Boots. The Cowboy Type

Howdy y’all.

Just got back from Texas. Finally purchased some cowboy style boots. Ariats to be exact. Cost around 200 $ which surprisingly was the low end as far as prices go. One pair was listed at 2700 $. Went to a place called Allens in Austin on South Congress if anyone knows of it.

Look kinda like this.

Anyways just wondering if there are any boot experts in here. I wanted to go with a leather sole but couldn’t find one in the price range I was looking for. All in all I am really happy with the purchase. Just wondering what I could expect in terms of life span and if anyone has any tips on maintaining them. The sales associate said I could easily get 5 + years out of them. I don’t plan to do hard labor in them. My girlfriends brother has a pair of Justins his Dad bought near 40 years ago.

If anyone has any cool looking boots please share. I definitely want to go with rattle snake skin ones next time haha.

I’ve worn boots my entire life and just rounded up cattle because it’s going to snow.

I was wearing steel toe redwings. Cowboy boots are for riding horses, dancing, or (in my case today) the office. Wearing some 8 year old black ostrich square toe at the moment.

Pictures attached.

Couple of things:

  1. Leather soles are obviously dressier. They also help your foot slip into a stirrup. And are nice to dance in, since you can spin. But they are otherwise impractical. A lot of companies make a nice hybrid, with leather on the side and the center of the sole/heel is a rubber tread (see picture). If you are not riding a horse that day or going dancing, the hybrid sure are nice to keep you from falling on your ass.

  2. Square or pointed are a matter of personal choice. The young folk tend to like square, which used to be uncool because old folk used to prefer them. Square are more comfortable to walk in if you have a wide/big foot. Rounded help your foot go in a stirrup. I have a size 19 or 20 foot, so tend to go with square.

  3. I am not a fan of any snake or lizard skin boot. They don’t wear well in general, especially if exposed to moisture. One tip: smear vaseline (yes vaseline) on snake/lizard boots if you are going out where they might get wet (even a bar with spilled beer).

  4. The truly expensive boots are expensive because of the work up the side of the boot. Assuming you are a guy, this is generally hidden by jeans (unless you are a chick or are a gay dude wearing cutoffs in a gay parade). The only time my jeans are inside my boots are (sometimes) when riding a horse and I have to be in brush and don’t want burs in my jeans. I suspect this is not your issue — and you don’t wear fancy boots for doing that. Long way of saying, stay below $400. (I have some handmade boots from San Angelo that were $2,000, given to me by a girl I was dating. I seldom wear them and no one can tell they are nice boots.)

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not sure why this is surprising. 200 dollars will buy you a nice pair of leather shoes. Leather boots involve a good deal more labor and more material.

Boots can last a loooong time. I have 2 pair that are older than me. They were my dad’s.
As far as what you can expect for yourself, There’s a good chance they’ll last as long as you want them to. Sounds like you won’t be wearing them too hard.

Agree with ruffian: I’d much rather go with something like ostrich than lizard/snake, if your aim is something a bit exotic.

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That’s what I was thinking. I bought a pair in 1990 that cost $200.

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I hope the Ariat western gear are tougher then the english. I have killed so many paddock/roper and tall boots. But they are so comfy and I ise to wrar them even mucking out then barn or in any gross conditions.

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Only thing I will add, do not wait too long to get the boots re-soled. Good boots can last a long time, but if completely wear through the sole and start to actually wear through the heel, the boots done for. Takes a lot of wearing to do that, but its happened to me more than once, mainly because I am awful about getting my shoes resoled.

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Where are you from if you don’t mind me asking? Are you a cattle rancher ? If I remember correctly I thought you were in the oil business. You do both?

I wanted leather soles because I wanted to go with as classic of a look as possible. But considering my intentions were to wear the hell out of these boots its probably more more practical this way.

I hate the square towed ones though. Again probably cause I wanted the classic look I saw growing up. Size 20 foot thats ridiculous. I had to go down a size and half for my boot size. What is your regular shoe size? Where the hell do you even find ostrich boots that size anyways.

I am a fairly modest person so I would never get something that had a bunch of flashy work going up the side. Funny I put them on immediately after buying them and went over to my girls parents. The first remark out his mouth was I looked like a shit kicker. I had no idea what he was talking about. My jeans were tapered and not able to fit over the boot. The man is 74 and grew up doing farm work right outside Bonham so he told me shit kicker was someone who was literally in the shit/dirt who would tuck his pants into his boots so they wouldn’t get dirty.

My only real complaint is I bought boots that were not made here in the states. But that would have doubled the price.

Surprising to someone who has never purchased leather boots. I expected a 100 bucks. I guess what was really surprising was that the average price there had to be 400 bucks. With no shortage of boots in the 400-800 dollar range. There were only two or three in the 200 dollar range.

You two are probably right but come on how bad ass would some boots made from rattle snake skin be.

Do you still have them?

They are still around. tbh though, I only bought them because at the time, they were fashionable. It’s not like I ever did anything remotely cowboy related while wearing them; not even line dancing :smile:

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My brother works for Ariat but sadly, that’s where my expertise ends.

I do have a thing for chicks in western wear though. In the SAMA days I started a thread about girls in cowboy hats. I still feel indebted to MaximusB for his contribution to that thread. I also feel indebted to Florida State University LOL.

A friend from this site once (naively) sent me a picture of herself wearing cowboy boots. I had to break off contact for a few days…

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As a Texan, I can tell you that we see this differently. I’ll leave it at that lol.

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Funny enough, I just got back from Texas too. We went into Leddy’s, which iirc is the oldest leather shop in Fort Worth, Texas. They had boots up to $8k… I was tempted to get a $200 pair myself, but in the end didn’t think I’d use them enough.

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I’m Mescalero. Lea/Lincoln County NM. Part of the ranch was involved in the Lincoln County Wars – Billy the Kid. Rancher by birth and avocation. Petroleum engineer by profession.

Yes, 19 or 20. Just depends on the brand, shoe, and position of the moon, I think. But I have a greater understanding. I’m just very tall. That means big feet.

Regarding the “where” – I go to Pee Wee Dalton’s Boots in Odessa, TX. He is not super high-end, but Mr. Dalton orders me a pair of boots (or whatever I need), including work boots, which I burn through at the rate of 2-3 a year… I believe they have a website, don’t know. They’re not generally custom, but they are special order, since he doesn’t keep them in stock. Basketball shoes are easy to get, but I am asked about 2-3 times a day if/where I played basketball already.

In addition to being asked if I play basketball, I also get people asking if I am Mexican 2-3 times a day. Or speaking to me in Spanish and getting mad that I answer in English. I don’t want that to become 10 times a day. Hence, no dead lizard for me.

But maybe that will work for you, especially if you are a ginger. Just tell everyone you are from Sinaloa.

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aw man, shoulda hit me up! I’m less than an hour from ft worth.

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Really? Damn. We were all over the place (San Antonio, Fort Worth, Fredericksburg), but it would have been cool to grab a beer. We’ll be back I’m sure. It was a great trip.

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F’burg! You probably drove by my house!

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Wow that is kinda funny. I started in Maryland to visit my family. Girl came to Maryland for a few weeks then we went to Dallas/Austin. Got back maybe four or five days ago. We might have crossed paths.

What do you think of Texas? I really like the culture and the climate especially down south. Austin in the summer is amazingly beautiful. I love Maryland but I absolutely cannot stand the culture and people living in the suburbs outside DC. I am fine with everywhere else though. If I return to Maryland to stay it would probably have to be in Calvert.

Also you should have got the boots man. You don’t need a specific reason to use them. Wear them everyday. Like me. And get made fun of by your yankee buddies haha.

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Too funny. We probably did cross paths. We were there Tuesday through Sunday of last week. I really liked Texas a lot. Everywhere we went the food was amazing and everyone seemed pretty friendly. Weather was good; although, obviously we went in the winter. I had Czech and German for the first time and both did not disappoint. Had a great Ribeye on Riverwalk in San Antonio (also got pretty wasted). The Rodeo in Fort Worth and the Pacific War Museum were the highlights of the trip for me. If you have any interest in WWII you have to get to that museum in Fredericksburg.

I hear you. I live west of Baltimore County. It’s much more rural here (I pass farms, cows, and deer on a daily basis). It’s a shame because MD really is a great state with a lot of awesome history and is actually pretty beautiful in the country. Baltimore City and the DC suburbs are hot garbage like you said. I avoid Charm City like the plague.

Ha! I probably should have. It’s not like they’d get messed up in my office at work.

Lol! F’burg is a great little town. We ate at Tubby’s for a quick lunch and Der Lindenbaum for dinner. I thought both were really good. The beer at Der Lindenbaum was excellent.

Lol! There use to be a store on main street that had over 100+ different beers ( I sampled at least 50)
Those Germans do like their beer.

It would have better if you would have come in the spring, with the flood this year the Bluebonnets should be awesome!

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Did you by any chance stop at the place called Czech stop right off of highway 35. I had my first kolachy there. Although I am unsure how authentic they were considering I am pretty sure they had the equivalent of cheese whiz in them haha.

Also I hope you stopped by a Buccees during your travels. The largest gas station I have ever seen. They weren’t kidding when they said everything is bigger in Texas. I am talking at least 100 pumps. Several hundred people there at least. Quite a site.

I made my Girl’s Father commit to a rodeo trip next time we come to town. We are all gonna get decked out in the most Texas way you can and go. As for the WW2 museum that sounds awesome. I was going to go to the Texas Armed services museum in Austin but didn’t make it. Although I have made to the Texas state Cemetery and payed my respects to Chris Kyle.

My girlfriends father is a Vietnam vet served 31 years in the navy retired in 91 as a MCPO. Talk about a man with stories. Really enjoyable hearing his take on history and how it tied into his life.

It really is. Baltimore is a tragedy on a massive level. But for better or worse I am MD born and bred and proud to say so.

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