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Text By Ellen Gardner • Photography by Jim Arndt

When it comes to cowboy boots, there are working boots, for the serious business of riding the range, herding cattle, and other chores needed to run a ranch; and there are dress boots, for Sunday-go-to-meetings and other special occasions. And then there are fancy or show boots, first popularized by silent movie star Tom Mix in the 1920s and ‘30s.

Gene Autry and Roy Rogers followed closely on Mix’s flamboyant heels as Hollywood continued its love affair with the cowboy mystique. Through the years, country music stars like Hank Williams, Tex Ritter, Porter Wagoner, Dolly Parton, and Dwight Yoakam got on the Happy Trail, too.

(a) These “Stars and Stripes Forever” boots by Dave Little of Little’s Boots in San Antonio, Texas, were made for Jim Arndt, collector and photographer of one-of-a-kind, hand-crafted cowboy boots.

(b) The years from the 1940s to 1965 are known by collectors as the golden age for custom cowboy boots. Jim says this pair from a private collection was likely made in the ‘50s, but the maker is unknown.

(c) (d) and (e) A trio of boots old and new from various collections. Very few working cowboys would die with these boots on, but for those who appreciate sculptures in leather, they’re just the ticket. “Show boots see more concrete than cactus,” wrote Tyler Beard.

(f) The movie Urban Cowboy starring John Travolta in 1980 and Top Gun with Tom Cruise led to a renaissance of custom boot making that continues today with companies like Toronto’s Liberty Boots, makers of this fanciful footwear.

Tyler Beard, known as the foremost expert on cowboy boots until his death last year, became friends with Jim in the early 1990s in Santa Fe, when the two men bonded over their love of all things Western.
“As a child, I had to be coaxed out of my Roy Rogers boots nightly,” wrote Tyler, a native Texan. Jim, another child of the ‘50s, got his first pair of boots when he was 6 years old. Both boys, like many of their post-World War II generation, wanted to grow up to be cowboys.

(g) Among women boot makers today is Lisa Sorrel of Oklahoma, who created these leather lovelies. (h) These 1950s women’s peewees (short boots) have under-slung heels and crisp wingtip styling on the toes.

Tyler and Jim teamed up for their first joint effort, The Cowboy Boot Book, in 1992, “thinking it might have a small cult following,” Jim says. “We included just a half-dozen collectors and about a half-dozen custom boot makers.”

To their surprise and delight, the book sold more than 100,000 copies around the world. Boot aficionados came out of the woodwork to share their collections and names of their favorite boot makers. That led to the creation of 100 Years of Western Wear in 1993, The Art of the Boot in 1999, and Cowboy Boots (from which the photographs here were taken) in 2004, all published by Gibbs Smith. More than 400 color photographs of vintage and contemporary boots grace the pages of the most recent book. “Every pair,” Jim says, “is a wearable work of art.”

Contemporary boot makers like Tex Robin, (i) and Lisa Sorrel, (j) borrow inspiration from vintage leatherwork. (k) The famous Nudie of Hollywood made these flamboyant peewees in the ‘40s or ‘50s. Later, he outfitted dozens of “rhinestone cowboys,” from Roy Rogers and Johnny Cash to Elvis and Cher.

Urbane Cowboys
Though vintage boots are hard to come by, Jim Arndt says they can still be found at estate sales and high-end auctions specializing in Western wear. But they aren’t cheap. Expect to pay several hundred dollars to as much as serious five figures for extraordinary pairs.
For a list of resources, see dimlights.com/boots.