Nashville Booted, 301 forrest valley Drive, Nashville, TN (2026)

04/23/2026

Tony Lama. El Paso, Texas. 1911.

Three pairs from the Nashville Booted collection. All 1950s Tony Lama. All handmade on Overland Street.

Fifty people touched every pair of Tony Lama boots before they left the factory. Twenty of them were inspectors. That’s how the old man ran it, and that’s how his sons ran it after him.

Tony Lama started as a cobbler for the U.S. Army at Fort Bliss. Sixteen years old. When he got out, he stayed in El Paso, opened a shoe repair shop, and started building boots for the cattlemen and soldiers who came through town. By the 1930s the shop was turning out forty pairs a day. By the 1950s, Tony Lama was the name in cowboy boots.

The inlay work from that era — the butterflies, the eagles, the tulips — is as good as it ever got.

In 1948, Bert Lama handed President Truman a pair of custom kangaroo skin Tony Lamas. Every president got a pair after that. Bert was the first man to put ostrich leather on a cowboy boot. His brothers Tony Jr. and Louis kept the factory running after the old man passed in ’74. Three generations of Lamas built that company before it sold to Justin Industries in 1990. The factory never left El Paso.

The “El Rey” — King of Boots — was their $5,000 showpiece. And the rodeo champions did the selling. Rex Allen. Bill Linderman. Harley May. All Tony Lama men.

Every cut, every stitch, done by hand in El Paso.

04/18/2026

There is a quiet history scattered across America, tucked into dusty attics and long-neglected closets

These are not only boots; they are artifacts of Americana. They hold the stories of the craftsmen who stitched them and the people who wore them—the miles walked, the dances danced, the lives lived. For decades, this vintage gold has been sitting in the dark, patiently waiting for its second act.

At Nashville Booted, we believe these pieces deserve more than to be forgotten. We are on a mission to uncover them, dust them off, and bring them back into the light. It is a revival of sorts—a dedication to saving the artistry of the past and giving it the public mantle it so richly deserves.

Every stitch is a testament to enduring quality. When you wear a pair of these boots, you aren’t just making a statement; you are carrying tradition forward.

04/15/2026

These are what collectors call “border boots.” And they represent the absolute golden age of American cowboy bootmaking.

After World War II, the boot industry exploded. As mass production took over, bespoke bootmakers along the Texas-Mexico border — in towns like El Paso, Juarez, and Mercedes — pushed back by elevating their craft to an art form. Materials were plentiful, and the result was an era of heavy, intricate, layer-upon-layer leather inlay work that has never been matched since.

The border region was the natural epicenter for this. The cowboy boot traces its roots to the Spanish vaqueros who brought horsemanship to the Americas. The high riding heel, the pointed toe, the tall protective shaft — all born from vaquero tradition. When Mexican craftsmen brought these skills across the Rio Grande, they merged with the booming American ranching and Hollywood Western industries to create a distinct style.

You can see the border boot DNA all over these: the high-contrast black and white leather, the intricate overlay and inlay work across the shafts, the braided collars, and the butterfly motifs on the toes and heel counters. And of course, the signature raised sunburst design.

These were made by master zapateros whose families had been working leather for generations — craftsmen like Abraham Rios, whose family had been making boots along the border since 1853. Many border boots were unmarked or stamped only with small shop names, as craftsmen moved between the bespoke shops of the Rio Grande Valley. These particular pairs aren’t Rios — they’re unsigned, likely from one of the many smaller shops that sprang up across the Valley as the border boot style grew in popularity. But that’s part of the story. The style became so influential that it spread far beyond the master shops, and boots like these are proof of just how deep the border boot tradition ran.

Swipe through to see the detail on both pairs, including the butterfly motifs on the heel counters.

04/12/2026

After further digging, these are 1940s Charlie Garrison boots, made for Nudie Cohn.

If those names don’t ring a bell: Charlie Garrison was the bootmaker to the stars during Hollywood’s golden Western era. He learned his craft in Oklahoma, opened the Texas Boot Shop in San Angelo around 1930, then moved to Los Angeles where he made boots for Roy Rogers, Rex Allen, Clark Gable, and Chill Wills. He designed Roy Rogers’ famous Double-Eagle boots. He was the best there was.

Nudie Cohn was the original Rhinestone Cowboy — the man who built Nudie’s Rodeo Tailors in North Hollywood and dressed everyone from Elvis Presley to Hank Williams to John Wayne. His shop carried “everything for the horse and rider,” and when it came to boots, he turned to Charlie Garrison.

Look at the craftsmanship on these in the first three slides. The flowing white and silver inlays on black leather. The gold sunburst toe caps. The yellow braided lacing running down the back. The “CJL” monogram. Eighty-plus years old and still stunning.

Swipe to slide four to see Nudie and Hank Snow together. Slide five shows Charlie Garrison in his shop with Rex Allen. Slide six is Nudie in one of his famous custom suits with his iconic Pontiac.

Garrison returned to Texas in the early 1950s and made boots in Llano until he died in 1955. What we’re holding here is a piece of that Hollywood-meets-Texas bootmaking history at its peak.

Big thanks to Evan Voyles () for reaching out and solidifying the origins of these beauties.

04/10/2026

Safe to say we all long to live our fullest, most epic life—to wring every last drop from the time we’re given and chase our dreams with all that we are, whatever shape those dreams may take. For myself, that’s definitely an underlying current that ,through various life metamorphoses, has always persisted. And that’s what I credit my passion for boots like these, as I can’t think of anything more iconic. These are some of the coolest creations people have ever produced and I know I’m not alone in that sentiment. For myself, and many of you out there, it doesn’t get more epic than this.

04/05/2026

Before Hollywood cowboys, before mass production, and before the modern Western era, there was Charles H. Hyer. In 1875, a lone cowboy walked into Hyer’s cobbler shop in Olathe, Kansas, asking for a boot built for the saddle. Hyer added a pointed toe, a raised heel, and a scalloped top—and the American cowboy boot was born.

We are incredibly proud to share these four spectacular pairs of surviving 1950s Hyer boots. Swipe through to see these mid-century masterpieces, and journey back through the archives of the company that started it all.

The four pairs featured here represent the pinnacle of Hyer’s artistry. Notice the intricate butterfly and bird inlays, the vibrant contrasting leathers, and the multi-row stitching. In slide four, you can see an original catalog page featuring the exact custom styling options that made Hyer famous.

By the early 20th century, Hyer was the largest handmade boot manufacturer in America. As you swipe through the history, you’ll see Roy Rogers proudly wearing his Hyers, the massive Hyer factory where craftsmen built these boots by hand, the early 1880s storefront where the legend began, and A.E. Hyer showing off the incredible variety of styles they offered.

These aren’t just boots. They are wearable pieces of American history.

03/30/2026

If you love vintage western wear, you’ve probably owned—or coveted—a pair of Acme boots.

What surprises a lot of people is that vintage Acmes weren’t born in Texas. They were born in Middle Tennessee.

For decades, the “World’s Largest Maker of Cowboy Boots” was based just 45 miles northwest of Nashville in Clarksville. While Music City dressed the country music scene, Clarksville helped outfit the American West.

The story began in 1929, when a father-and-son shoe company moved from Chicago to Clarksville during the Great Depression and set up shop in an old hosiery mill on Crossland Avenue (Slide 4).

In 1934, after a trip to Dallas and a close study of a traditional pair of western boots, the founder saw an opportunity: make cowboy boots more affordable for everyday Americans.

By 1935, the company had rebranded as the Acme Boot Company.

From the 1940s through the mid-1980s, Acme became one of the biggest names in cowboy boots—selling through Sears, making boots for Hollywood, and employing hundreds of Middle Tennessee locals (Slide 6).

And while the original operation is gone, the legacy still stands. The iconic Acme sign still rises above “Boot Hill” on Providence Boulevard (Slide 2).

The next time you find a pair of vintage Acmes, check the label. You’re holding a piece of Tennessee history.

03/22/2026

Some of the best designs ever made are not new designs at all. They were already here decades ago.

That’s part of what Nashville Booted is here to celebrate. Long before the modern market started rediscovering bold color, graphic inlays, and statement-making western design, bootmakers were already doing it at an incredibly high level. These bluebird boots are a perfect example. Originally created by Olsen-Stelzer for Gene Autry, this design still has the same effect now that it did then: you see it and immediately think, wow.

The bluebirds. The flowers. The arrows. The heart motifs. The color. It all still lands.

That is what timeless design is.

And it’s why so many of the strongest brands continue to draw from vintage American design language. The past keeps getting revisited not because people are out of ideas, but because some designs were so good from the beginning that they still resonate now.

At Nashville Booted, that’s the story we care about telling. Vintage cowboy boots are not just relics. They are a design archive. A visual history of American taste, craftsmanship, and imagination. And many of the styles people still respond to most strongly today were already here decades ago.

The best designs do not disappear. They are timeless.

03/08/2026

Who was Bob?

A rancher, maybe.
A musician who wore them under stage lights.
A guy who just appreciated a sharp pair of custom boots.

We’ll probably never know.

That’s part of the quiet magic of old boots. Every pair passed down through time carries pieces of someone else’s life inside them — places they traveled, nights they danced, miles they walked. Sometimes the clues are subtle. Sometimes they’re stitched right into the leather.

Like the first pair pictured here — a custom pair made for someone named Bob, his name proudly sewn into the design by the bootmaker who made them. We may never know the full story. But one thing’s for sure — we can definitively say that Bob was a cool guy.

02/26/2026

John Wayne wore Blucher. So did Tom Mix.
But this story starts long before Hollywood.

Founded in 1915 in Cheyenne, Wyoming, the Blucher Boot Company is one of those rare American makers that survived more than a century on craftsmanship alone. Built by hand when the West was still raw, the company moved to Olathe, Kansas in 1918 and, over the decades, passed through different towns and different owners — yet never abandoned its way of working.

No computers.
No shortcuts.
Just leather, skill, and time.

After Mr. Blucher’s passing in 1932, the business continued through multiple eras — relocating to Fairfax, Oklahoma in 1967, then to Melgi in 1997, and again under new ownership in 2001. Different hands at the helm, same commitment to hand-built boots. And Blucher still lives on to this day in Beggs, Oklahoma.

Their old slogan said it best:
“We build boots for the famous, the infamous, and people just like you and me.”

And that’s the beauty of it. The same boot worn by legends was built with the same care for ranchers, musicians, and everyday Americans who simply appreciate things made the right way.

More than a boot company.
A living thread in American craft tradition.y

02/17/2026

Sometimes, in the course of history, certain places produce more than their share of magic.

It happened in Muscle Shoals, where a small studio in Alabama gave rise to some of the most enduring music ever recorded. It happened in Fullerton, California, where Leo Fender quietly built instruments in a modest workshop that would go on to define the sound of modern music.

These weren’t accidents. They were the result of the right people, in the right place, at the right time. It’s as if certain places become vessels for something greater—where skill, vision, and timing converge to create objects that carry a life of their own.

That same rare alignment existed in Los Angeles in the mid-20th century, where Adolfo Romero and Ronnie Stewart built boots that transcended their function. Stewart Romeros were never simply footwear—they were statements. Worn by musicians, performers, and individuals drawn to things with presence, they embodied a level of artistry that has never been replicated.

After weeks of searching, I was fortunate enough to uncover these Romeros and bring them to Nashville. They possess something you can’t manufacture—a presence, a spirit. They are a direct link to another era, and even now, nearly 80 years later, they evoke the same sense of wonder they must have when they first left the hands that made them.

Massive thanks to for these incredible photos. I’ve very much enjoyed our work together.

12/24/2025

When you wander through the quieter corners of your mind, can you recall a moment in life that felt truly magical? For some, that feeling lives in the present. For others, it’s tied to a vivid time and place from years past. For me, I’ve been on a journey to reclaim that sense of wonder—and Nashville Booted is one expression of it.

This remarkable lineup comes from Loveland, Colorado, acquired from an old-timer and lifelong collector named Dennis. The magic held in objects from the past is often immediately visible, even to the untrained eye. Those drawn to vintage pieces like these become caretakers of something larger—temporary stewards of stories, craftsmanship, and spirit. Magic from another era, lingering in the present, and perhaps bringing even more meaning to the here and now.

In the weeks ahead, Nashville Booted will be sharing some truly exciting announcements. We’re bringing the same artistry, and sense of magic that defines the boots we’ve so carefully curated into a new range of handmade creations. These pieces are being crafted by extraordinarily talented individuals—people I have close personal ties to—whose work embodies the same spirit of dedication and love. Together, they bring this vision fully to life. Stay tuned for what’s to come; endless magic is, above all else, what I hope to share with all of you. Happy holidays everyone.

Nashville Booted

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12/24/2025

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