The Cowboy Boot

Ever heard of cowboy couture? Also known as the quintessential western look, cowboy couture when done right is a good mix of cowboy attitude and great accessories. Although fashion experts would say that you should find a style that suits you best, if you are in love with cowboy couture, it is not so hard to incorporate cowboy fashion into your wardrobe.

Sure you have heard of the many ways of incorporating or integrating those wonderful leather cowboy boots into your daily outfits but we looked for the nicest photos we can find under cowboy couture to give you an idea on how to give your cowboy boots a new twist.

Here are a few ideas:

Alright this might be a good idea if you are going to a costume party but if you are going to one, you might as well be a cowboy or a cowgirl. Call us biased but cowboy fashion is an important part of the US’s cultural consciousness. If you were something like what the couple in the picture are wearing, people would think that your horse might be tied to a post somewhere around the bend.

If you want to go avant garde about it, you might as well mix and match some of your cowboy stuff and look astonishingly hot! This is not only a good outfit for the runway ladies but will do well in the big city as well just as long as you make sure you carry the clothes well. It’s all about how you strut it really.

If you are very fashion forward, then this photo might inspire you. We say way to go to cattle raisers! They sure look nice! If you want to use your cowboy boots on a daily basis, pairing it with a nice skirt would surely look nice. The cowboys should wear pants though, just had to say.

There is something about cowboy hats that make them oh-so-sexy and nope, not just on men but on women too especially when worn at the beach with a nice bikini. If you love cowboy hats as much as we do, you probably like looking at them too. Here are a few good movies where one can ogle cowboy hats.

Brokeback Mountain. Sure it’s not for everyone but those hats they wear sure are sexy! And being a gay cowboy has never been sexier in any movie.

The Assassination of Jesse James. An outlaw is already sexy enough, place Brad Pitt as the outlaw is way too sexy considering that he has to wear a black cowboy hat made from the finest materials. We must admit though that the coward Robert Ford also looked quite nice in this movie with his not-so-dark cowboy hat but nothing really compares to the bad boy who is also a cowboy. I bet the ladies are thinking “Yum” right now.

Those John Wayne Movies. We will not enumerate all of them. John Wayne is an icon and as an icon he is known for his cowboy get up. Believe you me, during John Wayne’s heyday, he was so popular that immigrants thought John Wayne is the President of the United States of America. Now that would have been cool right? His cowboy boots and cowboy hats are by far much cooler though. If you would like to watch cowboy movies with John Wayne in it and see how dreamy he looked, you can search online for John Wayne cowboy movies.

Those Clint Eastwood Movies. Yep, the director/actor or actor/director however you prefer it is one hell of a cowboy because he makes cowboyhood if there is such a word look real good. If that is not amazing enough, Clint Eastwood also made a lot of ladies swoon because of his characters in the movies.

The popularity of cowboy movies is undeniable and because of this popularity, the cowboy culture has become quite an influence in terms of fashion. The most important thing about cowboy culture isn’t just the hat but the cowboy boots. According to an article published by the Los Angeles Daily News, stamps honoring cowboy legends such as Gene Autry, Tom Mix, William S. Hart and Roy Rogers is proof enough how much we care about cowboy culture and of course, how much we care about cowboy boots. No one has confirmed though if Mix, Hart, Rogers or Autry ever wore Justin boots –cowboy boots rather popular at the time.

Although we know that the cowboy movie legend Tom Mix died in his cowboy boots and his diamond studded belt buckle, no one has confirmed what brand he wore. Whichever the case, many are interested in what cowboys from long ago wore. One thing is for sure though, the cowboy boots they wore are most definitely sturdy.

If you are looking for cowboy boots, you must visit Boot City for the newest leather cowboy boots. The business has been around for 25 years and is definitely the best place to go to if you want premium service. The online shop is also giving big discounts for the month and you may be able to save $10 from your purchase or more if you are planning to buy more than one pair of cowboy boots. Boot City has a range of brands on offer –from Charlie 1 Horse to Justin cowboy boots to Ariat for men and women. You can choose from a range of designs too and one thing Boot City can promise is that there is always a pair of cowboy boots for everyone. We are not talking inventory-wise, we are talking about designs that will suit your style.

It was a sunny Sunday afternoon. The whole family had lunch together right after church and later as my father sat on the couch to watch some TV, he realized that we forgot to buy me new shoes for school. It was a happy day for me especially when he said I needed new shoes so my sister and I hopped to his car while waiting for mom to get in.

Back in the early 90s when I was about seven years old, our town did not have a mall just yet. All we had was an old bazaar people bought shoes and apparel. When we got there I immediately smelled leather with all the leather shoes and goods on display. Much like every other kid, I ran around the bazaar with my sister right behind me. My mom told us to keep quiet though and said that we should go pick black shoes for school. I didn’t ask why it had to be black because as a child, I probably wanted something cooler than black –you know, something red maybe or green just to shock my peers? But anyway since she said we should pick out something black we went on to look at black shoes for girls. A pair of black cowboy boots with white ribbon embellishments caught my eye though so I slowly moved near it. When my mother saw me doing that she said, “Sigrid, no.” Like any child would, I protested and told her it is black and it’s leather and I want it. My dad smiled at my mother and said it’s okay for me to wear cowboy boots. My mother protested because we had to wear uniforms to school and that pair of cowboy boots would definitely not look good with it. I ended up getting the cowboy boots and it lasted me 2 years until I could no longer fit my feet in them. Realizing that they were quite sturdy, my mom started buying me and my sister cowboy boots. Now that I am working, I still wear cowboy boots whenever I feel like it even if I live in a big city.

So you’re getting married! With the number of weddings you probably have attended, you no longer know what theme would work for you and whether you should have a theme for you wedding at all. Fret not my friend because if you are a cowgirl, you might as well incorporate cowboy boots to your wedding. A cowboy and cowgirl wedding deserve the best attire though so let’s discuss about this wedding theme.

If the usual wedding theme of going barefoot at the beach just makes you roll your eyes and going to Vegas to get married is something you don’t really want to consider because you don’t want to replace a priest with Elvis, then a country or a rural wedding just might be the best fit for you.

Aside from your entire entourage rocking cowboy boots, you might want to consider getting married in a rustic barn to make your country wedding more memorable or unique for that matter. Brides in cowboy boots look amazing and so will their bridesmaids –just take a look at this photo.

Admit it, there’s just something nice about brides in boots and in cowboy boots to be exact. The main reason why many feel that this is just to avant garde is because we have a tradition that dictates that brides should wear high heels underneath their bridal gowns. Imagine yourself wearing your bridal gown and cowboy boots appear instead of high heels, wouldn’t that be cool? We love this idea and maybe those who are planning to get married this year can use this idea as well.

Bright red cowboy boots would do well with a bridal gown. There are different brands to choose from –one is that of Jessica Simpson’s shoe line but if you don’t want to wear Daisy red cowboy boots ala Dukes of Hazzard, you can take a look at Ladies’ Lucchese Red Goat boots, Ladies Ariat Heritagee Wester J-Toe Bomber boots or Patent Red from Old Gringo.

When cowboys walked the earth thanks to the Spanish men who brought the tradition to Mexico and later on to the West, cattle raising became cool. Considered even before as a very macho job because of all that horseback riding and all that traveling from one place to the other when selling cattle or buying them for that matter, the image of the cowboy has stayed the same over the centuries. Centuries before however, cowboys didn’t wear denim and it took a long time before the iconic cowboy hat finally had one design. And it took a long time too before the classic cowboy boot design made its mark in history.

Through the years, the image of the cowboy never changed though. In fact, its image has inspired a number of legends and later on movies that made non-cowboys want to go to the West just to be a cowboy. Those with a taste for adventure ventured to the West and donned cowboy hats and wore pull on cowboy boots and started working in as cattle raisers. Cowboys also have their own code. In fact, they can be likened to a brotherhood –a fraternity of real men who drink from their cowboy hats, who brave the sun’s heat and who do ranch work with ease. It is an interesting thing really not only historically but also its effects on pop culture.

Although cowboy boots started stemmed from English riding boots according to its design, the classic cowboy boot now stands as an original American thing. Its Spanish caballero roots and the English influences can be found in history but it was in America where these boots made their real debut. It was in those desert lands and in the mountains of the West where cowboy boots were developed to suit the lifestyle of the cattle raiser.

Kids are very active and they usually ruin a good pair of shoes pretty easily. While many parents just decide to buy cheap shoes for their kids to save money, some choose cowboy boots. There are a lot of reasons why some parents buy cowboy boots for their kids. The fashionable ones however are just into how cool cowboy boots look while those who want shoes that can last for a very long time choose cowboy boots for their kids because they are sturdy.

One also has to note that cowboy boots are great for children because they are very comfortable and protect their feet from the elements as well. Although Rick Perry has mentioned in one of his interviews that leather cowboy boots get cold in Iowa, you can still have the kids wear cowboy boots during winter as long as you make them use socks that are thick to keep those little feet warm.

When buying cowboy boots for your kids, make sure that you get the right size. This is of course the no. 1 thing one should consider because they wont be comfortable if you do not get the right size for them. Since kids usually do not know how to tell their parents that their shoes aren’t comfy enough, it would be best to have your child walk around with the new pair and ask whether it feels comfy or not. Looking at cowboy boot sizes and their translation to regular shoe sizes is also a good idea so that you know what size you will be asking for when buying cowboy boots.

Cowboy boots especially handmade ones are very sturdy and will keep your kids from harm i.e. snake bites if you live in the country and the kids are free to roam the backyard or the farm. Boots also protect kids from barbed wire if they ever come across any.

When is it proper to wear a cowboy boots at the office? Many claim that wearing one at the office is a n-no while others say it’s okay. The answer of course depends where you work and where you are. In cities where cowboy tradition is not really popular, wearing cowboy boots draws attention but not because people in these particular areas are against it but because they are amazed at how good these shoes look. In cities where the cowboy tradition is known but not exactly as a lifestyle but a possible idea for a costume party outfit, wearing cowboy boots inside the office is a major no-no because according to office workers in such places, cowboy boots make one look less corporate and maybe even too casual.

Now is this a general opinion among city dwellers? No one knows really because no one has done a survey just yet but many a fashion blog has spoken against the wearing of cowboy boots in the office, our question is, why? Cowboy boots are comfortable and they are closed shoes so maybe they can be worn under jeans but not really accepted when seen on a woman wearing a skirt.

One particular woman who recounted on her blog abut her being sent a memo regarding how very unprofessional she dresses wrote about such a situation. Nope, her dress was not too short. In fact, she is 50-years-old and according to her can only wear dresses below the knee. It turns out that she was branded as being unprofessional when it comes to her dressing style because she wears cowboy boots. Another point of discussion is where should cowboy boots be worn? Which workplaces allow such shoes? But the more important question is, why are they not allowed in all kinds of offices? Is there a stigma to cowboy boots in certain places somehow or is it just because they draw a lot of attention that other office workers get distracted by them?

Photo via www.rowthree.com

Dating a cowboy is never the same as dating your regular city guy and it’s not just because of the shoes they wear. Aside from cowboy boots and denim, cowboys usually don cowboy hats making them stand out when in a city setting. This turns on city girls to the annoyance probably of city boys but there is something about cowboys and of course something about the country. What makes cowboys so appealing? Is it really them and their cowboy boots and their hats that make them hot? Sure there are cowboys that are oozing with sex appeal but truth be told, there are also those who aren’t so what’s the reason?

Cowboys have a certain appeal to women because of the general image one has of a cowboy. This general image is not necessarily a stereotype because it has been proven to be true for the longest time. What is this general image? The general image as we have been mentioning before is that cowboys are macho –they are the American macho counterpart of the caballeros and bull fighters of Spain and Latin American nations where machismo is celebrated. In country deemed by other nations to not have its own culture, the cowboy stands out as a true blue American tradition at least in areas where cowboys come from. In fact, many would agree that aside from being a melting pot of different peoples, America is the home of the cowboy.

Hollywood has also helped in building the image of the cowboy thanks to movies about the Wild West. Brokeback Mountain did not help in building that image though but not to worry, the movie did not ruin the cowboy image at all because this image has been around for decades nay maybe even for centuries when one looks at it.

Photo via mypinkturtle.com

The development of cowboy boots has always been a wonderful topic for books and documentaries and those who are fond of such shoes relish every bit of detail about it. Its history is interesting –from the time of Genghis Khan to the Spanish caballeros who made their way to America from Mexico to the English riding boots. Although riding boots are an important part of life for the equestrian and their design were already sufficient for riding in terms of protecting the feet and controlling the horse, cattle raisers in America made their own design based on these boots.

There are a lot of different stories pertaining to the origin of cowboy boots. Some say these shoes were of Hessen origin and yep Hessen as in the people from Germany who according to some accounts influenced the development of the riding boots used in Spain. Others historians note however that  cowboy boots date back to the 5^th century during the time of Genghis Khan. So does this mean that that cowboy boots are of oriental in origin? No one is sure really but the fact that no one was able to take note where it really was based on or where it came from meant that it was something people used on a daily basis and that they were not called anything but boots –as generic as that.

This might sound like a strange analysis but this may mean that there is a possibility that the things we find as ordinary in this era might be something that would interest the people in the future. This is the importance of history –people would like to know how things came to be. How did cowboy boots get that kind of design? How did ropers branch out from cowboy boots or riding boots for that matter? We just hope that the things we write about cowboy boots would last long enough that those in the future will know what we know about these boots.