Cowgirl boots

BOOT trends come and go every fall – over-the-knee, ankle, combat, wedges – but one boot remains, impervious to passing fads: the cowboy boot. The cowboy boot entered mainstream fashion beginning in the 1940s and 1950s, when actors like Roy Rogers glamorised cowboys onscreen. Its popularity has ebbed and flowed since then (John Travolta, the star of “Urban Cowboy,” could be called the Roy Rogers of the 1980s), but has never gone out of style. And in the last 10 years, the cowboy boot has experienced a new boom -- especially among women. Wade Allen, the owner of The Bull Chute Western Wear in Raleigh, says for years now he has been selling more boots to women than to men. “I never would’ve predicted that 60 to 70 per cent of my boot sales would be from selling ladies’ boots,” he said. “It’s become a fashion staple in people’s closets. It started when these suburban moms got into cowboy boots about 10 years ago and turned them into a fashion statement. Since then, younger generations have embraced the boot as well.” Designed in the mid-1800s by boot makers for ranchers, the cowboy boot features an underslung heel and high boot shaft, which protected the cowboy’s feet and kept them in stirrups while riding horses. On the day of this year’s first North Carolina State football game, local sports radio personality Joe Ovies tweeted, “As I walk up to Carter-Finley (Stadium), a couple thoughts. 1) Cowboy boots are still a thing ...” Yes, they are. Even in the heat of August, all across the stadium young women were decked out in cowboy boots and short dresses. In fact, Allen said many college girls pick up their boots at his store specifically for football games. He even carries cowboy boots branded with college logos just for that. Larry Denny of Raleigh, who sells cowboy boots at his booth at the Raleigh Flea Market at the N.C. State Fairgrounds, sees the same trend. “A lot of college girls come and get cowboy boots from me,” Denny said. “The sales are best in the fall.”...more