Dress boots are short leather boots worn by men. Built like dress shoes, but with uppers covering the ankle, versions of the boots are used as an alternative to these in bad weather or rough outdoor situation, and as a traditional option for day time formalwear.

Until the end of the Victorian period, men did not wear shoes (which were reserved for women), preferring only boots during daytime and court slippers (pumps) when eveningwear was worn. At that time, long riding boots were common and dress boots were for more formal occasions, so patent leather was often used, as well as ordinary black calf. Gradually, these boots became more common for formal evening use, so that by the Edwardian era, patent boots were generally worn when there would be no dancing. Patent leather use during day dropped, and formal morning clothes soon incorporated either shoes or plain calf dress boots. In the evening, the wearing of both boots and court slippers similarly declined as shoes came to dominate, though slippers are still worn with white tie.

Victoria Christina Hesketh (born 4 May 1984), better known by her stage name Little Boots, is an English electropop singer-songwriter. Her stage name comes from a nickname given to her by a friend, a reference to her unusually small feet. As a musician, Boots sings and plays the piano, keyboards, synthesizer, Stylophone and a Japanese electronic instrument called Tenori-on. After a return to college to focus on her studies, Hesketh along with two of her fellow students formed the electropunk band Dead Disco. The band had limited releases of their four singles but due to increasingly different ideas about the band's musical direction Hesketh left to pursue a solo career. Hesketh has cited as influences The Human League, Gary Numan, Kraftwerk, Pink Floyd, Kylie Minogue, Britney Spears and Jean Michel Jarre.

Hesketh began writing her own songs and posting covers on social networking sites such as YouTube and Myspace. After appearing on several shows including Later... with Jools Holland and Last Call with Carson Daly, Hesketh entered production on her debut album Hands. With increasing media attention regarding her then-yet-to-be-released debut album, Hesketh topped the BBC Sound of 2009 poll and received a Critics' Choice nomination at the 2009 BRIT Awards. With the release of her debut, she was linked to a recent wave of breakthrough female artists in their twenties playing 1980s-influenced music, including Lady Gaga, Ladyhawke, Florence and the Machine and Elly Jackson of La Roux.