As I’ve tried explaining to my husband time and time again—to no avail, of course—you can truly never have enough pairs of black boots. This is especially true for myself, who lives

almost exclusively in the shoe style (in one form or another) for most of fall and winter. It's also true for any girl living in NYC, really, where the name of the game is functionality. You need your casual boots, your heeled boots, your snow boots, and everything in between. Then if you're a stickler for details like me, you’ll find that there are subcategories within all of these categories that must be fulfilled as well. For example, the casual boot that won’t get ruined in the rain, the plain pair, and the statement style. Or the heeled boot that looks good with trousers, one for long jeans, one for short jeans, one for dresses and skirts, etc. I could go on and on, but instead, I’ll cut to the chase.

Despite owning more pairs of black boots than anyone should ever admit to in multiple closets and storage situations across America, I’ll always be compelled to buy more of my favorite shoe category—but only if they’re good enough. With that in mind, I figured I’d round up the styles I’m eyeing at the moment, plus share with you some pairs I’m already wearing on the regular. Naturally, that total came out to 26 pairs. To get started (and shopping), just keep scrolling.