To be clear, by solid boots, I don mean Uggs. Uggs are warm and fuzzy and delicious but they not exactly built to stand up to the amount of rain and slush we dealing with right now. At least, not where I live here in the northeast, where I seeing Hunter boots (aka Wellies) pop up everywhere. Especially in NYC where the post blizzard puddles are the size of lakes and you have no choice but get out there and love every minute of it.
Mid Calf: this shaft height can be tricky, because if you have short legs, or are short, then you may end up looking shorter. it can work well if there not a strong contrast between boot and pant/leg. for example, black pants + black mid calf boots can work really well, but white pants + brown mid calf boots may have too much contrast. example

You middle income tories must be really stupid to continually defend those who pay less tax than yourself, but if a single mother happens to want some benefit you're all up in arms calling them scroungers etc.