In my first few days in Australia, I noticed that some of the men were wearing a style of boot I hadn't seen before: an ankle-high leather boots with elastic sides on the inner and outer ankle portion. As I started paying attention, I realized that essentially ALL of the men were wearing these boots - including people wearing professional suits, construction workers, and people in casual clothes. And now that I've paid more attention, I see variation on these boots for women too - including what seems to be high fashion. These boots are EVERYWHERE, and they have their roots in the Jackaroo / Jillaroo culture of Australia (essentially Australia's cowboys).