How Many??????

"I am often asked, “How many pairs of boots do I have?” To be honest, I don’t know. I have two categories, and a few subcategories.

I have boots that I had made for me. Some of these have been made by who I consider fine bootmakers. Some were made in small shops, some in an “assembly line” of makers. Some of these boots are made to my measurements, some are stock sized boots.

Some boots that I have were bought on Ebay. Some of these boots I can wear, if I chose. I have boots made by Willie Lusk, Ray Jones, Shorty Golden, Olsen Stelzer and Stewart Romero that I have worn at one time but not any more. Once you tear a boot-pull from a Willie Lusk boot, or gouge the vamp of a Stewart Romero boot, you can’t get a new pair.

I also have boots that I bought on Ebay that I could not wear even if I wanted to. But I bought them because I wanted a pair from that particular bootmaker. These boots include boots made by Henry Leopold, L. White, and Charlie Garrison.

I tell people that I have 200 +/- pairs, that is close. Most are in my boot room, a couple dozen in my closet. I probably have bought 400 pairs in 15 or so years.

I’ll make a tally someday soon.