COURTESY OF RETAILER
DUCKS KNOW a thing or two about staying warm and dry. That is how a man named Leon Leonwood Bean (or as we all know him today, L.L. Bean) got the idea for a new kind of outdoor shoes in 1911. You see, Mr. Bean himself was an avid outdoorsman who would often run into the problem of cold, wet feet on his hunting trips out in the Maine woods. And his invention, first known as the Bean boot but then dubbed the duck boot, was thus borne of this need to keep adventurous feet warm and dry by combining the waterproofing of rubber rain boots with the comfort and durability of hunting boots or hiking boots. And the rest is history—a footwear style that is a winter essential, an outdoor staple, and a wardrobe stunner.