why long boots are suddenly everywhere in korea this fall

ok so i'm not a fashion person at all, my closet is like 80% concert tees, but every korean fashion page i opened this week had the same thing and it's long boots. not ankle boots, not the crazy over-the-knee ones, the ones that stop right under the knee. ELLE Korea literally titled theirs "wear your boots long this fall like Kim Yoojung" lol and W Korea put out two boot pieces on the same day the part that got me was chaewon and eunchae from le sserafim doing long uggs in new york. chaewon tucked her pink jogger pants into them and eunchae wore hers with shorts and a cardigan with the shirt collar pulled out. that's when i was like ok this is real

this stylist video goes through every type, ankle, slouch, middle, long, and it's at almost 190k views so yeah people care. W also says the slim fit ones are back after years of loose boots, the kind that hug your leg like a second skin BUT then a shoe designer with 15 years in the business made a whole video about the 3 boot trends of 2026 and the traps a maker can see, and long boots are one of the three 😭

so is it hype. my take is the knee-length ones are staying a while because they go with shorts AND skirts AND joggers, which is basically everything i own. the slouchy ones look amazing on idols and on me they'd look like two paper bags lmao. i'm saving for seoul anyway so mine can wait until i see them in person