OFF THE CUFF : These Boots Are Made for Talkin’ About

A s the store manager of Howard & Phil’s Western Wear in the Brea Mall, Brett Owens is jazzed that he gets to work in Wranglers, a cowboy shirt, boots and a Stetson. Another thing, Owens can listen to his kind of music without anybody thinking he’s a hick.

“Everyone’s finally catching up to my style of dress and music,” says Owens, 41. “I went the suit-and-tie route in my younger years and was never comfortable. I’ve traveled all over the world in my boots and in some places, like Istanbul, I got some odd stares. But now I’m comfortable, and it’s acceptable.”

Boots are his specialty. He knows how to fit ‘em and how to care for ‘em.

This is another in a series of first-person columns that allows people connected to the fashion industry to talk about their encounters.

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I love my boots. Right now I’m wearing Lucchese cowhide, the 1883 style, which is the first year Lucchese made boots. I have six pairs of boots. Once you buy one, you want more. Some of my customers tell the story that their closet space is getting smaller because their boot collection is getting bigger.

You shouldn’t wear the same boot every day, because it’s not good for the leather. If properly cared for, a good cowboy boot will last for years. That’s where the value comes in. A hundred years ago, a pair cost a month’s pay. In relation to that, cowboy boots are not that expensive today. The average leather boot is $200.

The two biggest things you need to know to take care of a boot is: You need to condition the exterior leather and use a cedar boot tree when you’re not in it. The worst things for your boots are water, salt and acid--the composition of sweat. Cedar draws these out of the leather. If you don’t put a good conditioner on the exterior, a year or two down the line the boots are going down the drain. That’s a shame, because they could last many, many years if taken care of.

We don’t have a typical client. I look across the store right now, and there’s a guy who’s very high up in the gas company buying boots and a couple of younger guys looking at biker boots. It’s across the board. I’ve got boots that run $2,000 a pair and boots for $100, depending on what they’re made of and who makes them.

There’s a gentleman in his late 60s who always loved cowboy boots but couldn’t wear them because he couldn’t get a proper fit. His foot was stepped on by a horse when he was a teen-ager, and he could never get boots to fit him right. I’ve been able to fit him, and he’s bought three pairs now.

Boot fits differently than a shoe. A boot is measured in the length of your arch, not the length of your foot.

A boot should feel like a slipper that covers your whole foot. If you’re trying on a boot that’s too tight and a salesperson tries to tell you that it will fit better when you break it in, walk away. That’s baloney to say that it will feel more comfortable. A boot should feel comfortable when you first put it on, and it should become more comfortable as you break it in.

Another factor is that different skins by the same maker and in the same size will fit differently.

I mostly sell exotic skins: lizards and ostrich. The animals used for these boots are all farmed. There are no endangered animals used. California has restrictions on what kinds can come into the state--python is illegal in California; sea turtle is illegal here, and elephant is illegal everywhere.

I’ve always heard the saying, “They died with their boots on,” and honestly I don’t know what that means, but I have a possibility. A hundred years ago, there was no left or right foot boot. One fits all. When a cowboy got his boots, he’d step into the water trough and get them wet, then wear the boots until they shrunk and conformed to his foot. I think the reason they died with their boots on is they couldn’t get them off.