Cowboy Boots and Business Suits

[Highlander]

In Missouri, Highway 63 is pretty much the dividing line. West of Hwy 63, you may even see your banker in cowboy boots with a suit and a cowboy hat. East of Hwy 63 (where they call Pop, Soda), it would look somewhat out of place.

 

[Richard Warren]

If you are in a profession, business, or activity in which any (perceived) eccentricity in dress has a significant chance of adversely affecting your ability to get the job done, your ability to advance, or your ability to, uhm, form desirable romantic attachments, why would you engage is said eccentricity?

If not, why seek anyone else's opinion?

To actually answer your question, do not wear cowboy boots for business, unless you happen to be in a business in which cowboy boots are worn commonly. Since you had to ask the question, I assume you are not.

 

[Tabasco Joe]

Ive never seen anyone wearing Cowboy boots and a suit where I live - in Minnesota. I suppose if you live down south it would be alot more common but here I think you would maybe get a few weird looks from people.

 

[Mid-fogey]

I was...

...in Fort Worth for a week. I didn't see anyone in boots, or hats for that matter. I'm sure it's there, but I didn't see it anywhere.

 

[Barchetta52]

I'm from Fort Worth and you're right, you don't see boots and suits much anymore. Of course, like most of North Texas, you probably didn't see but a few natives. Hmmm, maybe I should singlehandedly attempt to bring back the boots.

 

[Mr. 'H']

This is a very intersting thread. My question here is if anyone has seen this look in an old photos from the 1940s. That is, a lounge or a business suit with cowboy boots.

 

[High Pockets]

I've been wearing boots and jeans all my life, around cattle and horses.

When I wear boots, I wear jeans,....no slacks. Nor does anyone else I know,.....wouldn't be right.

When I wear a suit, I put on a nice pair of shoes.

However,.....in the 1950's and very early 1960's, my family lived in San Antonio and Houston. I remember very well the fact that many of the men in suits also wore boots and Open Road styled hats. Several photographs, the kind that were taken of you while you walked past a downtown shop and then offered for sale, shows my grandfather and great-grandfather walking with the family downtown San Antonio in the late fourties, clearly wearing such a combination.

I would think that even in this part of the country, where we still ride horses and buy and sell cattle, the combination of boots and a business suit would cock a few heads.

 

[tonyb]

I own a few pair of cowboy boots 'cuz I like 'em. I like they way they look, I like the way they feel on my feet, I like that they add an inch or two to my stature. Not once have any of them been slipped into a stirrup.

Way back when I did a bit of ranch work, 30 and more years ago, the people who actually worked with the cattle didn't wear cowboy boots. Not as I recall, anyway. Regular ol' work boots with steel toes seemed the most common choice of footwear. But then, we rarely if ever got aboard a horse. Motorized contraptions is what we had.

I've been known to wear boots with suits, but I'm not a "businessman," not in the sense I believe we're talkin' here. If I were, I'd follow Richard Warren's advice.

 

[zendy]

My boyfriend often wears a dress shirt, slacks and boots, and he has not gotten a bad stare or comment. He has however received many complements, but then again we do live in Idaho[huh]. Either way, I fancy the look, I think it's very classy 30's western swing.

 

[Inusuit]

If not, why seek anyone else's opinion?

To actually answer your question, do not wear cowboy boots for business, unless you happen to be in a business in which cowboy boots are worn commonly. Since you had to ask the question, I assume you are not.

High end suits and cowboy boots are daily attire for the Governor of Wyoming.

 

[Justdog]

Boots and Suits

My dress shoes and loafers have gathered dust as I've been favoring cowboy boots. I like the look and they take a good shine. For those of you who wear boots, do you wear them year round and with business suits? If so, should I have the slacks retailored to remove the cuffs and rehemmed for the boots? Maybe the boots would clash with a traditional business suit and I should look for western cut suits and shirts. If so, where to without travel through Texas and points west? Thanks for your ideas. Bart

I wear a couple of pairs of Boulet, Soft deer skin and Tanned leather. I wear the boots with cuffs on some pants and without on others, Some cuts just dont accommodate a cuff that well. There is a tailoring to the boot cut though and usually I wear the boots and the pants in when tailoring. I also heed the advice of the seamstress or tailor. Some suits look great and others not so great with CBB but the bottom line is wear what you like and enjoy! Western suit in Texas with boots is a classic.

 

[Dashing1]

In Texas, I frequently see businessmen in suits and boots (giving rise to the modern "suited & booted" phrase). I must say, though, that such looks are seen far more frequently among those who are pretty "well-heeled" (if you'll excuse the pun), and the boots are usually of pretty great quality. Perhaps, such eccentricities belong generally to those who are self-employed, as there is no one higher on the corporate ladder to offend. Additionally, the swagger bestowed/communicated by a great pair of boots probably serves well in the poker game that is big business.

I frequently wear my black elephant boots with my tuxedo and relish my opportunities to wear them.

 

[4drymartinis]

I used to wear "dress" wranglers w/ my boots, throw on a nice shirt and a jacket to match the pants; my girlfriend loved the look and more than one woman gave me a slap to the rear when my girlfriend wasn't looking.

Never got any ugly looks, just complements.

I wear 'em cause they're more comfortable than any other shoe I've worn, even tennis shoes.

 

[LocktownDog]

Quite common here in the high desert.

 

[pretty faythe]

I've seen it in the Convention Center here in the low desert.....of course, we get people from all over the place lol

 

[ClothesHorse]

My father wore a suit to work everyday for 40 years, in that time he never owned a pair of dress shoes. Just dress western cowboy boots -- collegues and others often wondered how many pairs he owned (30+). They were always kept shined with the heels and the soles dressed. He worked in OK, AR, and All over the country when he was an appointee in D.C.

Personally I bought a pair of boots for my wedding, and wear that exact pair to all important/milestone events in my life. I wore them a year a go to my father's memorial. As the son with the same size foot, I inherited all the boots. Many over 20 yrs old, looking almost new. I need a bigger closet- or my wife is gonna kill me.

I choose to wear boots most of the time when "dressed up," but I don't mind blazing my own trail. I did get some odd looks one night in Chicago in a Jazz club- but that guy was an ass. Like many here I am proud of the heritage of my family and wearing my boots pays a bit of homage to my roots. Most of the time I get asked what kind of leather, what brand, are those custom, etc.

All the best,

CH

 

[Edward]

I think we have another thread on this already somewhere....mods?

I had a pair of ankle length cowboy boots when I was about 16/17 - back in those days, that was the coo thing to have if you were into metal, and I was just in the dying days of my metalhead phase then, already on the way to being a punk from the age of 15. Later on, those same boots became my first pair of Riff Raff boots for Rocky Horror. They might even still be around somewhere; I think I kept them for 'pub gig' Rocky events so as to avoid mussing my expensive (and much more screen accurate) suede winkle pickers.... lol These days, I do have one pair of tall cowboy boots, but they are purely for costume (again, Rocky Horror, this time Eddie), and not something I would ever consider wearing out otherwise.

Back in the day, I did wear my shorter boots with a suit - that got quite a few looks in Belfast in 1992, especially when I had them reheeled with a metal heelplate put on! Just not something I care for stylistically nowadays. I do find them reasonably comfortable for a bit, but nothing like a regular dress shoe. Course, as I only wear them for costume, I didn't buy more than a cheap pair off eBay, so it's not really a fair comparison. For casual wear, I much prefer a pair of engineer boots, though I must get a new pair of those, as mine are steel toecapped and so rather heavy for all-day wear... also, rather on the loose-fitting side - I'd prefer snugger.

In terms of wearing them with a suit, I think that could work for someone who was into the Western aesthetic, though it probably blends in better in some parts of the world than others. Full on 'cowboy' hats with those and suit would be just rather too, eh, J.R. Ewing for me; an Open Road or similar is a much classier hat, IMO. But again, that may change depending on location: in an area where cowboy hats are common, I think itg would look less of an affectation.

Comments above to the effect that some professions are more flexible than others in terms of dress is certainly true - as an academic, a certain level of eccentricity is almost expected of me; correspondants / spectators, hats, and the rest I can get away with much more easily than were I perhaps in a big city law firm where a more 'corporate' style might be expected.

 

[Michaelshane]

This is how we wear them in New Mexico.....

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But of course this is my business suit....

 

[WideBrimm]

This is how we wear them in New Mexico.....


But of course this is my business suit....

Pretty common style everywhere in the Rocky Mountain West!

 

[carouselvic]

This is how we wear them in New Mexico.....
But of course this is my business suit....

Nice concho belt.