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Cowboy Boots

Messages
18,281
HJ, are Osuna boots still made?
Yes as far as I know. Small shop, he only has 2-3 helpers I think so I imagine he stays booked with custom made to measure orders & doesn't make many boots to sell off the shelf. He makes a good boot. Reitzel used to speak highly of Osuna's work as well.
 

Robster35

New in Town
Messages
11
question on boot fit guys : bought a pair of vintage gold label ostrich TL's. the fit is pretty snug. id say quite snug on my instep and somewhat snug on my pinky toe. thing is they arent that hard to put on or pull off. ive always worn a 10 in boots. a couple pair are even 9.5 (anderson bean) and a 10.5 in dan post. i have another pair of gold label TL's in a 10 that arent this snug. i have maybe 1/2 inch room in toe box. my heel does slip just a touch. does ostrich skin typically stretch a little bit? id hate to have to sell these. theyre in excellent condition other than the soles needing replacing at some point in the near future
 
Messages
11,409
Location
Alabama
question on boot fit guys : bought a pair of vintage gold label ostrich TL's. the fit is pretty snug. id say quite snug on my instep and somewhat snug on my pinky toe. thing is they arent that hard to put on or pull off. ive always worn a 10 in boots. a couple pair are even 9.5 (anderson bean) and a 10.5 in dan post. i have another pair of gold label TL's in a 10 that arent this snug. i have maybe 1/2 inch room in toe box. my heel does slip just a touch. does ostrich skin typically stretch a little bit? id hate to have to sell these. theyre in excellent condition other than the soles needing replacing at some point in the near future

TL gold labels are nice boots. I've owned some in the past. Ostrich, in my experience is flexible but does not stretch a great deal. During construction the vamp leather is wet and then stretched over the last and tacked in place and allowed to dry. This removes most of the stretch from the leather. If your boots are nearing the point of sole replacement, I doubt there is much stretch left. A cobbler might be able to get them stretch a little. One thing you might try, next time you wear them, is wet them down with a 50/50 mixture of water and alcohol and wear them around. The 50/50 mixture is similar to a commercial shoe stretching spray.
 

Robster35

New in Town
Messages
11
TL gold labels are nice boots. I've owned some in the past. Ostrich, in my experience is flexible but does not stretch a great deal. During construction the vamp leather is wet and then stretched over the last and tacked in place and allowed to dry. This removes most of the stretch from the leather. If your boots are nearing the point of sole replacement, I doubt there is much stretch left. A cobbler might be able to get them stretch a little. One thing you might try, next time you wear them, is wet them down with a 50/50 mixture of water and alcohol and wear them around. The 50/50 mixture is similar to a commercial shoe stretching spray.

thanks for response! will try that. also gonna see if i can maybe find some slightly thinner boot socks. if they end up just too uncomfortable for me i'll likely list them for sale
 
Messages
18,281
Robster, check to make sure someone hasn't put an insole in the boots; sounds obvious, I know. Even a good boot tree left in the boot continuously for some time might give your pinkie some relief in the toe box by stretching it a bit. And as you said thinner boot socks or even wear dress socks in that pair may help give your instep some relief.
 
Messages
18,281
I shot an email to Bond's with questions. I'll post their reply when I get it.
Never got a reply to my questions about the lasts used to make these boots. With a "No Returns" policy I wouldn't buy a pair they have outsourced without first having a reasonable idea about how they would fit. Too bad; I kind of like these green tops:

2yx2ped.jpg
 
Messages
11,409
Location
Alabama
Never got a reply to my questions about the lasts used to make these boots. With a "No Returns" policy I wouldn't buy a pair they have outsourced without first having a reasonable idea about how they would fit. Too bad; I kind of like these green tops:

Don't blame you for that, HJ. Think a mail to Don Quixote would do any good? I like those green tops as well.
 
Messages
13,678
Location
down south
I've got some Don Quijotes boots, and yes, they are a little wide. Nothing a Dr. Scholls insole couldn't fix.
Now as to the matter of a pair of Bond's (or any other brand) being outsourced to them.....I'll just call bullsh*t on that right now. My DQs are a damn righteous pair of boots, equal in quality to any I own, but I could nearly buy two pair of 'em for what one pair of Bond's cost. That's all I'm saying about that, take it how you want to.

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk
 
Messages
13,678
Location
down south
I like the PB waxed calf, I like the shorter wait time, I just don't like the idea of spending $750 for a pair of boots that aren't fit specifically for my feet. If I'm just going to buy "off the shelf", there are stores in town where I can walk in and buy stock boots for a whole lot less money. My cheap boots usually last 2-3 years per pair, and my last pair fit so well they feel like house slippers.




That seems fair enough.

My comment was based on 56FordGuy's previous post. I'd be pretty p*ssed, to say the least, if I'd spent that kind of scratch.

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk
 
Messages
18,281
That's why I never got a reply then, they sold out. Has it been confirmed that Quijote made the boots for Bonds? And the next question would be is PB going to continue to outsource this line of boots to Quijote or possibly even to the low bidder each round? They used to build these stock boots along with other boots they sold off the shelf just to keep their guys busy when they didn't have custom orders.
 
Messages
11,409
Location
Alabama
That's why I never got a reply then, they sold out. Has it been confirmed that Quijote made the boots for Bonds? And the next question would be is PB going to continue to outsource this line of boots to Quijote or possibly even to the low bidder each round? They used to build these stock boots along with other boots they sold off the shelf just to keep their guys busy when they didn't have custom orders.

Not surprised but this bothers the $',t outa me!
 
Messages
18,281
Not surprised but this bothers the $',t outa me!
Me too. But that line of boot was probably pricing itself out of their market & PB had to figure out a way to bring down costs (they call it commissioning, I call it outsourcing). And there are only so many production hrs a wk for a small man shop. I'm sure the profit margin is greater in custom orders if you can sell out your available hrs each month. In the meantime Quijote (or whomever) is using orders from PB for this line of boots to sell out their hrs & keep their shop busy along with their other production boots.

I think George is still running PB now, so it's a different world.
 

56FordGuy

One of the Regulars
Messages
145
Location
Wyoming
56, did you get your new work boots yet? Apparently their working cowboy boot is being outsourced because they can't keep up, maybe? Apparently they have several pair in stock now. If you learn anything different thru your order with them please let us know. I could use a pair but would like to know more about who these boots were commissioned with.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Western-Cowboy-Boots-commissioned-by-Paul-Bond-Boots-/272268404976?ul_ref=http://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/e11021.m43.l3160/7?euid=4524504710a24551b56693486b6569e4&bu=43188895753&loc=http%3A%2F%2Fcgi.ebay.com%2Fws%2FeBayISAPI.dll%3FViewItem%26item%3D272268404976&sojTags=bu=bu&srcrot=e11021.m43.l3160&rvr_id=0

No, I haven't. I ordered on 5-6, checked on them around the 25th and they were approximately two to three weeks out then. The sales rep said they had some new people in their shop, but we didn't really get into that.

I'd been thinking about calling them Monday. Am I understanding y'all correctly that they've outsourced the work boot line to another boot maker? Not sure quite how to feel about that if it's the case.

Add me to the list liking the green ones on the eBay link.
 
Messages
18,281
No, I haven't. I ordered on 5-6, checked on them around the 25th and they were approximately two to three weeks out then. The sales rep said they had some new people in their shop, but we didn't really get into that.

I'd been thinking about calling them Monday. Am I understanding y'all correctly that they've outsourced the work boot line to another boot maker? Not sure quite how to feel about that if it's the case.

Add me to the list liking the green ones on the eBay link.
56, I don't think anyone knows for sure what they are doing with the working cowboy boot line beyond this eBay listing BB linked, & it has now either been sold out or taken down for other reasons. They could have outsourced a onetime order for, say 500 pair then bring production back in house or they could plan to outsource that particular line of boot from now on. Sort of like licensing your name & product. No one really knows. That's why I was wondering if you had received your boots yet & if you knew anything more.

I noticed the eBay seller account with this listing seemed to be a new account but Paul Bond already had an eBay account before, so I kind of wondered about that.

If you call them Monday see what you can find out.
 

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