Bargain Alert: Frye Boots

I think Frye tends to occupy a space below the style radar for many people, and that's unfortunate because they have been around for nearly 150 years and are known for producing some truly iconic styles of American footwear, like harness boots, engineer boots, and what's come to be known as the campus boot. (Depending on your age, you can ask your parents or grandparents what sort of shoes/boots they wore when they were young; chances are, someone wore one of those.)

I have to wonder why Frye hasn't exploited its heritage to inject itself into the minds of fashion editors, especially given the popularity of other boot brands with similar history such as Red Wing, Wolverine, and Chippewa. Also curiously, Frye makes more high-fashion versions of some of its classic styles that unfortunately do not necessarily improve upon the originals.

Anyway, I wasn't intending to critique the brand, but rather to alert you to a very good deal on a particular Frye style that I'm interested in myself. It might be a bit out of season, but that's often when the best deals are to be found. The boot is called the Arkansas, and it normally retails for $200. For an American-made boot, that's an excellent price, but how'd you like to save 40% off that?

Endless is currently offering the Arkansas for $119.99 in three colorways. (Unfortunately they no longer have the black that I'm after.) I did try these on in a size 11; they were too big for me, but very comfortable. They only come in D width, but it's a pretty generous fit, as tends to be the case with boots. Size availability on these varies by color.

Caveat emptor, though: it looks to me like the boots have some of that "burnishing" on the toes that's been popular lately, so I suggest taking a good close look at the photos, and maybe calling customer service if you need to. Of course, maybe you're fine with how they look; if not, it wouldn't be as obvious on the dark brown boots. Endless offers free two-day shipping and, if they don't work out, free returns.

Piperlime has the boots for the same price, though only in what they call "tan" but which looks to be the dark brown. Again, free shipping and free returns, and fewer sizes available, though ordering from Piperlime might be a good bet for you if you were already planning to order something from Gap or Banana, since including shoes in an order gets you free shipping for the entire order.

If you can't find the size or color you're looking for at the bargain price, you can still order them direct from Frye at full price. I have no idea how they ship or what it costs. I thought I might try locating these in a local store, but oddly, Frye doesn't offer this information on their site.

(If anyone comes across the Arkansas boots in black size 10.5 in the $120 range, I'd greatly appreciate a heads-up. And if you have these boots and want to sell them, please get in touch.)