As the New York Times reported this week, one fortuitous result of the relentless battering of icy precipitation on New York City is a favorable uptick in boot sales. Several vendors around the city have reported to being knee-high in profits, but strapped for future customers as in-store availability becomes barely ankle deep.

"It's been a tough winter to stay ahead of the curve," Brian Rosener of Eastern Mountain Sports told the Times. "We've gotten very good at apologizing and finding other stores to get the products in." On the heels of another spate of snow and rain, and with more to come, stores try to stay one step ahead of their customers' needs. But the narrow tastes of New Yorkers can put retailers in a tangle. "They'll take it in any color you have as long as it's black," Rosener remarked, his comment laced in irony.

Trying the web out for size might not be the right fit, either: the Huffington Post laments advertisers' deceptive and "dumb" tricks to get hopefuls to buy non-existent boots. Cobbled together from screencaps of sidebar advertising, the post reveals that the internet has never walked in human shoes: how can we order boots that aren't for sale?

Basic civilians aren't the only ones to struggle through the shortage: NYFW could be "paralyzed" by the loss, as attendees shake in their unattainable boots at the thought of stepping into the debilitating slush unprotected. If anything, this gives us all more reason to stay inside and really tie one on. *Clink*

[Image via AP]