You might think that cowboy boots are a privilege reserved for ranch hands and folks who can actually ride a horse. But with a little chutzpah, the best cowboy boots are just as adept on a saddle as they are on the subway. Before they blossomed into their fashionable forms, much of menswear’s most riffed on garments were rooted in function: cargo pants, work jackets, even suits.
With enough time, they were adopted by civilians and adapted to their second lives as symbols of self-expression and creativity, not just job uniforms. Cowboy boots are no different. In terms of styling, the classic move for western boots is to lean into their rougher side.
Toss them on with some well-fitting jeans (preferably vintage boot cuts) and with a snap shirt. And that's still a great approach. But if you open up your mind and step outside of the saloon, the possibilities are practically endless.
A slick pair of exotic leather cowboy boots matched with a ‘70s-inspired suit screams filthy rich oil tycoon if not Alessandro Michele-era Gucci. Or, why not mix up a preppy pair of chinos with a grungy graphic tee and some roughed-up suede ropers? The point is, you don’t have to pretend to be a cowboy to wear their boots.
So treat them like any other pair of shoes in your closet and wear them however you want. Hell, we’d go so far as to call them an essential pair of boots for every wardrobe. And if you’re having trouble, well, that’s why you’re here.
We’ve wrangled together the best cowboy boots west—and east—of the Mississippi, from the budget-friendly to the ostentatious and every vibe in-between. The good folks at Tecovas are living, breathing proof that direct-to-consumer brands aren’t all operated by algorithms tasked with solving imaginary problems. The DTC upstart might be the youngest of the bootmakers on this list, but it's quickly endeared itself to budget-strapped swashbucklers with a hankering for democratically-priced kicks.
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