trying to find boots for Wife

[detritus]

Greeting all,  I'm hoping you kind folks can help me with a quest my wife has put me on.  I need to find a pair of boots that fit teh following criteria

• available in Men's size 9 1/2 4E, that's what she wears in tennis shoes and she said to not even LOOK at anyting in women's sizes since they won't be wide enough
• Lace up, needed b/c she has defective ankles, if she can't snug them up she's liable to turn her ankle
• Comfortable soles, ie Vibram or similar type soles, these WILL be used as walking/hiking type boots on occasion (even though the next item in the list is for a one off use) so there comfort is a major factor
• Red, or able to be dyed red, we're going to the North American Discworld Convention in Sept and she wants to dress up as one of teh characters from the DW series, and Red boots are part and parcel with that character.  I'm not sure if she'll accept the "Oxblood" color like Old style Jump boots or not, i Do know that her preference is for a Bright vibrant red (ie most likely a custom Dye job.
• and in light of the above requirement if they'll require Dye-it-yourself,  $150 or less.

I beleive the size and comfort will trump ability to be made Red if push come to shove.

as further information i will say she seems to like the overall look and design of the boots by http://www.bellevilleshoe.com/ esp after i bought myself a pair of their style 600.

well as always when i ask for info on the net.  any and all help and information you cna give is appreiciated.

[mgdavis]

Poke around Zappos.com, they have quite a selection.

[Uncle Bubba]

Somewhere several pages back is a thread on desert-style boots, akin in looks but not color to the 600s you got from Belleville, on closeout at lapolicegear.com. I looked a bit and didn't see it but it's there somewhere if you want to check it. In the meantime here's a link to the company page:

http://www.lapolicegear.com/wellco-3-layer-hot-weather-combat-boot.html

Several of us bought the boots and I don't think any who did were disappointed. They're factory seconds, some were missing insoles, but the ones I bought for my wife were only defective in having a scuff mark on one heel. I recall at least one here, Viking, who placed an order and was told the size was not available, but he wanted size thirteens. There may be something in the size your wife wants. The mens' 9.5 quad-E she wants translates to about a 7.5XW in military sizes. There's no way to check availability before ordering AFAIK. You'll have to place an order and see if they send a "Sorry, Size Not Available" e-mail. That's how Viking found out about the ones he wanted.

Checking the link just now and found that they've gone up $11, from the $18.99 I paid to $29.99. Still a deal on boots that are regularly $110, according to the site.

As for dyeing, I've never dyed suede, neither for myself nor when I worked in a shoe shop, but I don't think it'd be a big deal. Check for a shoe shop or wedding store that dyes shoes near to you and ask them about it.