COWPOKE KICKS

We derive great joy from everything we design, but we get an extra kick (pun intended) out of new boot designs because they really do become a lifelong love. They transcend trends, seasons, years, and even decades. Unlike your running shoes or even a stellar pair of stilettos, boots get better with wear and (much like us, ladies) they just get cooler with age. That’s why so much heart, time, and dedication to detail goes into every boot we design, and why we celebrate them so much when we see it all come to life.

“We don’t take any design lightly, but we definitely devote a little extra to designing boots,” Cheryl said. “We want you to want to wear them forever – that’s the mark of a well-made pair of boots. We want them to be cool now, we want them to be cool when fashion loops back around in 20 years or so, and we want them to be beloved every day in between. Sometimes we’ll even dedicate a ‘sit with it’ stage; when we think we’ve got it just right, then we put it aside and ‘sit with it’ for a couple of weeks, and if it still feels perfect when we come back to it, we know it’s ready. That’s one of the reasons new boots debut less frequently than apparel, they have a longer design cycle – a new boot is like birthing a baby!”

The Cowpoke U collection boasts three new boot designs – “well, two and a half, the Dobie Boots are one design in two styles” – that’ll have you ready to put your best (and most fashionable) foot forward this fall.

DOBIE BOOTS

“This design originated with the Dobie Jacket from Eloise,” Cheryl explained. “That jacket was a huge hit, especially among University of Texas fans, of course – I think someone even tweeted it at Matthew McConaughey, I’d still love to get one on him, but anyway – and it has such timeless appeal, we believed it could work in a boot. We stuck with that same rusty burnt orange hue in a brushed suede and transferred that same longhorn into some inlay accompanied by star accents, finished with contrast rope stitching and some fun fringe. The Dobie Tall has more of that stop-and-stare quality with a hint of sexy and the Dobie Shortie has that same eye-catching appeal, just short and sassy.”

LONGHORN PEE WEE BOOTS

“The inspiration for this boot was a gorgeous old vintage pair I found and fell in love with,” Cheryl said. “That’s the blessing and the curse of a vintage find, isn’t it? They’re a one-off, and part of the allure is that there’s nothing else like them, but by that same token, there aren’t more of them – you can’t just ask for them in a different size. I loved them, my sisters loved them, and they have a timeless appeal, so I brought them to my team with the challenge of ‘let’s reimagine these, identify the elements we love and add some individuality of our own, recreate not replicate’. So we did. We wanted to retain the well-loved leather look, with the patina and creases like your granddad’s favorite recliner, and the character and twang of the contrast inlay, but finish it with traditional touches in the stitching and toebox. I think it turned out perfectly, and will probably end up in our boot hall of fame as a fan favorite, because they can stand out when worn with skinnies or skirts, but also go with everything and be totally classic with your bootcut jeans.”

You might’ve noticed this season’s styles all have one thing in common…

“Sorry not sorry to our Sooners and Ags, but you have to admit there’s something so ‘quintessential cowboy’ about a longhorn!” Cheryl laughed, adding, “Hey, I’m a Baylor Bear, so it’s sure nothing personal – I just love the look of a longhorn, from a design perspective.”