A couple of years ago, Steve Pinker visited Austin, and I urged him to try to get Lee Miller—in my view the best custom bootmaker in America—to make him a pair of cowboy boots. Miller isn’t taking new customers because he has a backlog of several years, but he did take Pinker, perhaps because of his (metaphorical) stature. A few years before that, when the list was still closed, I got taken because I visited the shop just to meet the Master, and then sent Lee a copy of WEIT as a thank -you. Lee’s wife Carrlyn (who helps customers design the boots and runs the business side of the shop) told me that Lee would be glad to make boots for anybody who could write a book like that. I went back to Austin to get my feet measured (Matt Dillahunty was with me at the time) and waited about four years before I got the boots, which I show right below.

Mine are fancy, but made with a tough and not-too-expensive hide: Kangaroo. My name is stitched on them in “mirror writing” and there’s a pinched yellow rose—both specialities of Lee’s mentor Charlie Dunn. Lee and Carrlyn documented the making of my boots, an enormously laborious process requiring great skill, and I posted the process in a series of eleven reports called “My last pair of boots.” (I haven’t bought any since!).

Now as I’ve mentioned before, Steve is also a cowboy-boot aficionado, and always wears them to lecture or to teach. (He favors darker colors and simpler designs.) At times I’ve served as his informal boot consultant and helped him pick out some on eBay. But he wanted custom boots, and if you want the best, Lee Miller is the guy to see.

Yesterday Steve’s boots finally arrived, and I made him promise that I could post a picture of them. He actually sent two photos. The first shows the boots, which have black American alligator belly vamps and water buffalo tops. I asked him to explain the stitching, and he said this:

The stitching is red, green, and blue, which Carrlyn herself complimented. I like of the look of those three colors, especially against black; as you know, I prefer jewel colors to earth tones. Also, in color space those are the additive primaries, which harmonizes with my longstanding interest in human vision and with my major pastime, photography.

Without further ado:

On the feet. (He says they fit perfectly, as they should. Only a true boot lover knows the pleasure of slipping your metatarsals into a pair of boots made to measure.)

Note: do not carp about the use of animal skins, as both kangaroo and gator are farmed for meat and skins. Carping will lead to banning.

I had to get dressed up a bit because of the Alda/Wilson thing, and so donned a nice cashmere sweater, khaki jeans, and these boots, an inexpensive pair by Dan Post, bought on eBay. Can you recognize the hide?

I rarely travel with cowboy boots as they’re a pain to take off at security and too large to fit into a small carry-on bag. So I wear them when I can, which is today. Here’s a pair of back cut American alligator boots (with calf shafts) by Lucchese. Note the alligator inlay on the shafts. These were also acquired on eBay.

To the right of the boot on the left (my right foot) you can see a copy of Eleven Days in August, Matthew Cobb’s fine book on the liberation of Paris in 1944.

It’s finally boot weather, so I broke out one of my fanciest pairs: hand-tooled cowhide made by Falconhead of El Paso. Had I not found these on eBay, I couldn’t have afforded them: (I probably posted these before):

And the faux Honey and her boyfriend disappeared from the pond during our big thunderstorm. Before they left I got a decent photo, and could see her beak markings. They don’t seem to me to resemble the ones of the real Honey (at bottom). Or do they? See the enlargements at bottom. Readers, please help me out!

Real Honey:

COMPARISON:

New duck (greatly enlarged from above):

Honey. (The more I look at these, the more the bill stippling looks the same. But maybe it’s confirmation bias.)

Vote (once) in this poll:

When it’s wet and slushy outside, as it promises to be today, I don’t wear fancy or expensive cowboy boots, for water (and, in winter, salt) is death on boots. But I have some well-made and sturdy boots that are my standbys for bad weather. Here’s a nice pair: Lucchese calf boots from the “San Antonio” days (, when these off-the-shelf boots were of a quality similar to custom boots.

Because they’re calf, they’re prone to cracking; this can’t be avoided even with good boot care. (This is why my new custom pair of boots is kangaroo, which doesn’t crack.) You can see the surface cracks in the picture below. But I love the color, and these things, even if worn in dire conditions, are sturdy enough to outlive me. 

The sign of a good handmade boot: wooden pegs used to hold the sole onto the boot. The pegs (traditionally lemonwood) are hammered in my by hand, and wooden pegs are better than the metal ones used in cheaper boots as wood swells when it’s wet, giving extra binding force hold on the sole. Lucchese “San Antonios” were all like this, but haven’t been made for years. Now the comparable boots are the top-of-the-line Lucchese “Classics,” which are quite pricey.

People keep sending me photos of cowboy boots that have been cut down into sandals with long tops, or “golf boots” with cleats on the bottom. No more! The only good cowboy boot is an old-style cowboy boot. Is there any reader who would wear these, which I saw on eBay?

My custom boots (real boots) will probably come tomorrow. Stay tuned.

Time to prepare the boots for inseaming and the laying of the shanks. You can see Lee is whip stitching in the shank area.

Around the heel as well.

Almost all the way around.

Lee inseaming.

And, here he has finished one.

He trims the welt with a lip knife.

Next come the outsoles.

He has marked the leather for the sole and is trimming the excess leather.

Checking to be sure he has the correct length.

Cutting the piece in half.

Now to make the shanks. Lee takes a “timber nail” and heats up both ends. [JAC: Note that in a real custom boot the shank isn’t a pre-ordered strip of metal, but is constructed from hammering flat a large nail.]

Once the nail is heated, he pounds both ends on an anvil.

And puts the nail in cold water to temper it.

In the meantime, the boots and different components are outside drying in the sun.

Now, he lays the shank in.

He hammers the nail in place.

And, takes leather pieces and puts one on each side of the shank.

Trims the leather pieces.

Hammers the leather pieces.

Puts the shank cover on.

 Hammers the shank cover down.

 Sands the piece to shape it.

 And, checks to see that it’s level. Tomorrow, the outsoles.