Tag Archives: Custom Boots

Cowboy Boot Glossary: Variegated Thread

When I was working on my book, I struggled a bit defining the word “variegated” as in variegated thread. I wrote…

Variegated Thread: Thread that has been dyed with patches of multiple colors or with different shades of a single color.

I wrote this as if the reader would picture the thread on the spool or running through a sewing machine, just like I do.

Recently, I happened upon a fashion blog, called “The Coveted.” In her post, stylish Jennine writes about a pair of pink cowboy boots with “rainbow” stitching.

Rainbow! Rainbow really is the perfect word, because these boots are colorful… they have a kinda light-hearted airy quality.

Variegated thread around a butterfly inlay gives the design a kind of flutter …stitched row upon row gives the thread gives the look of broad brush strokes. At a distance, some stitch patterns look a little like watercolors.

Try this…flip through my book and look only at the thread colors used on each boot. Isn’t it interesting? I’ve used the comment section below to note the pages where I found variegated rainbow thread. Did I miss any pairs?

(EXTRA: How does a bootmaker line up the colors? …it’s a trade secret.)

Photos by Marty Snortum. This boot made by Paul Bond is one of the many many swell boots left on the “cutting room floor” while making my book.

WANTED: Dead or Alive


UPDATE!
A Denton County man is in now in jail having been charged with felony theft of these prize boots. (Read more from The Dallas Morning News.)

UPDATE!
Mr. Chappell’s boots have been recovered and are headed back to the shop! …Thanks to evidence uncovered in jail interviews and multiple house searches. Read more at The Dallas Morning News and khou.com.

These beautiful hand carved cowboy boots were made by Mr. Carl Chappell. They are pictured in my book on page 274 …and were stolen from Trail Town Custom Leather Shop in Saint Jo, Texas, on 30 July, 2007 at approximately 10:00am.

Thanks to the Dallas Morning News for the details provided in this story. Be sure to listen to the audio file.

Anyone with information should contact John Glaze at Trail Town Custom
Leather
, 940-995-2600 or the Saint Jo Police Department at 940-995-2337.

(Click here for a larger view of the shop’s REWARD poster.)

Rough Cut

Yeehaw! “Bodacious Boots” is almost done. Come sneak a peek at the first-cut of “Bodacious Boots” on opening night at the 20th Annual Dallas Video Festival.

This high-spirited ode to the cowboy boot is directed by Tim Wylie and produced by Laura Neitzel.

Through interviews with boot makers, collectors, and aficionados like Lyle Lovett, Kelly Le Brock, Dr. Laura, Chef Dean Fearing, Kinky Friedman (and yours truly) …Bodacious Boots takes a broad look at the art, history, and culture of the Western cowboy boot, and explores the qualities that elevate this humble piece of functional footwear into an object d’art and quintessentially American icon.

What:
“Bodacious Boots” screening
at the 20th Annual Dallas Video Festival
(Ticket info at videofest.org.)

When:
Tuesday, July 31 7:30 pm

Where:
Angelika Film Center
5321 E. Mockingbird Lane (Dallas, TX)

You are also invited to the official opening night party of the Dallas Video Festival, featuring the spaghetti-western surfer-twang of The Big Guns (also featured in Bodacious Boots.)

When:
9 pm to midnight

Where:
AllGood Café
2934 Main Street (east end of Deep Ellum) Dallas

…Kindly rsvp to lneitzel@amspg.com.

Think About Cowboy Boots


Think 117. Watch the entire program or fast forward 18:03 minutes into the segment for an interview with Laura Neitzel and a clip from the upcoming film, Bodacious Boots.

In this short clip…you’ll catch a glimpse of bootmakers Dave Wheeler, Lee Miller, and the hard working folks at Rocketbuster. The film also includes interviews with talented boot collectors Lyle Lovett and John Tongate.

The 20th Annual Dallas Video Festival begins Tuesday July 31st and runs through August 5th. Laura Neitzel’s film “Bodacious Boots” opens the festival on July 31st at the Angelika Film Center in Dallas at 7:35pm. More information about purchasing tickets, theaters, and films being shown during the festival is available at www.videofest.org.