The basic style elements permeated even working boots, and made the Wellington obsolete. One mass-produced boot style, the Wellington boot, (a shorter but cavalry-oriented boot) was popular with cowboys in the US until the 1860s.ĭuring the cattle drive era of 1866–1884, the cowboy was apt to ruin a good pair of dress boots while working, so some owned more decorative dress boots to wear in town. Later, the Industrial Revolution allowed some styles of boots to be mass-produced. Also the idea of using skins on the boots came from Northern Mexico, as well as the colors, the colors imitate the color of Mexican ranches. The Mexican cowboy boots only came in three styles, rounded toe, pointed toe and tribal toes, while the Americans offer many more styles. Mexican vaqueros probably developed a cowboy boot from the Spanish riding boots. Early cowboy boot designs, along with other cowboy accoutrements, were also heavily influenced by the vaquero tradition that developed from a tradition that originated in Spain to the Americas, dating back to the early 16th century.The boots worn by mexican vaqueros influenced cowboy boots, although the exact origin of the modern cowboy boot as we know it today isn't very clear.Cowboy boots from Northern Mexico were most likely adopted by Americans and later came the cowboy boots we know today Military boots designed for cavalry riders also had an influence. Until the industrial age, boots were individually handmade in many different styles, depending on culture. Riding boots had been a part of equestrian life for centuries. Lottie Briscoe in 1914 wearing cowboy boots They usually have some sort of decorative stitching. The roper style is also manufactured in a lace-up design which often fits better around the ankle and is less likely to slip off, but lacing also creates safety issues for riding. Roper boots are usually made with rounded toes, but, correlating with style changes in streetwear, styles with a squared toe are seen. Ī newer design, the 'roper' style, has a short boot shaft that stops above the ankle but before the middle of the calf, with a very low and squared-off 'roper' heel, shaped to the sole of the boot, usually less than one inch high. The narrow pointed toe design appeared in the early 1940s. The toe of western boots was originally rounded or squared in shape. A slightly lower, still angled, 'walking' heel is also common. The classic style is distinguished by a tall boot shaft, going to at least mid-calf, with an angled 'cowboy' heel, usually over one inch high. There are two basic styles of cowboy boots, western (or classic), and roper. Cowboy boots are normally made from cowhide leather, which may be decoratively hand tooled, but are also sometimes made from 'exotic' skins like alligator, snake, ostrich, lizard, eel, elephant, stingray, elk, buffalo, and so on. They have a high heel that is traditionally made of stacked leather, rounded to pointed toe, high shaft, and, traditionally, no lacing. Cowboy boot embellished with decorative mirrored text embroideryĬowboy boots are a specific style of riding boot, historically worn by cowboys.

Packer boots