Boots for trudging through snowdrifts, boots for showing off at the opera, boots for wading through Moscow slush, walking boots. In Russia you need every type of boot for every type of occasion, and finding the right foot gear represents no less a challenge than coping with Moscow's disagreeable weather.


There are several shops that stock selections of winter footwear for Moscow's underfoot challenges. They are attractive places, where you can walk in, sit down, try on and look in the mirror; no Soviet-style trying on outside on a square of cardboard.


Evropa, Pervaya Tverskaya Yamskaya 13. Open since August, this large store has been selling high-quality Italian boots at an extraordinary pace. Boots for men and women are in plentiful stock, presented casually on top of stacks of shoe boxes. There are plenty of styles and plenty of mirrors, and the staff is very friendly.


Trendy thick-heeled ladies' brown boots with laces that tie around the ankles cost $110. A more modest but no less trendy pair in black costs $80. More practical are knee-high lined boots, priced at $80 a pair.


Men's winter boots cost up to $170; attractive rust-colored suede desert boots start at $65 and max out at $110.


The "original" black Doc Martens, in all sizes, cost $140. Evropa also carries Diadora, a very trendy sport boot made of nu-buck with rubber soles.


Giorgio, Proyezd Sopunova, next to GUM. Classic styles abound here. This upscale store has a lot in the way of elegant and fragile boots, but not much in the way of sturdy, streetwise footgear. All merchandise is Italian and top-quality. For example, knee-high black patent- leather boots cost $270; riding boots that lace all the way up cost $200. Men's fare includes attractive rubber-soled winter boots that hover in the $150 range.


Carlo Pazolini, Ulitsa Pyatnitskaya 6. This is the place for shoe fanatics whose obsession is frustrated in Moscow. This store has a variety of models not sighted anywhere else in the city. Classic glossy, knee-high, fully-lined ladies' boots with a glamorous buckle at the ankle cost $100. A less elegant pair of brown riding boots costs $80, and midshin fur-cuffed models cost $60.


Men's lined hiking boots run $80. Extravagant models of the latest Italian shoes also feature prominently: You can pay an extreme $300 for extremely beautiful, textured-leather lace-up boots, $350 for an even more elaborate version, and $365 for an exquisite, rust-colored, wide-laced, heavy-heeled model.


Riding boots with a high heel and a square toe will cost you $420 -- believe it or not, a bargain compared to some more well-known stores, which feature similar models for $800. This is also the place to buy thigh-high boots with many small buckles riding all the way to the top, which are particularly in vogue in Moscow these days.


Ecco, Valdai Center, Novy Arbat 28, and Salon Natali, Ulitsa Pyatnitskaya 17. Ecco is rapidly becoming a boot commonly seen on the feet of Muscovites. Even one homeless man was spotted sporting a very expensive model of the Danish footgear. The store has just received a shipment of the "Engine" boot model -- a variation on the already extremely fashionable combat boot, but crafted to Ecco standards and advertised as extremely comfortable and extremely durable. It may even intrigue those people who do not favor Ecco' s traditionally orthopedic look. Men's boots run $149 for the Engine models, and go up to $169 for the standard, if somewhat elaborate, and very high- quality model. Women's boots run $149 for ankle height. A shin-high black oxhide boot goes for $139. All are waterproof and suitable for the streets of Moscow.


Norris International, Leningradsky Prospekt 33A. This store has an interesting selection of quality German-brand boots. Styles are contemporary without going over the top. Men's shearling-lined boots run between 170 and 180 Deutsche marks. Most of the women's equivalents cost the same, but the most stylish and least practical, such as a pair of fur-lined, winterized desert boots -- in beige suede, of all things -- reach up to 220 DM.


Le M?nage, Khrustalny Pereulok 1. This store is fast becoming a favorite among Moscow's fashionable set, quick to pick up on continental trends. It boasts what is by far Moscow's most intriguing selection of Doc Martens and Dexter boots.


Nearly all the Doc Martens models are available, but at the usual Moscow markups. The standard walking shoe runs $130; the hiking boot, $140. You will have to pay $160 for the extra funk of the "Safety Boot," with eyelet laces climbing all the way to the top. A red pair with "Getta Grip" soles costs $120. A rugged brown boot costs $150; the shoe, $160. More whimsical varieties of the boot include plaid and blue velvet Docs running $130 to $140. Doc Martens are water-resistant.


Dexter, the Maine shoe manufacturer, has also broken into the Russian market with their all-weather hiking boots. These are ideal for Moscow's rugged weather, and are guaranteed waterproof. Hiking boots cost a startling $160 -- in New England you might pay $80 for the same pair. Unlined "Dry Bucks" cost $145. The standard variety in black or brown weigh in at $130.


Le M?nage also stocks several varieties of "Grinders," which have about the same amount of trend value as Doc Martens. Their "oil-resistant" soles should be especially useful for Moscow's grimy streets. Dark-blue, red, brown, green and black are available in the standard Grinders model, which runs $135. The heavier models weigh in at $145. Men's and women's sizes are available in all styles.


Other places to shop for boots:


Shoe kiosks in GUM and TsUM,


Kalinka-Stockmann, Dolgorukovskaya Ulitsa 2 or Leninsky Prospekt 73/8,


Charles Jourdan, in Sadko Arcade, Krasnogvardeysky Proezd 1.