This is a question I am sometimes asked. I have chosen boots as my exclusive form of footwear for more than 40 years, and own many pairs of boots. Over time, I have learned a thing or two about boots. I thought I would share what I have learned. Note, if you landed on this page when seeking information specifically about motorcycle police patrol boots, click here.

I begin this discussion with the following assumptions in mind:

• This information is only about men's boots.
• Being from the United States, I am writing from the point of view of American culture.
• Boots are made for a practical purpose, to wear as footwear and offer protection to the wearer's legs and feet.
• Every man who wears boots has his own likes and dislikes.
• Expensive boots do not necessarily mean they are more practical or comfortable.
• This discussion is about commercially-manufacturered boots, rather than custom made-to-order boots.
• Some commercially-made boots simply are made better than others.

My thoughts below reflect these assumptions.

1. Types of boots

There are many different types or styles of boots -- cowboy, biker, hiking, dress, work, etc. To learn more about all the diffent types of boots, read the tutorial that I wrote and can be found on hotboots.com.

Most guys who wear boots regularly wear three major types: cowboy, motorcycle, or work boots. I enjoy cowboy and motorcycle boots equally as much, so I will go into more detail about each of these types of boots below. I have boots that I wear when I do work around the house or on small renovation projects that I do, but generally speaking, I have few pairs of traditional "work boots" since my day job is in an office and my fun time is on a Harley. My work time doing repairs or yard work is limited, so the boots I have for that kind of work are fewer in number.

2. Substyles

There are many substyles of boots. For example, cowboy boots can be traditional, buckaroo (tall), roper, paddock-horse style, or combinations of these styles. Motorcycle boots can be short and have a work-boot appearance, or tall, such as used by motor patrol officers (bike cops). There are many variations in between. Then there are specialty boots, such as those used for skiing, hiking, or other active sports; Chelsea dress boots that some men wear; rubber boots for use in certain work and play environments; lineman and logger boots, which are substyles of a general work boot, etc. Ultimately, choosing a substyle involves both knowing where and how the boots will be worn, as well as personal preference.

How to decide?

Ask yourself these questions:

1. Where will I wear the boots?

Work site: if you will be wearing boots at work, and the worksite is in construction, utilities, or the like, then you want to select boots that are rugged and can withstand variations in temperature, exposure to water and mud, and are comfortable.

Comfort is very important. If you have to wear boots all day, they have to be comfortable or you will be miserable. Today's manufacturers of work boots have developed features that make work boots far more comfortable than they were even a decade ago. A padded collar, built-in soft insoles, arch support, sturdy lug sole, and adjustable lacing make work boots easy to wear, and feel as comfortable as an old pair of sneakers. Some work boots are designed to comply with safety requirements, such as having a steel toe (or not), and a sole that resists oil, electrical shock, and heat. If you are required to wear boots for work of this nature, check to see if your employer has specifications for the type of boot to buy. There is no sense in buying boots that do not meet OSHA and state safety requirements, or your employer's specifications.

Office: This is an obvious matter but is sometimes overlooked -- If you will be wearing boots in an office environment, then you want to choose boots that go with the dress code expectations of the environment. Do you see other men at the office only wearing polished black dress wingtip shoes? Are there variations, such as some men who wear loafers or comfortable walking shoes? If you're going to wear boots at the office, what you choose needs to fit in so you are comfortable and the boss doesn't make an issue of what's on your feet. Boots that are shined, have leather soles, and are subdued in color (black, grey, brown), and have rounded toes that look like the toes on shoes, generally fit best in an office environment. Boots with "flash" such as high heels, colorful inlays, narrow "X" toes, steel or metal toe or heel rands, or are made of exotic skins that are quite noticeable, may not fit in this environment.

Daily life: besides going to work, what else do you do? Shopping, running errands, socializing with friends, engaging in sports, motorcycling, eating out? Obviously, your decisions on choosing boots for certain activities may be more difficult depending on what you will being doing and where you will be going. Generally, though, if I will be engaging in activities where the ground under my feet will be wet, then I choose boots with a rugged, rubber sole, rather than boots with leather soles, so I can avoid slipping. If I will be standing for a long time, then I choose boots that are very comfortable, have excellent insole and arch support, and have been broken in so they conform well to my foot. If I will be on my motorcycle, then I choose boots with a good tread so when I put my feet down, I will have better control of my bike. If I will be skydiving, then I choose boots designed for that sport, that are both functional and practical.

Play: I admit it, since I'm booted all the time, I play in my boots, too. Play as in jumping in mud, riding hard on my motorcycle, or when having some fun with my partner, all affect the choice of boots I wear. Boots that may get into mud are boots that can withstand the mess, are all-leather (not exotic skin) and can be cleaned up afterwards. This is purely personal, and I have no further comment on this point.

2. How often will I wear the boots?

How often you wear boots is also very personal. I wear boots every day. I don't own a pair of shoes. In that case, I usually choose a pair of boots to wear to work, then when I get home, I change to boots that go with jeans or leather (depending on what I'm wearing), and perhaps even change again, if I do work in the yard, take a ride on my bike, or go to a meeting and have to dress up a bit. (If I ever ate dinner out, that would also affect my choice of boots.) On weekends, it's common for me to change boots four or five times a day, depending on what I am doing, how I am dressed, where I am going, and the weather.

If you will wear boots less than every day and not regularly to work, then your choice of boots can -- and should be -- from a more limited selection. You may have one to three pairs of boots that you might wear to the office every now and then. In that case, they may be subdued in color and have a low heel. If you ride a motorcycle and wear boots only while riding, you may choose one or two pairs of boots for that purpose. Or you may choose to put on boots when you do work around the house.

Anyway, the decision on what boots to buy has a lot to do with how often and where you will wear them.

3. How does the weather affect a choice of boots to wear?

I have covered a lot of this already, but consider these additional factors.

• If it may be icy outside, you do not want wear boots with smooth leather soles, which can easily cause you to slip and fall. Also, boots with Vibram® soles may harden in temperatures below freezing. In this case, boots with rubber, waffle soles are probably the best choice.

• If it is raining or really wet, then avoid wearing boots made of skins or hides that can be damaged by water. For example, python skin on cowboy boots will curl when it gets wet and does not uncurl when it dries. Light-colored, untreated leather will spot when it gets wet, and the spot may remain dark.

• If it is really hot outside, you want to wear boots that allow your feet to breathe, such as leather. You also want to choose boots whose shafts allow air to circulate, too. Tall, leather-lined boots often get hot, no matter the quality.

4. How tall do I want the boots to be?

Boot height is also a purely personal decision. While some guys really enjoy wearing boots with leather or jeans tucked into them, the vast majority of guys (straight and gay) wear jeans or pants over their boots. So the wearer is the only one who knows how tall the boots are.

How do I choose boot height? I have these criteria:

• Protection: if I will be riding my motorcycle, I prefer to wear tall boots simply because of the protection tall boots provide. But they also look good, too, when worn with jeans inside and your feet propped up on the bike's highway pegs.

• Comfort: the taller the boot, the more likely it is to feel hot on your legs, or perhaps even be so tall as to hit the back of your knees when you sit down, in which case, you will only wear them once in that type of situation and you may not wear them again at all.

• Appearance: okay, I admit it: I like how tall boots look on my legs. Again, this is purely a personal choice.

  

• Usage: since I wear boots to work with dress pants over them, it's perfectly alright with me to wear cowboy boots that are made to the usual standard 13" height. I can feel them on my legs, but they are roomy enough to breathe and not get hot on my legs or feet. Of course, I wear cowboy boots with jeans, too, while going about daily chores at home, or even for that occasional ride on a horse!

• Visual impression: some guys choose to wear boots that are very tall, or crotch-high. These boots certainly make a very strong visual impression. In my opinion, however, these types of boots are not practical. The wearer can not bend his knees easily while wearing them. The ability to bend the knee is important while operating a motorcycle for safety's sake. These boots also can get hot and therefore uncomfortable. So for me, anyway, I don't have any crotch-high boots as I have no use for them and the cost (in the range of US$1,000 and more) for a pair of boots to wear once in a blue moon such as to a HotBoots party (that I don't go to any more) isn't worth it.

5. What materials do I want the boots to be made of?

There are almost as many materials that boots are made out of as there were animals in Noah's Ark. The most common and ubiquitous is leather. Cowhide, calf, veal (well, not really). Materials from which boots are made may also include: alligator, buffalo, eel, elephant, kangaroo, lizard, ostrich, snake (cobra, python, rattlesnake). The list goes on.

Leather is the most common material from which both cowboy and motorcycle boots are made because it is durable, long-lasting, and calfskin and top grain cowhides can take an excellent shine. When choosing leather boots, make sure that the boots are made of "top grain" (or "full grain") leather. This term refers to the upper section of a hide that contains the epidermis or skin layer. It refers to hides that have not been sanded, buffed or snuffed (otherwise known as corrected) in order to remove imperfections on the surface of the hide. Only the hair has been removed from the epidermis. The grain remains in its natural state which will allow the best fiber strength, resulting in greater durability. The natural grain also has natural breathability, resulting in greater comfort.

Some cowboy boots are made from "Roughout" leather. "Roughout" is opposite the grain side of the skin. The grain side is smooth, and the flesh side is rough. Boots can be made with either side facing out as the finished side. Suede and roughout leather are not the same. Suede is a much thinner piece of leather that is usually made from the inner splits of a side of leather.

Beware of the switcheroo! It is common to find good-looking boots at an inexpensive price, and discover that the foot is made of leather (or snake) and the shaft is made of plastic! Unless the seller specifically states that the entire boot or the foot and shaft are made of leather, then you may find an artificial material on the shaft that is not durable and may crack. This is particularly true of the Dehner Boot Company. The shafts of their bottom-of-the-line stock patrol boots are made of artificial material called "Dehcord," which is plastic. More info is here.

Snake skins are the second most common material from which cowboy boots are made. Snakeskin boots usually have the skin only on the foot of the boot, while the shaft is made of leather. Since most guys wear pants or jeans over boots, all you can see is the foot anyway, so it doesn't matter that the snakeskin is on the shaft of the boot anyway. Most of the time, "snakes" will have the skin only on the foot and on inlays on boot pulls.

There are two different "cuts" of snake skin use for cowboy boots. "Belly cut" (image left) means that the skin is cut from the softer, smoother, underside of the snake. The pattern of the snake's scale coloring is often more pronounced and visible. "Back cut" (image right) means that the skin is cut from the back of the snake. The scales of the snake's skin are usually rougher on the back, and offer a striking appearance. In both cases (belly or back-cut), the skin is dyed, and a variety of colors are avaiable.

Because it is important to try to get one full snake skin on the foot of a boot, usually only large snakes are used: cobra, python, rattlesnake. Interestingly, a market never really developed for snakeskin boots made of boa constrictors, which are very large snakes, too. (It is possible to find boa-skin boots, but they are not as plentiful as python.) Snakes whose skin is used for boots are "farmed," much like cows are farmed for their meat and hides.

Another popular skin that is used for cowboy boots is lizard. There are a variety of lizard skins available, but the most common is Teju lizard. The scales of this lizard are large and easily manipulated from which to make boots. This skin can be dyed a variety of colors as well. Being "farmed," Teju lizard boots are less expensive that other less common lizard skins.

Ostrich skins became very popular on cowboy boots because the hides are durable and water-resistant, and the birds are easily "farmed." There are three types of ostrich skin available for boots: full quill (meaning that the bumps where the feather quill entered the skin of the bird is still present), smooth (where either the quill bump has been removed or is from a part of the bird's hide where quills are smaller and less pronounced), and "ostrich leg." Ostrich leg boots are made from -- you guessed it -- the leg of the bird. The skin has an unusual texture and appearance. It looks great on a pair of cowboy boots. (These birds are farmed as well for boots.)

Other types of skins on cowboy boots are available, such as kangaroo and alligator. Kangaroo leather is rather soft, and easily scratched and scuffed. Alligator skins are selected often because the scales of the hide are unusual and look interesting on a pair of boots. Hornback Caiman alligator skin is found more often on cowboy boots because these alligators produce large hides and the 'gators are easily farmed for this purpose. The bootmaker using Caiman alligator skins gets a very good return on his investment, because the costs to produced the skin are reasonable (compared with others) and the mark-up for boots of this skin is high.

6. How long will I wear the boots on a given day?

The longest I wear a pair of boots on a weekday is about ten hours, from the time I leave home for work in my office until the time I get home and change to something else. There are some days when, for example, I may be going on an all-day motorcycle ride, and will have the same pair of boots on for as long as 15 hours. There are other days when my activities change as rapidly as my boots do, and I may have a pair of boots on for a few hours at a time, and change six times. It really varies. I guess that's why I have so many pairs of boots!

7. Who made the boots (manufacturer?)

The manufacturer of the boot is very important. When you look for a quality piece of clothing, you often look at the label. Same is true for boots. Some manufacturers have a superb reputation for quality, while others do not seem to care.

There are some major custom cowboy bootmakers. A "bootmaker" is different from a "manufacturer" in that a bootmaker usually has a small production facility, small staff, and makes fewer pairs of boots than a commercial "production" manufacturer will make each year. An example of some quality bootmakers include Champion Attitude and Paul Bond.

Major commercial cowboy boot manufacturers include Ariat, Dan Post, Double H, Georgia, Justin, Lucchese, Nocona, Sendra, Tony Lama, and others. Cheaper importers of cowboy boots include Abilene, Cowtown, Dingo, Durango, Laredo, and Old Gringo. Generally, if the boot manufacturer's name is a name of a town in Texas, then the boot is made in China. While Cowtown boots are made in Mexico, they are made on poor lasts, and therefore get very uncomfortable and hard to wear, even after the break-in period. I don't recommend them.

For the most part these days, cowboy boots are assembled in Mexico for the U.S. market. Other boots once made in the U.S., such as Frye, are now made in China and have been found to be of inferior quality compared with those that once were made in the U.S. And it's not well known, but Chippewa, Justin, Nocona, and Tony Lama Boots are all made by one company, Justin Brands. This company is owned by Berkshire Hathaway, whose owner, Warren Buffet, has a reputation for sucking every penny out of his holdings. Does that affect the quality of the boots being made today? Well, some say it does and some say not. Personally, I haven't had any problems with current production boots with these labels.

Major commercial manufacturers of motorcycle boots are more limited. These include Chippewa, Dehner, Red Wing, Wesco, and others. These manufacturers make the majority of U.S.-made motorcycle boots. Boots with the Harley-Davidson brand are actually made in China for the U.S. market (some are good, some are not. The price is high, anyway, but that's for the H-D label, not the quality.) Since I do not wear boots made for motocross activities, I do not own any motocross boots and therefore have no comment about these types of boots.

There are many different manufacturers of boots -- many more than are listed here. Generally speaking, if a pair of boots cost less than US$100, they are not made of all leather and are made to inferior standards. The term, "you get what you pay for," definitely applies.

8. What features of boots do I like or dislike?

Leather on the boots must be of good quality, such as top grain cowhide. I also strongly prefer that boots stand up on their own. One thing I dislike very much are boots whose leather is so thin and soft that they fall over. These boots won't last long.

Stitching on a pair of boots must also be of good quality. Double-stitching of the sole and on the shaft seam is a must. Decorative stitching on the toe, foot, or shaft is an aesthetic feature and a purely personal choice.

The sole of a boot makes a difference if you require traction for certain activities such as motorcycling. Smooth leather soles work fine in an office environment, but not for wet conditions where the soles could cause the wearer to slip and fall.

In a cowboy boot, I prefer a pegged sole -- where small wooden pegs are driven through the outsole to the insole. Pegs add durability and generally speaking, are a sign of a high quality boot.

Personally, I find that heels of 2-1/2" (6cm) or less work better for me than higher heels. Why? Higher heels make it easier for someone like me who is naturally "klutzy" to trip and fall. Also, high heels are harder on the foot and more difficult to walk in. Hi-heeled boots may be a fashion statement to some, and others may be able to wear them without causing foot pain. I can't.

9. Does color make a difference?

No. If the color is anything other than "natural," the boot is dyed anyway. Subdued colors (black, brown, grey) may work better in an office environment where most other men wear dress shoes. Other than that, the color doesn't matter. However, there are some guys who feel self-conscious about wearing boots that are dyed in unusual colors for a man's boot, such as blue, red, or yellow. Ultimately, it is a personal choice, as well as how confident the man is in wearing boots of unusual colors. Some can pull it off quite well!

10. What about the price factor?

It is NOT true that the more you pay for a pair of boots, the better they are. For example, Dehner patrol boots look great, but it is quite possible to get an equally good-looking, well-made pair of bal-laced patrol boots from alternate manufacturers for half the cost. See my Guide to Motorcycle Police Patrol Boots here.

Custom boots cost much more, for obvious reasons. The boot is made to the measurements provided and sometimes from specific or higher-end leathers or skins. Custom boots can not be made in advance, so it takes time -- as much as three to four months or longer -- to receive a pair of boots made to custom specifications.

If you really have your heart set on a pair of boots made by a certain manufacturer, then you have to go with the going price. However, if you work through a major boot retailer, such as Stompers Boots or Big Black Boots, you can probably save US$50 - US$200 on a pair of boots made by a major manufacturer, rather than ordering from the manufacturer directly. And best yet, you may even receive the boots sooner when ordered through a retailer than from the manufacturer.

Cheap boots, like those made by Laredo, Old Gringo, and no-name brands, are just that: cheap! Usually the boot shaft is not made from leather. If you want a pair of boots to trash up (such as stomp in mud or something like that), then cheap boots are fine. Otherwise, don't bother. You won't be happy.

11. Where are the boots made?

Boots are made all over the world, and contrary to popular belief, the United States did not invent boots. Boots have been worn since before recorded time. Currently, though, boots made in the U.S. vary in quality. Most are good, but some have their problems. For example, Wescos (Scappoose, Oregon) are excellent, but limited production in the U.S. makes them expensive. Dehners are beautiful, but the low-end boots made with Dehcord don't wear well, crack, and break. What I'm saying is that just because a boot is made in the U.S. that there are not worthwhile alternatives to consider.

Sendra boots are made in Spain, quite excellently. Many cowboy boots are assembled in Mexico. Mexican-made cowboy boots have varying quality, but are generally okay. What you have to watch for, though, are boots that once enjoyed a premier reputation, like Frye, but are no longer made in the U.S. and the owner of the company is a holding company making money, not a real bootmaker who has boots made under that label in China.

I'm sure that there's a lot more than can be written about choosing boots. If you have something to suggest, if I got something wrong, if this was interesting or helpful, or if you have a comment (and have read this far down the page!), write to me!