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IIRC, that's from a shoot done for LIFE in 1941, showing pretty much all the services' uniforms in use at the time. (There was even a mounted Marine - I think they only served in China.)
These are obviously Army officers' shoes. There was only bare-bones descriptive text, so I don't think the purpose of high-top vs low-qtr shoes was explained.
The blacks were strictly for dress blues, of course - soon to disappear for the duration.