Living: Pushin' Boots for Urban Cowpokes

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Kicking up a storm in Western footwear

The tall stranger ambles into the shop out of the blistering midday sun and doffs his stetson.

"I came for my boots," he growls.

"These the ones you ordered?" asks the shopkeeper, nervously handing a pair of boots across the counter.

Nodding, the stranger slips his weary feet into the leather, stands up and slaps his hip. "Perfect,"he says.

"Fine, that'll be $800 plus tax."

Bat Masterson sprucing up in Dodge City? Gosh, no, this is an urban cowboy on Manhattan's Upper East Side. But the scene could have taken place in almost any American city, east or west of the Pecos. High-stepping city slickers everywhere are discovering that cowboy boots go just as well with a pinstripe suit, a satin disco outfit or designer jeans as they do with a pair of saddle-worn chaps and Levi's. Al Martinez, co-owner of Manhattan's To Boot boutique, has even outfitted an 85-year-old grandmother. Says he: "Sales are phenomenal. This fall will be crazy. I just hope we have enough boots."

It will not be easy to handle the stampede. While old cowhands were satisfied with plain cowhide, today's well-heeled dudes are demanding exotic skins: boa constrictors, sea turtles, swordfish, sharks, ostriches, anteaters and elephants. Custom-made models fetch up to $2,500 a pair, although well-made cowhides go for about $100.

Helping spur this gold rush is Designer Ralph Lauren's hit line of Western wear. Loafers just do not go with a $400 leather-fringed suit. City folks are learning what cowpokes have known all along: boots not only look great but feel good as well. They are also a proud brand mark, explains Judi Buie, 33, owner of Manhattan's Texas at Serendipity 111 boot store, whose customers include Rock Stars Alice Cooper and Boz Scaggs and Actresses Diane Keaton and Mariel Hemingway. Adds Buie: "For Americans, cowboy boots say where we come from."

They also seem to say Texas, home of the country's best bootmakers. At 85, Enid Justin, owner of the Nocona Boot Co., remains the feisty matriarch of the Lone-Star State bootmaking community. Back in 1925, when she founded her business, she cut and stitched the boots herself and peddled them all over Texas from her Model A Ford. Today her workers produce 1,500 pairs a day, though it still takes some 200 separate steps to make a single boot. Another oldtimer is T.C. ("Buck") Steiner, 79, a former rodeo star and owner of the Austin-based Capitol Saddlery. His boots take from five to nine weeks to complete, and prices range from $250 for cowhide to $1,000 for a pair of alligators. But the unquestioned doyen of the Texas bootmakers is Sam Lucchese (pronounced Lew Casey), who is, says Steiner, "in a class by himself, the best in the business."