For Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, his cowboy boots are a capitol investment…bringing a bit of glamour back to California politics.

When I was in El Paso, I visited the bootmakers at Tres Outlaws. There I saw a pair of Gov. Schwarzenegger’s boot tops lying on the cutting table. You can see the chalk dust still leftover from the pattern marks. (See above.) The name plaques on this pair, near the scallop, are made of solid gold.

Arnold Schwarzenegger is California’s 38th governor. On both pairs pictured here the Governor’s seal is recreated in carved and painted leather. The tooled foot (vamp & counter), along with the lacing of the boot tops are good design choices —they provide textural balance without drawing too much attention from the official seal. Lacing and tooling require additional skill and labor, which adds to the prestige of the boots…not to mention those sterling toe and heel caps.

Photo courtesy of Tres Outlaws. Visit falconhead.com for more photos.