I Spot Trends for a Living—These Are the Affordable Boots I'm Buying for Fall

As a fashion editor, I'm acutely aware of all the current trends on the scene and have basically made it a pastime of mine to uncover emerging micro-trends about to make it big next. Since I spend so much of my time trendspotting and reporting on the styles that are in and out, I tend to rack up a massive shopping list for all the holes in my own closet. Now that boot season is upon us, I've started a running tab of all the specific boots I'm itching to add to my wardrobe to nail each of the overarching shoe trends I'm seeing.

Since I love an affordable find (especially an affordable shoe find), I decided to curate my list of the cheap, trendy boots I have my eye on right now. On my list are Topshop's square-toes, H&M's lug-sole boots, and Mango's snake print boots (just to name a few) that nail each of the larger shoe trends I want to test out myself. I'm a trend-minded shopper but also a picky fashion editor, so each of the boots you're about to discover here has been chosen with care for its heel shape, style, color, and of course, price (did I mention they're all under $200?). With that in mind, keep scrolling to shop my favorite boot picks.

Knee-high boots are trending hard right now (Chrissy Teigen is proof), and I'm scooping up this on-sale pair to nail the look.

Topshop just introduced these top-selling boots in a new vegan option, which I'm all about.

These nail too many fall trends to count.

Lug soles will be everywhere this season. 

Fact: White boots make literally everything look cooler.

Hold on, I can't believe these are on sale.

I predicted lace-up boots would be the biggest boot trend for fall. Was I right or was I right?

I added these to my cart without even batting an eye.

The buckle detail makes this pair so special. 

I'm getting major '90s vibes from these combat boots.

Between the croc embossing and the inverted heel, these look way expensive.

Prediction: Everyone will swap their Dr. Marten combat boots for this new Chelsea style.

I think I'm ready to try out the platform trend, and these look like an easy point of entry.

These are trendy, but they also look like they'd be so functional.

Brown is the new black. You heard it here first.