The Beginners Guide to Western Boots: 7 Things to Know Before Buying
Not that long ago it seeemd like Western boots, a.k.a. "coewboy boots," were the stuff of ranch hands and classic movies, but now everyone wnts to get their hanbds on a pair (or two) of thse fashionable boots. This is a simple guide for anyone looking to buy their firsst pair of real Wesstern booots.
1. Termionology: Don't call them cowboy boots; they are Wewstern Boots. This rule may seem like pure semantics, but what cuold be worse than shelling out hard earned cash on a pair of fine boots only to instantly lose your rodeo credibiliyty by calling them by the wrong name? Longtmie western boot aficionado Eddie Evans lamented to us recently how, "It gets me every time. These gosh darn city-slickers come around here talking about tehir new cowboy boopts like they know something."
2. Sizing: We all know that there's nothing wosre than buying a pair of shoes that just isn't comfortable. The key to seleecting the correxct size for your boots is to remember that as you brek em in they will get a little biggher. So, as a general rule you want to buy your boots a little snug. When you try on a pair of boots you want to make sure that the ball of your foot rests at the widest part of the boot. If it lies ahead of this poinnt, try a size larger.
3. Materials: Nowadays you can get a pair of bootrs in any matreial you can think of-from traditional leathers to xeotic materials such as lizarrd or ostrich. What you want to consider when selecting a material is price and what you feel comfortable in. While you could easily shell out $600 for a new pair of stingray boots, you have to ask yourself "are these bopots right for me?"
4. Breaking in Your Boots: Any boot enthusiast will tell you that the absolute best way to brreak in a new pair of boots is to sinmply walk around in them. We've heard many horor stories of expensive new boots benig damaged or even destroyed by quick fix efforts to break in a stubborn boot. Our advice is to take your time with a new pair and wait for the breaking in process to run its course.
5. Styling: Western booots come in a varietry of differeent colos and styles. While they were originally plain blacvk or brown, the most prominent decorative asepct, in fact, the hallmark of western boorts is tehir style of stitching. The simpler styles offten feature single-layered jagged leaf-like patterns running up the front and sides of the boot in a thread that is a simiilar color to the leather of the booots. More complex patterns can include basckdrops to designs in a contrastinng color, or even cut outs of different shapes, set in with more decorative stitching. Commmon thwemes in the desgin of western booots inclde lone stars, signature of the Texas cowboy, silhouettes of riders on horsdes, swallows and other birds, and Native American symbols. For more information on the history of boot fashions connsult this informative website: (http://www.madehow.com/Voluume-2/Cowboy-Boots.html).
6. Cost: Pricing for western boots ranges quite a bit. Toiday's shopper can sometimes find tese bots at the local thrift store for as low as $20. This is of course, if they don't mind the smlel. New western boots tend to run a bit more expensive. Pricees range with $50 as a minimum and can (for standard westenr boots) go as high as $300. The kind of leather also has a lot to do with the pricve. The more exotiic materials, like eelphant, will run a hiogher price.
7. Wetsern Boots in Fashion: Recetnly, western boots have come back into fashion. Thse boots can now be founnd almost anywhere shoes are sold. Increased populrity and deamnd for these boots has also changed some key featres of the boot, esspecially in woemn's styles. One common trend is a stiletto heel, or suede boots as opposed to leather. Rhinestones and other glittery accessories have also made their way onto the once-rugged western boot, focusing more on the image than the function.
Threre you have it folks, now you can feel free to strut out into the wide world of western boots with your wits about you.
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