Soviet army boots

[skipper1939]

I wonder if this is the right place to raise these questions. I am collecting Soviet post-war tall boots to go with my uniforms. My first question has to do with the finish. Some of those I obtained have shiny smooth surfaces and now I have just gotten a pair, in exactly the same design and height , with a semi-pebble finish. All are Soviet with Russian info printed in them. Can anyone tell me what the difference is in terms of usage. E.g., is one type for enlisted and one for officer? Of is one for parade and the other a field design.

My other question relates to Russian metric sizes. According to the international metric web-site a size 42 is an American size 8.5. I wear a size 9.5 shoe and the size 42 fits me perfectly. While the size 44, which should be a l0 American is far too big to fit me. It does not seem to be a quality control program because I have two 44s from two different sources and they are both exactly the same size. Does ayone know what the explanation is?

Dr. Bob Clawson