Rounding Up Those Western Stores in Calgary

This city in the Western province of Alberta is dominated by soaring glass-and-steel skyscrapers, but it has never forgotten its cowboy roots.

Calgary goes wild west during the Calgary Stampede, which this year is scheduled for July 6-15. It’s a time when Calgarians and tourists flock to rodeos and saloons, hop to the strains of country music and dress in fringed shirts, chaps, boots and 10-gallon hats.

Calgarians don’t necessarily wait for the stampede to gear up, however. Year-round shops offer the very best available in Western wear.

Many of Calgary’s best Western outfitters are in Stephen Avenue Mall (named for the first president of Canadian Pacific Railway, and otherwise known as Eighth Avenue South East or South West, with the division between East and West at Centre Street). It’s an attractive downtown pedestrians-only street of handsomely restored old-fashioned brick-and-wooden buildings.

During Stampede the mall becomes an outdoor entertainment center, with square dancing, parades, Indians in magnificent costumes and concerts of folk and country music.

Stephen Avenue shops carry not only the attire traditionally worn by cowboys, but also handmade clothing and/or decorative crafts made by Indians who live in Alberta and the Northwest Territories, a wide range of toys with Western themes and attractive souvenir items.

Grand Saddlery & Western Wear Ltd. (No. 108, South East), with a big white wooden horse out front, carries some saddles and spurs and other professional rodeo equipment, as well as duds for dudes who want to dress the part.

There are fringed and beaded chamois shirts ($400), cotton shirts with decorative satin piping ($30), chamois gloves ($35) and clip-on feathers for decorating hat bands ($5). Also attractive are the toys, including wooden stagecoaches (from $20), Indian dolls (from $17) and a clock shaped like a cowboy boot ($50).

Grand has rows of boots and clogs (from $60), but Calgary Shoe Hospital (No. 112, South East) is the best bet for footwear. This shoes-only emporium has one of the biggest selections in town, including steel-shank cowboy arch boots and ankle-high cowboy oxfords (from $125).

Prices are reasonable, customer service is superb and tiny to huge sizes and widths to EEEEE are stocked. Highlights include exclusive Python boots ($295), goatskin boots for women ($155) and men ($159) and Golden Beaver boots ($359) made out of beaver tail. White leather boots ($110) will be dyed any color for a $50 fee.

Lammle’s (No. 115, South East), with a big, black, wooden horse out front, has ladies’ square dance outfits (from about $110) in a profusion of colorful plaids, plus straw cowboy and girl hats (from $12), ladies’ fringed Western blouses ($40), Wrangler jeans ($25) and oilskin drovers’ coats ($200). A terrific selection of belt buckles is from $15.

Work ‘n’ Western Ltd. (No. 116, South East) is a bootery featuring reasonably priced decorative footwear. Capezio’s colorful stitched leather Western boots cost from $100 and women’s Laredo boots in black and purple or other vivid color combinations are from $105. Pressed leather alligator boots with golden toe tips cost $109.

Western Outfitters Ltd. (No. 128, South East), claiming to be Calgary’s cowboy headquarters, has a wide variety of hats, boots, shirts, jeans, skirts, belts and jackets for men, women and children. The shop, founded in 1952, is decorated with photographs of celebrity shoppers, including Frank Sinatra, Cheryl Ladd and Don Rickles.

Among the store’s best sellers are beaded moccasins for $33 and fine-tooled leather belts for $18. More exotic snakeskin belts cost $40. Fringed suede jackets in black, brown, tan and gray are $350. Cotton shirts with shiny white fringing cost $15. Leather vests, $119, come in a rainbow of colors.

Broad-brimmed felt cowboy hats with colorful braided bands and leather strips are from $50. Levi’s are $47 and boots, mostly imported from Texas, cost $140 and up. The sterling-silver belt buckles show bucking broncos, long-horned cattle or other Western subjects and cost $80 and up.

The Leather Ranch (No. 207, South West) updates basic Western styles into contemporary fashion statements. There are deerskin squaw dresses (from $400) made from patches of chamois that have been hand-stitched with chamois thread, fringed deerskin shirts (from $300), fringed and beaded deerskin jackets with bone buttons (from $475) and hand-stitched deerskin skirt, halter top and jacket ensembles (from $490).

Other fringed and belted dresses are from pigskin (from $225 to $450). Fringed and studded leather jackets with matching pants cost about $700 for the ensemble. The Leather Ranch also has non-Western-style leather coveralls for Space Age motorcyclists and deerskin bikinis for sun worshipers.

Riley & McCormick Ltd. (No. 209, South West), with a big brown wooden horse out front, claims to be Calgary’s original Western store. The shop was founded in 1901. During its impressive history it served as a provisioner to the Canadian pioneer settlers and was a saddle maker for Russian cavalry during World War I. Also, it was an outfitter for the huge EP Ranch belonging to Edward, Prince of Wales.

Still family-run, the shop stocks all of the standards--jeans, fringed shirts and those with decorative piping, women’s square-dance ensembles with long or miniskirts, blouses with appliques of horseheads or country flowers, men’s and women’s boots, hats and belts.

Especially attractive are the children’s suede outfits, including vests, skirts and pants (about $55 each), men’s supple black leather buttonless vests ($99), knee-high suede lace-up moccasins ($119), leggings made of rabbit fur ($130), Brahma python boots ($929) in bright red and beautifully decorated traditional Indian dream rattles ($7 each).

Arnold Churgin Shoes Ltd. (No. 227, South West) has high-style, high-end shoes, including many Italian-made boots that are essentially updates on traditional Western styles. Priced from $200.

Vaquero Boot Co. Ltd., a short cab ride away at 607 10th Ave., South West, is a factory shop offering ready-to-wear and made-to-measure boots. Vaquero’s annual production is about 15,000 pairs of boots, and owner Clem Gerwing claims that about 10,000 of them are bought by Southern Californians.

Vaquero boots feature a special patented last that’s about half an inch longer in the arch and has a roomier instep. The vast variety of styles differ in boot height, heel height, type and color of leather and the pattern of decorative stitching that is applied by computer-controlled machines.

Sample styles of 15-inch-high custom-made boots include tie-dyed leather ($260), regular cowhide boots ($235), Python boots with kangaroo tops ($525), ostrich with kangaroo tops ($825), whip-snake boots ($405), bull hide with cowhide tops ($280) and kangaroo with cowhide tops ($280). Ropers, or 10-inch-high boots, are from $215. It takes two weeks to fill orders.

Alberta Boot Co. Factory Outlet (No. 614 10th Ave., South West) has high-quality and expensive boots featuring 10 computer-generated stitch patterns on back or belly-cut python, kangaroo, camel hide, ostrich, vicuna, bull hide, whipsnake, rattlesnake, lizard and stingray. All styles are finished off with kangaroo tops.

The Centaur Saddlery Shop Ltd. (No. 238 11th Ave., South East) outfits Calgarian cowboys who prefer to ride English. Saddles cost about $750 and up, whips are about $90 and up. The shop also sells the latest in English riding attire.

Prices are quoted in Canadian dollars, which means that shoppers paying in U.S. dollars can expect a 12% to 15% discount. Alberta charges no sales tax.

For more information about the Stampede and travel to Alberta, contact Travel Alberta, 333 S. Grand Ave., Suite 3535, Los Angeles 90071, or call toll-free (800) 424-3687 or (213) 625-1256.