Well……. Short answer, It was Jack Reed. The expanded version is a more complex. While working in a Shoe repair shop in 1985. One of my first jobs was to do patch work while doing so I became interested in how boots were made and the different materials used. What was fascinating to me was how did the boot begin and what were the steps that would turn leather into a finished boot that you could wear. Unlike today in the 1980’s there was no internet to research and find a boot making seminar to attend. Even if there had been I wouldn’t have had the money required to attend. Ha!
What inspired you to become an apprentice bootmaker?
I’ve always had a love for art. As a kid, it was drawing. In high school and college, I fell for black and white 35mm photography. And as a 20-ish young woman living in Brooklyn, I really got into sculpting with metal. Melting metal is like witnessing the dawn of the earth, when everything was molten lava swirling about. Beyond thrilling. And yet, the pressure to mold the metal into some form that is new, inspired, original, devine…made me feel lost at sea.
Bootmaking, however, is the one artform that fully aligns my personality with my purpose. Continue reading →
After learning to masterfully repair boots and working as a cobbler for many years, I was seeing the quality of high-end factory made boots rapidly deteriorate. Because I wear boots I decided that if I want to keep wearing high quality boots, I would have to learn to make them myself. Now (25-years later) I have a 2-year backlog and I don’t have time to make myself a desperately needed new pair of boots.Continue reading →
What inspired you to become an apprentice bootmaker?
When I first moved to Austin, I wanted to find a working apprentice job where I was learning a trade. I quit my job in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and moved down here having no idea what that would look like, or if it was even an option. I found Texas Traditions by answering a really vague ad they posted and went through about a month of working interviews before I got hired part time in a trial 30 day period. My inspiration came during those first two months. I’m hooked. Continue reading →
I started leather craft in 1970 at the age of ten. I began an apprenticeship in boot repairing at the age of fourteen. I apprenticed in the repair business for five years with a third generation boot maker, Dave Hutchings. I purchased the business from him after my five years of apprenticeship and worked in the repair business the next thirty five years just repairing boots. My first inspiration came from my wife saying I should go back to Dave and have him teach me since he never did while I worked for him. Continue reading →
Custom made, vintage and popular cowboy boot brands. Advice from author & expert, Jennifer June (& others) about buying cowboy boots online.
