Cowboy Boots

[jeepTj98]

Nice post @Hurricane Jack and I've always loved that pic with Lisa Sorrell. Ms. Sorrell's base price for a pair of boots is $10,000 with a wait time of over a year. She once said, in regards to her pricing, that each pair represents about a month's work. She also offers an excellent online series about cowboy boot making with videos that cover boots from last building to finishing. For those who’d like to educate themselves a bit, here’s a link.

It's a Boot Life - YouTube

Here's an article that covers the life of boot maker Ray Jones. It requires actual reading, so I don't expect many to explore it. Jone's is famous in the boot world for a number of reasons and I've written about some of them here previously. One of the most notable points is that all of his boots were made with three rows of hand ****ing and some estimate as many as 300 lemonwood pegs were hammered into the bottoms of his boots. Let's see that done in a day.

Ray Jones: Texas’s Greatest Bootmaker? – Illume Connect

I’ve posted mine here before but here’s a fresh pic for those that tend to read back to front.
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I would like to know what it feels like to have some boots custom made. I have many boots but honestly as much as I love them all, none of them are a perfect fit. The most I’ve ever spent on boots are my Lucchese classics.. nope they are not a perfect fit either lol..

 

[jeepTj98]

Nice post @Hurricane Jack and I've always loved that pic with Lisa Sorrell. Ms. Sorrell's base price for a pair of boots is $10,000 with a wait time of over a year. She once said, in regards to her pricing, that each pair represents about a month's work. She also offers an excellent online series about cowboy boot making with videos that cover boots from last building to finishing. For those who’d like to educate themselves a bit, here’s a link.

It's a Boot Life - YouTube

Here's an article that covers the life of boot maker Ray Jones. It requires actual reading, so I don't expect many to explore it. Jone's is famous in the boot world for a number of reasons and I've written about some of them here previously. One of the most notable points is that all of his boots were made with three rows of hand ****ing and some estimate as many as 300 lemonwood pegs were hammered into the bottoms of his boots. Let's see that done in a day.

Ray Jones: Texas’s Greatest Bootmaker? – Illume Connect

I’ve posted mine here before but here’s a fresh pic for those that tend to read back to front.
View attachment 711491

I would like to know what it feels like to have some boots custom made. I have many boots but honestly as much as I love them all, none of them are a perfect fit. The most I’ve ever spent on boots are my Lucchese

 

[jeepTj98]

These are the Mercury Leather $5,000 custom boots. And the type of customs in general we are talking about. You can’t make a pair of cutout, inlaid & overlaid boots in 150 hrs. And if Mercury Leather makes such a “righteous margin” at his prices why does he limit his order book to just 10 pair per yr? Why wouldn’t he “load up”?

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Thanks for playing along at home. I’m done here.

Out of all the many boots making videos I have watched, this lady is new to me. Thanks for sharing!

 

[Bamaboots]

Out of all the many boots making videos I have watched, this lady is new to me. Thanks for sharing!

You’re welcome. She’s been around for awhile and got her start sewing boot tops at Griffith-Blucher Cowboy Boots, once touted as the longest continuing operating boot shop in the country. Don’t know if that’s still true.

 

[Hurricane Jack]

Nice post @Hurricane Jack and I've always loved that pic with Lisa Sorrell.

Thanks BB. She does nice work & her art usually has that feminine touch to it.

Some boot makers try & have an apprentice working with them. But I remember Tex Robin saying that it’s hard to pay an apprentice what they need when it takes the apprentice so long to get up to speed before they earn their keep. They spend the first 6 months just on bottoms. It helps if it’s a situation where the boot maker takes in a lot of half sole & heel repair work where the apprentice could put some time in.

When Bo Riddle had his shop in Ozark, MO I went to see him a couple times (saw his flag boots). He hated repair & rebuilds, & didn’t take much of it in. But when he had some to do he had a local cobbler who came in at night on a part time basis to do it.

 

[Bamaboots]

I mentioned Griffith-Blucher cowboy boots the other day and clearing out some bookmarks this morning, I found this article I had saved some time ago. Covers the timeline history of the company pretty well. A while ago I was digging around and all the usual links I had used for the shop were inactive as well as the shop's phone. I dug around and found out Smitty had closed shop but there was no information about its continuation. Fast forward a couple of months and I found the shop was still open/reopened as Blucher Boot Co. and making boots. It appears they still make the 36 designs of the original catalog along with custom work. Like many now, contact is through social media.

Oklahoma Magazine

 

[Fifty150]

As a boy, I always wanted cowboy boots. Growing up in a big city, nobody wore them. Nobody even sold them. Exotic. Romanticized. I only saw them on television. Celebrities wore them on TV.

I have many boots but honestly as much as I love them all, none of them are a perfect fit.

I got to the age where I could buy my own clothes with my own money. In The City, there just wasn't a cowboy boots store. This was in the days before buying online. I was fortunate enough to find myself in El Paso, where someone took me to Tony Lama. I bought 2 pair. Somewhere along the way, on that same trip, I impulsively grabbed a less expensive pair of Dan Post.



At that point in life, I was happy. Fulfillment of a childhood fantasy. I tried to wear those boots as much as I can. Or until the novelty wore off. Dates. Pool hall. Bar. Dinner. Movies. Any occasion I wore a suit. I even wore them with black tie.


I found that they were rough to break in. I couldn't wear them past a few hours at a time. I couldn't do anything active, or even be on my feet walking around. These boots were made for cowboys sitting on a saddle with feet locked into stirrups. Not dancing, hiking, or playing basketball.

Decades later. The leather is about as broken in as it can be. I even wore out the sole and heel on 1 pair. They still aren't comfortable for me to wear all day or do anything active like mall walking. I sure can't wear them for a day of yard work, where I am digging holes, cutting trees, pulling weeds, or harvesting fruit

Maybe it's just me and my feet. Perhaps I don't know anything about cowboy boots and bought the wrong shoes. Maybe if I get better boots, I can get a perfect fit. These are not my "go to" boots. I still wear them for nights out to sit on a bar stool, sit in a theater, or sit down for a meal...... But not my favorite boots.


I don't know if I will ever buy another pair. I am thinking about getting rid of them, since they just don't do anything for me........ Except that I still think it's cool to wear cowboy boots. And I think that they look good.

 

[jeepTj98]

As a boy, I always wanted cowboy boots. Growing up in a big city, nobody wore them. Nobody even sold them. Exotic. Romanticized. I only saw them on television. Celebrities wore them on TV.










I got to the age where I could buy my own clothes with my own money. In The City, there just wasn't a cowboy boots store. This was in the days before buying online. I was fortunate enough to find myself in El Paso, where someone took me to Tony Lama. I bought 2 pair. Somewhere along the way, on that same trip, I impulsively grabbed a less expensive pair of Dan Post.



At that point in life, I was happy. Fulfillment of a childhood fantasy. I tried to wear those boots as much as I can. Or until the novelty wore off. Dates. Pool hall. Bar. Dinner. Movies. Any occasion I wore a suit. I even wore them with black tie.


I found that they were rough to break in. I couldn't wear them past a few hours at a time. I couldn't do anything active, or even be on my feet walking around. These boots were made for cowboys sitting on a saddle with feet locked into stirrups. Not dancing, hiking, or playing basketball.

Decades later. The leather is about as broken in as it can be. I even wore out the sole and heel on 1 pair. They still aren't comfortable for me to wear all day or do anything active like mall walking. I sure can't wear them for a day of yard work, where I am digging holes, cutting trees, pulling weeds, or harvesting fruit

Maybe it's just me and my feet. Perhaps I don't know anything about cowboy boots and bought the wrong shoes. Maybe if I get better boots, I can get a perfect fit. These are not my "go to" boots. I still wear them for nights out to sit on a bar stool, sit in a theater, or sit down for a meal...... But not my favorite boots.


I don't know if I will ever buy another pair. I am thinking about getting rid of them, since they just don't do anything for me........ Except that I still think it's cool to wear cowboy boots. And I think that they look good.






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Sounds similar to my beginnings.. after seeing jr Ewing I had to have some!! What size do you wear? Do you use an insole of any kind? Those are beautiful!! I started wearing boots back as far as I can remember. However I didn’t know how to get them to fit correctly. It usually resulted in me spending almost as much for all the cushion insoles and I thought I was doing the right thing and of course I had to replace those insoles almost every year. It was as tiring. Forward many years later, I visited a boot store while I was in Tennessee somewhere and a guy at the store educated me to the point that now I know how they are supposed to fit. I purchased some Tony Lama made in USA . You know, leather only insole and no freeking buying boots a size too big and having to add a cushion insole. I sold all those size 9 boots on eBay and now I am a solid size 8 all leather. I know they don’t fit perfectly and some of them are pretty darn close. I do wear them all day to work and anything in between. Just once, I would like to know how a custom fit feels.

 

[jeepTj98]

As a boy, I always wanted cowboy boots. Growing up in a big city, nobody wore them. Nobody even sold them. Exotic. Romanticized. I only saw them on television. Celebrities wore them on TV.










I got to the age where I could buy my own clothes with my own money. In The City, there just wasn't a cowboy boots store. This was in the days before buying online. I was fortunate enough to find myself in El Paso, where someone took me to Tony Lama. I bought 2 pair. Somewhere along the way, on that same trip, I impulsively grabbed a less expensive pair of Dan Post.



At that point in life, I was happy. Fulfillment of a childhood fantasy. I tried to wear those boots as much as I can. Or until the novelty wore off. Dates. Pool hall. Bar. Dinner. Movies. Any occasion I wore a suit. I even wore them with black tie.


I found that they were rough to break in. I couldn't wear them past a few hours at a time. I couldn't do anything active, or even be on my feet walking around. These boots were made for cowboys sitting on a saddle with feet locked into stirrups. Not dancing, hiking, or playing basketball.

Decades later. The leather is about as broken in as it can be. I even wore out the sole and heel on 1 pair. They still aren't comfortable for me to wear all day or do anything active like mall walking. I sure can't wear them for a day of yard work, where I am digging holes, cutting trees, pulling weeds, or harvesting fruit

Maybe it's just me and my feet. Perhaps I don't know anything about cowboy boots and bought the wrong shoes. Maybe if I get better boots, I can get a perfect fit. These are not my "go to" boots. I still wear them for nights out to sit on a bar stool, sit in a theater, or sit down for a meal...... But not my favorite boots.


I don't know if I will ever buy another pair. I am thinking about getting rid of them, since they just don't do anything for me........ Except that I still think it's cool to wear cowboy boots. And I think that they look good.






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Those look like Tony Lama..

 

[jeepTj98]

As a boy, I always wanted cowboy boots. Growing up in a big city, nobody wore them. Nobody even sold them. Exotic. Romanticized. I only saw them on television. Celebrities wore them on TV.










I got to the age where I could buy my own clothes with my own money. In The City, there just wasn't a cowboy boots store. This was in the days before buying online. I was fortunate enough to find myself in El Paso, where someone took me to Tony Lama. I bought 2 pair. Somewhere along the way, on that same trip, I impulsively grabbed a less expensive pair of Dan Post.



At that point in life, I was happy. Fulfillment of a childhood fantasy. I tried to wear those boots as much as I can. Or until the novelty wore off. Dates. Pool hall. Bar. Dinner. Movies. Any occasion I wore a suit. I even wore them with black tie.


I found that they were rough to break in. I couldn't wear them past a few hours at a time. I couldn't do anything active, or even be on my feet walking around. These boots were made for cowboys sitting on a saddle with feet locked into stirrups. Not dancing, hiking, or playing basketball.

Decades later. The leather is about as broken in as it can be. I even wore out the sole and heel on 1 pair. They still aren't comfortable for me to wear all day or do anything active like mall walking. I sure can't wear them for a day of yard work, where I am digging holes, cutting trees, pulling weeds, or harvesting fruit

Maybe it's just me and my feet. Perhaps I don't know anything about cowboy boots and bought the wrong shoes. Maybe if I get better boots, I can get a perfect fit. These are not my "go to" boots. I still wear them for nights out to sit on a bar stool, sit in a theater, or sit down for a meal...... But not my favorite boots.


I don't know if I will ever buy another pair. I am thinking about getting rid of them, since they just don't do anything for me........ Except that I still think it's cool to wear cowboy boots. And I think that they look good.






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Oh see the Dan post and the size lol

 

[Hurricane Jack]

Somewhere along the way, on that same trip, I impulsively grabbed a less expensive pair of Dan Post.

Dan Post has always just been a Western brand, never a boot maker. So every few yrs a new contract is let to the lowest bidder. Makes it difficult to know for sure who made a vintage pair Of Dan Posts. And you have to live with all the variables that come from contract to contract, & low bidder work.

 

[Fifty150]

you have to live with all the variables that come from contract to contract, & low bidder work

About 30 years down the line, I now know what I don't like about them. Maybe it was due to contract manufacturing.


Overall, the footbed is not very comfortable to stand on. What is under my feet, just don't feel that good. Not a fair comparison to anything, since cowboy boots aren't sneakers. Nonetheless, it's not what I want to stand on.

The footbed is a cheap polyester material which has cheap foam under it. There is also a separate heel pad made of the same cheap polyester and foam. This leads me to believe that the boot was built on a synthetic lasting board. The soft footbed wasn't bad at first. It made the boot easier to stand in. The foam has compressed and worn down. The heel pad portion has delaminated, started to shift, and is peeling up.

I can see stitches going 270 degrees on the sole and welt. This would indicate that it's welted to a gemming. Cowboy boots with holdfast construction typically stitch only the front half of the boot, You can't do holdfast on a synthetic lasting board.

The worst thing for me, is how the vamp and uppers have broken in. Or maybe, it hasn't broken in. The leather is now flexible, and bends with my foot as I walk. That's not a problem. That's actually good. I can walk in them just fine. The problem is with taking the boots off. The boots fit my feet exactly. Great when I'm wearing the boots. But taking them off is a very difficult and strenuous activity. I can step into them just fine. I can wear them just fine. But trying to get them off is very hard.

Those are beautiful!!

The leather on the vamp and uppers has been great. Excellent. Actually, a good quality leather. If the boots felt better, and slid off correctly, I would love to keep the boot.

 

[Fifty150]

​

I purchased some Tony Lama made in USA .​

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Those look like Tony Lama..​

These are my original Tony Lama. They were from the factory. I was hand fitted. The sales guy used a Brannock, then took measurements with a tailor's tape. Then he declared that I was a size 10. My Brannock device size is 10. I wear size 10 in other shoes.



The black pair is bull shoulder. Thick, heavy, rigid, robust. The brown pair is calf skin. Thinner, lighter, softer. The brown calf skin pair broke in easier.

These boots are made with a leather insole, holdfast construction, and have nails and wood pegs at the waist. Both had heel taps and sole savers. Both were worn to a point where they need heel pads. Both were worn to where the sole savers are almost smooth.


The black pair was worn more. The heel pads were so far gone, that I was almost to the heel stack. I was living where there just was not a reputable cobbler. I went to the closest cobbler. He looked over the boot. He sounded like he knew what he was talking about. Then declared that his little shop was not equipped to resole the shoes correctly. He was honest about it. He didn't have a sole stitching machine. He was too old, and his hands weren't good enough to hand stitch. I got a set of lug half soles and heels. Then glued and nailed them myself. I figured it would be good enough, until a good cobbler could do the job right.


The leather vamp and uppers on both pairs are great. The leather lining in the front of the foot is still in good shape. They could easily go another quarter century. A good shoe repair shop could easily rebuild these boots with new leather soles, leather heel stacks, and correct cowboy boot heels. All at a cost of double what I paid for these boots when new.


I'm hesitant on getting these boots rebuilt. I don't even know if I want to keep them. What I have found is that my feet are just slightly wider than the narrow insole. And that insole is about the size and shape of a woman's Dr. Scholl's insert. My feet sort of hang slightly over the edge, which means that the edge of the insole presses into my foot. Not a big deal if I'm not standing or walking for hours. If I were sitting in a saddle, driving my truck, or riding my bike, I wouldn't notice at all. If I have to stand and walk all day, forget about it.


I'm beginning to feel that cowboy boots are not for me. I love the way that they look. I am not buying another pair. I'm debating whether I should even keep the pairs I already own. Whatever I wear on my feet, has to be comfortable. Traditional cowboy boots are not that comfortable on my feet.




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[jeepTj98]

Those are all very nice boots and well taken care of.. I don’t have a cobbler near me either. I had the same issue with having some boots repaired and the so called cobbler near me couldn’t do it. Thankfully I still find my boots comfortable. I did buy some Los Altos boots a couple years back. I was hesitant because they do have a an insole inside that they call a leather insole. They are the most comfortable I have by far. Is it the insole? I don’t know. It’s not a removable insole so I’m afraid to see what condition they will be in a few years. I know the position you are in and I know it is frustrating. I know how you feel and I can see how you really love your boots… they are so well cared for! I bet a good cobbler could help you out. It seems like the well known cobblers that advertise on YouTube are all so busy and have a long waiting period..

 

[Fifty150]

It seems like the well known cobblers that advertise on YouTube are all so busy and have a long waiting period..

Not Allen Trushkov.

​

well taken care of..

… they are so well cared for!

I bet a good cobbler could help you out.

Maybe. Maybe not. A resole would cost more than I paid for the boots. Apples to Pineapples comparison. I paid around $100 back 30+ years ago. Maybe the equivalent of $250 today, adjusted for inflation. There are cheaper boots now. But to get boots with the real leather insole, a holdfast construction, leather soles, leather heel stacks........ I would be looking at upwards of $500 or more. As much as I love the way the boots look, I don't love the way that they wear. There are just more comfortable shoes.

No cobbler could help with the bad fit of cowboy boots on my feet. Traditional cowboy boots have a narrow insole. The insole is like a woman's shoe. It's meant to be that way. The vamp wraps under the high arch, and narrow waist, for saddle stirrups. Where the vamp meets the front part of the shaft, is also tight. It makes sense. You don't want to slip out of your boots and fly off your horse. But they are just too tight for me. I have to fight to get the boots off. The boots fit great. Actually, the fit is perfect........ which is why they are so hard to take off.

 

[Fifty150]

I don’t have a cobbler near me either. I had the same issue with having some boots repaired and the so called cobbler near me couldn’t do it.

I live in The City. There are a lot of shoe repair shops. Most are not craftsmen, or artisans. They do repairs. Not rebuilds. They do not take the shoes apart, and recraft them. The shop that I use, is a father and son team. The Dad is older than me. The son is younger than I am. The shop has been around for awhile, and will be around for awhile. Plenty of work to keep them busy. And they do not do good work. They do hack jobs on cheap shoes. Cut off and sand down as much as possible. Then glued and hammer on a new sole or half sole. The shop is way too small. There's no room for a sole stitcher, sole press, proper leather sewing machine, leather cutting clicker, etc.

They explained to me that they just don't see many good shoes coming into the shop. A majority of what they see are designer brands which are poorly constructed. Mostly cemented shoes, that need to be glued back together. And if they invested tens of thousands in equipment, they would have to find a space big enough to house it. That would mean closing the little shop they are at, to move to a larger work space. That also means that they will lose their customer base of local, walk in customers. It would also mean a huge increase in rent. Essentially, go into debt to finance machinery, to open a brand new business in another location. Taking a gamble that your new location will generate 5 times the volume of business to cover the quadruple increase in rent, and the loan payments on the equipment. They would also have to raise prices, to hire extra help, to deal with the increased volume. Or just keep doing what they are doing, and keep making a living. Not to mention that they've spent a lifetime gluing shoes, with no training or experience on crafting shoes.

How much would a proper recraft be on boots like this? Where the cobbler deconstructs correctly, to rebuild it correctly? My local father and son cobblers could sand down the sole savers, then glue on a new piece of rubber. A little putty to fill in where the wood pegs have worn down . Paint the leather on the waist to make it look new again. They could pry off the heel pad without pulling off the heel stack, then glue on a new heel pad. They even have a spray to make everything shiny. Maybe I'm just crazy for wanting a $200+ resole, when I could spend less than half on a hack job.​

 

[Bamaboots]

I have never used these folks but I've seen some of their finished work and it's very good. They can apparently do a complete rebuild.

Cowboy Boot Resole Repair and Restoration Specialists | Your Satisfaction Guaranteed Since 1928!

 

[jeepTj98]

I live in The City. There are a lot of shoe repair shops. Most are not craftsmen, or artisans. They do repairs. Not rebuilds. They do not take the shoes apart, and recraft them. The shop that I use, is a father and son team. The Dad is older than me. The son is younger than I am. The shop has been around for awhile, and will be around for awhile. Plenty of work to keep them busy. And they do not do good work. They do hack jobs on cheap shoes. Cut off and sand down as much as possible. Then glued and hammer on a new sole or half sole. The shop is way too small. There's no room for a sole stitcher, sole press, proper leather sewing machine, leather cutting clicker, etc.

They explained to me that they just don't see many good shoes coming into the shop. A majority of what they see are designer brands which are poorly constructed. Mostly cemented shoes, that need to be glued back together. And if they invested tens of thousands in equipment, they would have to find a space big enough to house it. That would mean closing the little shop they are at, to move to a larger work space. That also means that they will lose their customer base of local, walk in customers. It would also mean a huge increase in rent. Essentially, go into debt to finance machinery, to open a brand new business in another location. Taking a gamble that your new location will generate 5 times the volume of business to cover the quadruple increase in rent, and the loan payments on the equipment. They would also have to raise prices, to hire extra help, to deal with the increased volume. Or just keep doing what they are doing, and keep making a living. Not to mention that they've spent a lifetime gluing shoes, with no training or experience on crafting shoes.

How much would a proper recraft be on boots like this? Where the cobbler deconstructs correctly, to rebuild it correctly? My local father and son cobblers could sand down the sole savers, then glue on a new piece of rubber. A little putty to fill in where the wood pegs have worn down . Paint the leather on the waist to make it look new again. They could pry off the heel pad without pulling off the heel stack, then glue on a new heel pad. They even have a spray to make everything shiny. Maybe I'm just crazy for wanting a $200+ resole, when I could spend less than half on a hack job.​

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It’s definitely expensive to do a complete resole and I would only have it done if the boot is comfortable enough..I’m going to do it at least once before I die lol..

 

[jeepTj98]

Not Allen Trushkov.

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Maybe. Maybe not. A resole would cost more than I paid for the boots. Apples to Pineapples comparison. I paid around $100 back 30+ years ago. Maybe the equivalent of $250 today, adjusted for inflation. There are cheaper boots now. But to get boots with the real leather insole, a holdfast construction, leather soles, leather heel stacks........ I would be looking at upwards of $500 or more. As much as I love the way the boots look, I don't love the way that they wear. There are just more comfortable shoes.

No cobbler could help with the bad fit of cowboy boots on my feet. Traditional cowboy boots have a narrow insole. The insole is like a woman's shoe. It's meant to be that way. The vamp wraps under the high arch, and narrow waist, for saddle stirrups. Where the vamp meets the front part of the shaft, is also tight. It makes sense. You don't want to slip out of your boots and fly off your horse. But they are just too tight for me. I have to fight to get the boots off. The boots fit great. Actually, the fit is perfect........ which is why they are so hard to take off.

Yes exactly! Out of all the boots I have, not one of them is that hard to get off and I’ve always been concerned about that. However they are comfortable. I have some hondo boots that. I transitioned into a work book. I am agitated having to buy a so called work boot that falls apart on me. $300 boots… the hondo boots I bought 15 yrs ago and I’ve only done a repair… Had some rubber added to the bottom and they are pretty darn good for a 10 hour day being on my feet. I don’t regrettably ride horses but I am a plumber and they so far have held up very well. In the morning, they are kinda a loose fit so I have a thicker sock. At the end of the day, I take them off and they are snug and take some effort getting them off.

I love horses, I love the outdoors and cowboys.. just love it! If I could do it all over again, that is what I would be doing.. I watch many many YouTube videos about horses cowboys and ranching so I am a expert lol

 

[jeepTj98]

I will check allen out..