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Cowboy Boots


Silky Johnston

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Double H are a good boot. Back in the late 00’s they were having an issue with the soles and heels coming off of the ICE some early in the life of the boot, and it was finally figured out that the glue they were using wasn’t as strong as the competition because HH are made in America and the others were foreign. Pretty strict environmental regulations here on the adhesive compared to overseas. They went back to the drawing board and solved the issue (or paid off the right people) and those issues went away pretty quickly.

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  • 2 weeks later...
On 7/26/2022 at 4:05 PM, Herbie Hancock said:

Did you ever speak to TJ the store manager?

@Herbie Hancock Just a follow up on all the AB BS. So I called TJ and explained my situation and that one of his managers blew me off and never ordered the boots like Anderson Bean suggested I do.  TJ’s first response to me was “why are you involving me?” and I explained that I was doing what AB told me to do. TJ said he would call the guy at AB that I had been talking to and call me back, never heard back from TJ, that was probably 3-4 months ago. I finally decided to hell with TJ and Anderson Bean. Went to the Waco Cavenders and ordered two pair of Black Jack caiman belly boots and couldn’t be happier with the quality. Shame on you @andersonbeanboots, you lost a great customer!

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[mention=5553]Herbie Hancock[/mention] Just a follow up on all the AB BS. So I called TJ and explained my situation and that one of his managers blew me off and never ordered the boots like Anderson Bean suggested I do.  TJ’s first response to me was “why are you involving me?” and I explained that I was doing what AB told me to do. TJ said he would call the guy at AB that I had been talking to and call me back, never heard back from TJ, that was probably 3-4 months ago. I finally decided to hell with TJ and Anderson Bean. Went to the Waco Cavenders and ordered two pair of Black Jack caiman belly boots and couldn’t be happier with the quality. Shame on you @andersonbeanboots, you lost a great customer!

Well that’s highly frustrating. I would hope TJ lost your information and didn’t just completely blow you off as I know him to be a very good and honest man, but I 100% understand your frustration. My apologies that what I thought would be a quick solution turned out not to be.
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16 hours ago, Herbie Hancock said:


Well that’s highly frustrating. I would hope TJ lost your information and didn’t just completely blow you off as I know him to be a very good and honest man, but I 100% understand your frustration. My apologies that what I thought would be a quick solution turned out not to be.

No biggie at all, appreciate you trying to help.  Actually wore my new Jack’s out last night and they are awesome! Maybe Bean did me a favor.

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6 hours ago, billfromlaketravis said:

Well, I don't think Lucchese is ever going to restock this boot. https://lucchese.com/products/sturgis-whiskey?option1=11&option2=D&option3=R %2B 3

Could y'all recommend something similar? 

https://timsboots.com/black-jack-bison-cowboy-boots/

Semi custom, made to order, cheaper, and a much better boot.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I’ll get flamed, but the Tecovas Cartwright in Scotch Goat is a handsome boot. They look just as good in person. $275 for a mad dog boot is a good price, I don’t care. 

Lucchese can make some boots that are out of stock, but it takes about 24 weeks. I’ll order the Sturgis later this year. 

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On 1/29/2023 at 10:58 PM, tx 3 putt said:

I’m not sure about square toed boots, but these are damn gorgeous. Luchesse, cherry smooth ostrich. $545 

 

8813BD71-9981-4555-8132-91B181DA934D.jpeg

136C1A3D-4C5A-4EBB-8B51-0994796409F8.jpeg

Square toes are sacrilege. And spare me the “my feet are wide and I need the extra space” spiel. No, you’re fat and have fat fucking feet and shouldn’t be buying boots in the first place.

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5 minutes ago, tx 3 putt said:

 

no, I didn't want women throwing their panties at me, out in public 

F5E3C41F-4DAC-4C8F-B8E4-6C00328E7509.gif.4454d0b8fed1305b8900bd0ba1495b78.gif


Seriously though, any thoughts on quality or fit of Overlands?

I’ve only had one pair of boots in my life; they’re Luchesse. I sized up to an 11 1/2 as they felt great and still do. However, the  instep is too small on my right foot. Not sure how the Luchesse instep compares to other makers.

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2 hours ago, GenXer said:

F5E3C41F-4DAC-4C8F-B8E4-6C00328E7509.gif.4454d0b8fed1305b8900bd0ba1495b78.gif


Seriously though, any thoughts on quality or fit of Overlands?

I’ve only had one pair of boots in my life; they’re Luchesse. I sized up to an 11 1/2 as they felt great and still do. However, the  instep is too small on my right foot. Not sure how the Luchesse instep compares to other makers.


try an insole 

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Square toes are sacrilege. And spare me the “my feet are wide and I need the extra space” spiel. No, you’re fat and have fat fucking feet and shouldn’t be buying boots in the first place.

You’re so far out of your element I debated whether to even respond to this dumbassery. Go back to your subdivision and your unwatched episodes of Yellowstone, you’ve got no clue what you’re talking about.
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21 minutes ago, fattyflattie said:

You like what you like, but sacrilege?  Contrary to what some believe, they’ve been around a long, long, very long time.  And maybe it’s true that all my awesomeness has flattened out the feet a bit, but still. 


I’d only wear them to like the Houston rodea bbq cook off. That’s a square toe crowd 

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On 3/10/2021 at 7:12 PM, Landomatic said:

Y’all want a great boot, that fits right...try Rod Patrick’s.  Great boots and a great guy who runs the place named Bobby.  Based in Ft Worth.  Every size and skin under the sun.  Thank me later.

Stumbled across this place doing a google search. Saw a pair that I like. My wife and I are going to head to Ft Worth this weekend to check the place out.

I appreciate the recommendation on the place.

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On 2/4/2023 at 10:42 PM, Henry Hill said:

Square toes are sacrilege. And spare me the “my feet are wide and I need the extra space” spiel. No, you’re fat and have fat fucking feet and shouldn’t be buying boots in the first place.

Uh, hold on there, HH. I won’t debate taste, as I’m sure not excited about the looks of the square toes, but they’re actually historically authentic. Most of what we wear today as western wear is a product of the dude ranches and horse operas from the 1920’s to the ‘50’s.

40 years ago I wore 9.5 Tony Lama in a nice “R” toe; today it’s a square toe 12.  Your ears and nose aren’t the only things that grow as you age!  At least I can still pull on a pair of boots and wear ‘em all day.  And at 6’3” and 205, I don’t really qualify as “fat.”

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25 minutes ago, Horn Draoi said:

but they’re actually historically authentic.

I mean, kinda yeah.  The generally acknowledged predecessor to the cowboy boot was the "Wellington" riding or cavalry boot made famous/popular by Lord Wellington of Waterloo fame.  That boot was characterized by having a narrower top than most previous cavalry boots, that flared heavily and went over the knee.  Generally, being a riding boot, it had a rounded, narrower toe.

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/55/DukeWellingtonJamesLonsdale.jpg

Cowboy boots?

At some point, slip on boots like the Wellington became standard issue in armies, even for foot soldiers, and those, like many of the laced counterparts, often had square toes.  Officers and cavalrymen tended to wear narrower, if not strictly round, toes.  But what you see from back then is a really blunt, tall square toe, or on the more refined boots, something like the modern "french toe."  You don't see hardly anything like today's square toes and certainly not any of the other accoutrement of what we consider cowboy boots, like taller, underslung heels, high arches (borrowed from the design of logger boots), and stitched tops.

Sold Price: CIVIL WAR CAVALRY FORAGE CAP AND BOOTS - January 5, 0120 10 ...

Cowboy boots?

Also, a lot of laced boots of that era had square toes.  Or maybe better described as shapeless, sorta square toes. I haven't seen it explained, but I suspect that square toes were easier and cheaper to execute for a relatively crude boot than a narrower, more refined toe, square or round. 

Scarce Pair of Inspector-Marked Civil War Brogans. Known also as | Lot ...Cowboy boots?

And, of course, officer-types, being noblemen and the closest thing America had to them, tended to get their boots handmade to a much higher standard than what the troops wore, and customized features into them, including the narrower rounder toe, which has been regarded as dressier for most of the last couple hundred years.  By the late 19th Century, cavalry boots (think aggy) were pretty standardized on a round toe.

Following the Civil War, the enlisted slip-on "wellington," often with square toes, became kind of the utility footwear for working men, and "cowboys."  The red wings of the day.  And, as stocks of those ran out, people had to have them made and began to modify the design.  Those that rode a lot tended to have them made with narrower, more rounded toes, taller heels, and higher tops.  The higher tops benefitted from stitching, which quickly became decorative, to stiffen them and keep them from falling down.

If you dig around, you can see some examples of boots with stitching on the tops, scallops, and narrower toes that are sort of transitional from the "army boots."

Somewhere along the line, the higher arches also found in logging boot designs started going along with the taller heels, maybe through the "packer" style of laced boots, which had narrower round toes and were a riding version of the logger boot.  That heel/arch combo'actually one of the more unique features of both types of boots and actually one of the things that makes them pretty comfortable for all-day wear.  And you don't see those on any of the allegedly square toe predecessors.

And yeah, it's true that "snip" or "x" toes are a product of Hollywood.

But for the things we consider cowboy boots, taller heels and the high arch, stitched tops, wide square toes like today's boots are not any more authentic than round and narrower type squarish toes.  They're not inauthentic either, exactly.  Lotta squared toed footwear of all kinds in the 19th century for some reason.

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27 minutes ago, TwiceHorn said:

Lotta squared toed footwear of all kinds in the 19th century for some reason.

Because comfort and style isn't new.  I encourage people to wear what you like.  Me, I still have a pair of custom gators in an R, but they collect dust. Everything exotic I've bought since then is square, and will continue to be even when they do fall out of style. 

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Pretty decent summary, Twice. I would add that one of the speculative reasons for square toed footwear back in the day is that it was easier to make on a straight last and fit decently on either foot. Most footwear even for wealthier folks was made on a straight last up until the mid nineteenth century or so.

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On 1/27/2023 at 5:31 PM, billfromlaketravis said:

I’ll get flamed, but the Tecovas Cartwright in Scotch Goat is a handsome boot. They look just as good in person. $275 for a mad dog boot is a good price, I don’t care. 

Lucchese can make some boots that are out of stock, but it takes about 24 weeks. I’ll order the Sturgis later this year. 

I bought some last year when they finally restocked.  Love them so far.

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11 hours ago, NotActuallyALonghorn said:

Pretty decent summary, Twice. I would add that one of the speculative reasons for square toed footwear back in the day is that it was easier to make on a straight last and fit decently on either foot. Most footwear even for wealthier folks was made on a straight last up until the mid nineteenth century or so.

I thought about tagging you in this to confirm or deny various things.

One thing I can't find much information on is whether logging boots, of this variety

 

img_8200.jpg

 

With taller, underslung heels and the exaggerated arch that goes along with them, preceded "cowboy boots."  Or perhaps there is a common ancestor.  There's an astonishing number of high-end makers of this style boot in the PNW dating back to the 19th century.  And they also tend to make "packer" boots, which may be where those features are borrowed from.  This blurb from one of them suggests that heels and arches predate the logger design, but I can't find any examples from the 19th century. https://nicksboots.com/blog/post/why-do-logger-boots-have-raised-heels/

Drew's Cascade Rancher Style #DR08MV - Drew's Boots - Drew's Boots

Those remind me of those fairly abominable LaceR ropers from Justin that were extremely popular for a short time among the goatroper set.  I honestly thought square toes would go the way of the LaceR after a few years.  Square toes also remind me of Dingo and Frye boots, which kind of disgust me, as well.

 

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On 2/8/2023 at 7:54 PM, TwiceHorn said:

I thought about tagging you in this to confirm or deny various things.

One thing I can't find much information on is whether logging boots, of this variety

 

img_8200.jpg

 

With taller, underslung heels and the exaggerated arch that goes along with them, preceded "cowboy boots."  Or perhaps there is a common ancestor.  There's an astonishing number of high-end makers of this style boot in the PNW dating back to the 19th century.  And they also tend to make "packer" boots, which may be where those features are borrowed from.  This blurb from one of them suggests that heels and arches predate the logger design, but I can't find any examples from the 19th century. https://nicksboots.com/blog/post/why-do-logger-boots-have-raised-heels/

Drew's Cascade Rancher Style #DR08MV - Drew's Boots - Drew's Boots

Those remind me of those fairly abominable LaceR ropers from Justin that were extremely popular for a short time among the goatroper set.  I honestly thought square toes would go the way of the LaceR after a few years.  Square toes also remind me of Dingo and Frye boots, which kind of disgust me, as well.

 

I haven't really looked into the history of logger boots, but I would tend to gravitate to the common ancestor theory. High heels in men's footwear was common as far back as men have been fighting wars on horseback with stirrups. They were a thing during the reign of King Louis IXV . The arch support is a necessary component of such construction.

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I’m wrasslin’ with deciding what I want and figured here would be a good place to gather opinions (cuz I know y’all have them). I’m looking for a roper boot and can’t decide between lizard and full quill ostrich - either would be in a chocolate or butterscotch-ish brown.

Never bought anything exotic - if either of those would be considered to be - but those are the two I’m most drawn to.

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On 2/10/2023 at 2:11 PM, ohchaucer said:

I’m looking for a roper boot and can’t decide between lizard and full quill ostrich - either would be in a chocolate or butterscotch-ish brown.

Ostrich if you are tied to those colors.  Lizard if going black.    Black lizard or black gator belly are my go to for when I need a suit. 

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Picked up this pair at Rod Patrick’s in Ft Worth yesterday. Wife picked up a pair of rough outs. She wasn’t planning on getting anything but found an old school pair she couldn’t resist.

Hanging in the backyard with a Marzen beer listening to Maggie’s Song by Stapleton while smoking some baby back ribs for the super bowl.

Tossing the ball for my dogs as my german shepherd steals a couple laps of my marzen. Great fucking day.

F56FB221-66F2-4C17-BC65-D89BC4D93014.thumb.jpeg.b2af08525f2fc49b3c191349ff617ab2.jpeg

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