The Price of the Perfect Cowboy Boot

If you're fortunate enough to possess the riches of a Donald Trump, the sky's the limit. Your cowboy boot will likely start at $1,200 or more, and ascend from there. Ascend mightily, if you're willing and eager to pay the price. The price of a unique, ornate, custom-made cowboy boot from a world-renowned boot maker can run into the stratosphere, costing tens of thousands of dollars. This isn't a cowboy boot that you'll want touching the ground very often. It'll be in the stirrup on a similarly-ornate saddle of a stallion in the Rose Parade, or on the foot of a sultan in a palace. It'll be for show, not for getting down and dirty in the corral.

If you're a soccer mom with a budget that's straining at the edges, you can get a perfect cowboy boot for your little buckaroos for upwards of $50. It will probably be created out of man-made materials or perhaps cow hide, and will probably be sturdy, if not exactly durable, because li'l ones grow like weeds and get dirty, muddy, wet and cruddy whenever possible if you turn them loose on their own to play cowboys and Indians!

Then there's the middle ground. A rugged, durable, utility cowboy boot made of cowhide and intended for "real" use (as originally conceived in the early days of yesteryear) starts at around sixty dollars. This cowboy boot is handsome, reliable and will carry you many a mile whether you're walking or riding. It will protect your legs and feet, keep your feet healthy, and do the job. It will even have a little embellishment: perhaps an ornate stitch pattern, a "branded" look, or another other out-of-the-ordinary adornment. If you want a cowboy boot that doesn't call too much attention to itself, this is probably where you'll start your search.

Above $100, materials, textures, skins, patterns and styles begin to fan out into a wider array of possibilities. If you have the budget and plan to take your cowboy boot out on the town, this is probably where you want to begin your search. You'll find cowhide, of course, but you'll also begin to find calfskin, eel skin, stingray and other kinds of native materials to choose from.

If your cowboy boot budget starts at $200 you're very much in luck. You can begin to find caiman, elephant, ostrich, python, and kangaroo at this price level.

If you budgeted between $500 and $1000 dollars, you're getting into prime cowboy boot-buying territory. It's here that a cowboy boot begins to look more exotic and less utilitarian. You can find crocodile boots, mid-range eel skin and stingray, and other great-looking boots.

Above $1,000, you're going for the gold. While a hand-crafted, utilitarian cowboy boot can start at under $100, when you get into the upper ranges, above $500, you’ll begin to find embellishments designed to capture the eye and corral the compliments.

Whatever your budget, you will probably find a cowboy boot that makes you proud and happy.