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For some real country music, check out Heather Myles.

Vintage Clifford Leddy Boots, Abilene TX, collection of CBBN

Clifford Leddy was one of M L Leddy's brothers. He moved to Abilene TX and opened a shop. His nephew, the legendary James Leddy, worked with Clifford, and eventually took over the shop in 1965.

Unknown vintage boots, collection CBBN.

I second the Heather Myles recommendation!

I'm glad someone was able to afford the Lucchese 125th Anniversary boots.

Texas Traditions, black softy buffalo, varigated stitching, collection of CBBN

Very nice Mark!

As always with Texas Traditions!!! Amazing boots!!!!!!
If I remember right, you should already have the very same great style in brown.

Peter

Just finished to read and watch the specials about Lisa Sorrell... Great story, amazing boots and a really wonderful shop!!!

Peter B, yes you are right, in chocolate calf, same pattern, different varigated thread. They are similar to a pair featured in the Cowboy Boot book.

I have been away from this site for a few years,in actuality I forgot where it was,but I thought I would share the following. I recently bought a pair of brown Lucchese Classics at a reputable shoe companies warehouse sale. This company supplies/imports shoes to high end stores like Saks Fifth Avenue. I looked in the boot saw Lucchese Classics tried them on and ran to the cashier and paid the price which was just over a hundred bucks. When I got home I looked at the soles and saw that they were stitched all around no lemon pegs,no pegs at all. The usual little folded note was attached to the boot extolling the qualities like lemon pegs. This was a final sale so I could not take them back. I have bought classics from this place before and they looked like classics. Has Lucchese started putting out cheap boots but still calling them Classics. The skins were of the usual top quality but the bottoms, I hate looking at them. Has anyone else experienced anything like this?

Sounds like you purchased the Lucchese 1883 line of boots, which is their lower-end boot. Lucchese Classics, Lucchese 2000, and Lucchese 1883 have ink stamps on the inside of each boot. I believe they have a Lucchese Cowboy/Cowgirl line too. Or you could have bought Lucchese Classics ropers(?).

Can you post a picture?

Definitely sounds like a pair of Lucchese 1883's. But as CBBN said, they should be stamped letting you know which Lucchese version they are. Pictures would be great.

A couple of interesting articles in the Nov 15th El Paso TImes

The art of the boot: Stallion Boots designer puts his stamp on Western icon
By Victor R. Martinez / El Paso Times

It's not unusual to see high-profile fashion designers from Dolce & Gabbana, Ralph Lauren, Tommy Hilfiger, Celine of Paris and Christian Dior streaming into Pedro Muņoz Jr.'s El Paso shop looking for Western inspiration.

After all, the iconic designer of Western boots and owner of Stallion Boot & Belt Co. in South-Central El Paso has been designing boots that have been shown on the runways of Paris, Milan and New York for close to 30 years.

What is surprising is how nonchalant Muņoz is about being the boot-maker to the stars. He is by no means starstruck.

"For me, every customer is a celebrity," Muņoz said. "I don't think who you make the boots for makes you a good boot-maker. All our customers are important. When I die, I don't want people to say that I made boots for so and so or so and so. All people are great. All people have their own uniqueness, and if somebody is willing to spend money on a product that I make, to me that makes them a celebrity in my book."

For the record, Muņoz has designed boots for Bob Dylan, Madonna, Robert Plant, Ashley Judd and Tom Cruise.

Stallion Boots, all designed by the 52-year-old Muņoz, can be found in exclusive boutiques in 17 locations in seven states, including Boot Star locations in West Hollywood and Las Vegas and Bergdorf Goodman in New York.

The custom-designed, handcrafted boots can also be purchased in Canada, Europe and Asia in fine shops such as Colette in Paris and Trois Pommes in St. Moritz and Zurich.

"I
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heard about Stallion boots from a couple of people who own a pair in Austin," said Austinite Dena Stoner, who was recently touring Stallion Boots Co. "We were up in Santa Fe camping and went to the square to try on boots, and there is place called Boots & Boogie there. We were trying on various boots, oohing and ahhing about the intricate designs, and the gentleman there said the absolute greatest boot is Stallion.

"I tried on a pair and thought, 'Oh, my God,' it fit like glove,' " she said. "The gentleman said Stallion Boots are made with the finest workmanship, and I asked where are they made and he said, 'El Paso, of course, where all the greatest boots are made.' "

Stoner said she owned about 10 pairs of boots, but not one designed by Muņoz.

"It's an inspirational thing; one day I'll buy a pair of Stallions," Stoner said. "We've seen some wonderful boots all around town. El Paso is the boot capital of world."

It was with humble beginnings that Muņoz began his love affair with cowboy boots.

"As a young man, I was brought up on a ranch in Chihuahua," Muņoz recollects fondly. "My grandfather took me to one of those general stores in Zaragoza, Mexico, that had everything you can imagine. He had taken me for the first time to the ranch when I was about 5 years old. He told me I couldn't go up to the ranch without a pair of cowboy boots. I wore those old boots until they wore down to nothing."

Muņoz smiled at the memory of his mother's reaction.

"My mother used to have me dressed up very nice all the time," he said. "She always tells her friends that when my grandfather brought me back from that trip, I had cow manure on my hair and my ears and I was a totally changed man. That's where my love of Western wear began."

Back then, the look of the cowboy boot was a rugged tough shoe. It had to be when working on the unforgiving open range.

But during the past 40 years or so, the cowboy boot has undergone a transformation. It has gone from practicality and functionality to an art form with no end to the variety of styles and colorful designs available.

Muņoz's venture into the fashion boot industry began in 1980 at the height of the "Urban Cowboy" craze.

"I was 23 years old studying chemistry and biology," he said. "There where two main industries in El Paso at the time -- the jean business and the boot business. After 'Urban Cowboy' came out, people wanted cowboy boots, so that's what I did."

Stallion Boot Co. was founded in 1980 by Muņoz and his two partners, Jose Gallegos and Plutarco Rodriguez. Muņoz is now the sole owner.

"We filled a very small niche," Muņoz said. "Not very many customers wanted designed, custom-made, high-end boots at the time. For me, that was that market. Otherwise, to manufacture in mass and to compete with the big guys would have been impossible. I would have ended up out of business. I just started to fill niches for people who wanted a better made boot."

Stallion Boot & Belt Co. has been featured in many international, national and regional magazines and newspapers over the years, including being named one of the top 25 Custom Bootmakers by Texas Monthly in 2002 and featured in the book "Art of the Boot" by the late Tyler Beard and the New York Times.

"I still remember the first pair of boots I designed," said Muņoz, who also collects all styles of boots. "It was a very plain boot, just a nice calfskin boot."

Muņoz said he has about 160 pairs of boots in his personal collection.

Many people are surprised when told Stallion Boots is headquartered in El Paso.

"Texas and fashion don't naturally find one another in the same sentence -- particularly when we're talking El Paso," the New York Times said.

Muņoz simply scoffs at comments such as these.

"The people here love their roots," he said. "El Paso used to be the boot capital of the world as far as boots manufactured and quality; now it's the boot capital for the quality. If you want a quality-made boot, this is the only place you'll find it because the boot-makers, some who have been with me for 30 years, care about their craft."

Muņoz is constantly surrounded by alligator, crocodile, horned-back alligator and crocodile, caiman, lizard, elephant, hippo, python, ostrich and stingray skins. But most importantly, he surrounds himself with family and friends.

"What El Paso has been able to provide for myself is an understanding of the biculturalism that exists here because I grew up that way so that was a big advantage to me," he said. "Now, when I travel throughout the world, I have no assumption about anybody else's cultural or beliefs or standards. If I am willing and wanting to do business or pleasure, I need to fit my way of thinking to that of the area of the people. Having that exposure of being here gave me that understanding."

And when people ask him what he is doing in El Paso?

"I just tell them, 'I'm making boots' -- it's that simple."

Darn good ones at that.

Victor R. Martinez may be reached at vmartinez@elpasotimes.com; 546-6128. This story originally appeared in Style magazine.



About Stallion Boots
# What: Stallion Boot and Belt Co.
# Owner: Longtime boot collector and designer Pedro Muņoz Jr. designs boots for sale through trunk shows and couture retailers such as Dolce & Gabbana and Christian Dior.
# Specializes in: Replicas of classic boots emphasizing starbursts and flame stitching, as well as buck stitching and lacing.
# Prices start at: $500.
# Turnaround time: Six to 12 weeks.
# Has made boots for: Madonna, Robert Plant, Bob Dylan, Ashley Judd and Tom Cruise.

Rocketbuster takes fashion boot-ique approach
By Darren Meritz / El Paso Times

EL PASO -- Old World boot-making has collided with haute couture at Rocketbuster Boots, a boutique company in El Paso that's changed the focus of boot craftsmanship under the leadership of Nevena Christi, a former New York fashionista.

Part Western footwear, part kitsch and part high fashion, Rocketbuster Boots has carved its niche in El Paso as a retail manufacturer of tailor-made, one-of-a-kind boots that rely on cowboy fashion traditions.

But under Christi's influence, those boots have nuanced twists and borrow heavily from the latest styles, unusual fabrics and materials, and the whimsy of customers.

It's all a part of the vision of Christi, the unlikely owner of Rocketbuster who came to El Paso from New York more than a decade ago and is applying sophisticated design principles to classic Western craftsmanship.

"I'm different because I'm an artist," Christi said from her Downtown El Paso studio. "Every single step is done the old-fashioned way -- by hand."

In 1989, El Paso photographer Marty Snortum made a barroom deal to trade his 1953 Cadillac hearse for the upstart boot company, which was then owned by an Italian businessman longing to return to the old country. "So, (Snortum) woke up one morning, and he's got a boot company," Christi said.

Six years later, she stumbled across Rocketbuster when she was looking for six pairs of custom-made boots for a runway show. She went to Snortum, they fell in love, and she agreed to move to El Paso -- on the condition
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that he give her the boots studio.

For the past 12 years, Christi has worked to make Rocket buster the premier custom boots manufacturer in the United States. And she has the accolades to prove it.

Essential to making Rocketbuster a success, she said, has been transforming what was once a tired formula into a custom-built factory where each boot is made to fit a person's foot precisely and with whatever unique design the customer wants. Rocketbuster makes about 10 pairs of boots a week.

When Christi took over Rocketbuster, the company had been using conventional methods designed for mass production, such as the use of cardboard cutouts for boot designs.

When Christi came in, she applied her background in art -- she studied at the Parsons School of Design in New York and Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design in London -- to the process.

She forced the studio to abandon cardboard cutouts and instead created a system to make each boot by hand for an exact fit for the customer.

"Everything we do is just very specific," she said. "Most of my customers reorder, and that's the thing -- they get hooked on the fit. They get hooked on the quality, and I'm proud to say they're addicted."

Be careful, though, because the addiction could prove costly.

Christi said only a small market exists in El Paso for her custom boots, so she's cast a wider net, marketing across the country to celebrities and others willing to pay a hefty price for her fit. Her customers includes celebrities such as Julia Roberts, Steven Spielberg, Oprah Winfrey, Thalia and Peter Fonda.

The cost for a custom pair of boots from Rocketbuster: from $650 to as much as $5,000.

Darren Meritz may be reached at dmeritz@elpasotimes.com; 546-6127. This story originally appeared in Style magazine.



About Rocketbuster
# Who: Rocketbuster Handmade Custom Boots
# Where: 115 S. Anthony.
# Information: 541-1300.