I'm still thinking about apple picking.
Shelburne Farms.
UVM Parents Weekend.
Jeans and sweaters.
Crisp mornings followed by afternoons that make you wonder why you wore a sweater in the first place.
This is the SOREL buy for that season.
Winter can have its own edit.
The Dear Lucy Edit
It's funny doing this without an actual store.
No giant delivery arriving.
No boxes stacked in the back room.
No opening cartons and immediately knowing which shoe was going on the front table.
No wondering whether I bought too much.
Or, inevitably, not enough.
But the buying part?
That feels exactly the same.
I still go through the collection asking the same questions I did for nearly 20 years.
What feels new?
What solves a problem?
What makes the assortment interesting?
And above everything else:
Will she actually wear it?
These are the SOREL styles that passed the test.
No stockroom.
No boxes.
Just the buy. 🤎
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