Your Cowboy Boots Should Look Like You’ve Lived in Them
There’s something happening in fashion right now that cowgirls have known forever:
Perfect is getting boring.
The perfectly coordinated outfit.
The spotless shoes.
The carefully curated version of yourself that looks good but somehow doesn’t feel like you.
Fashion is shifting back toward something messier, more individual and more interesting.
Worn denim.
Distressed leather.
Vintage Americana.
Cowboy boots that actually look like they’ve been somewhere.
And maybe that says something bigger about where we are right now.
Stop Saving the Good Boots
I hear versions of this constantly.
“I don’t want to ruin them.”
“They’re too pretty.”
“I’m saving them for something.”
But what exactly are we saving them for?
Cowboy boots weren’t created to sit perfectly lined up in a closet.
They were made to move.
And maybe you were too.
Put them on for the airport.
Wear them to dinner.
Wear them traveling.
Wear them with the dress you think is too fancy.
Wear them with jeans and a dirty truck.
Wear them somewhere nobody else is wearing cowboy boots.
Because something interesting happens when you stop dressing for everyone else’s approval:
You start discovering your own taste.
The Scuff Might Be the Best Part
Think about your favorite pair of boots.
Chances are, they don’t look exactly like they did the day you bought them.
There’s a crease where your foot bends.
A scratch you can’t remember getting.
Maybe the heel is worn differently because of the way you walk.
That’s not damage.
That’s evidence.
You went somewhere.
You did something.
You lived.
And I think we need more of that mentality outside our closets too.
We spend so much time trying not to make the wrong decision, wear the wrong thing, say the wrong thing or be misunderstood that we can accidentally build lives that are perfectly polished and completely forgettable.
But confidence isn’t perfection.
Confidence is being willing to be seen before everything is perfect.
Maybe That’s Why Cowboy Boots Feel Different
Put on sneakers and you leave the house.
Put on cowboy boots and somehow you arrive.
There’s a sound to them.
A posture.
An attitude.
You don’t quietly disappear into a room wearing a great pair of boots.
And perhaps that’s why people who tell me, “I could never wear those,” are usually the people I most want to put into a pair.
Because I don’t think they’re talking about the boots.
They’re imagining the attention.
The visibility.
The possibility of someone looking at them.
And underneath all of that is one question:
Who am I allowed to become?
That’s where things get interesting.
Try This
The next time you’re deciding between the safe pair and the pair you can’t stop looking at, notice which one makes you slightly nervous.
The red ones.
The tall ones.
The pointed toes.
The ridiculous embroidery.
The pair that makes you think:
Those are so me… but I don’t know where I’d wear them.
There.
That’s probably your pair.
Don’t wait until you become confident enough to wear them.
Wear them and give yourself the opportunity to discover how confident you can become.
Welcome to The Boot Babes
We’re obviously obsessed with cowboy boots.
But we’re even more interested in the people wearing them.
The women traveling somewhere they’ve never been.
The woman walking into something alone.
The woman learning to ride.
Starting the business.
Changing her mind.
Starting over.
Wearing the red boots when everyone else chose beige.
Because your wardrobe can do something interesting when you let it.
It can remind you who you’re becoming.
So buy boots you’ll actually wear.
Get some dirt on them.
Dance in them.
Travel in them.
Make mistakes in them.
Fall in love in them.
Change your mind in them.
Let them become yours.
Because twenty years from now, I don’t think you’ll wish you’d kept your favorite boots cleaner.
You’ll wish you’d given them more stories.
And maybe the same thing is true about your life.
The Boot Babe Challenge
Put on the pair you’ve been “saving.”
Go somewhere in them this week.
Then tell us:
Where have your cowboy boots taken you?
Tag The Boot Babes so we can see the stories behind the boots.
Because around here, a little dirt isn’t something we’re trying to hide.
It’s proof you went somewhere.
Perfect is getting boring. This season, Western fashion is embracing distressed leather, lived-in denim and cowboy boots with a story. Maybe confidence isn’t about keeping your boots perfect. Maybe it’s about actually living in them.
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Why Your Cowboy Boots Should Look Lived In | The Boot Babes