I had a short work week this week, with Monday being a Federal Holiday. Continuing on my endeavor to wear each pair of boots in my cowboy boot collection and my motorcycle boot collection without repeating any, these are the boots I wore to my office this week — all ostrich!
Continue reading
Category Archives: Boots at Work
Boot Collection At Work
Now becoming a weekly series, here are the boots that I wore to work this week, which continue to follow my self-promise to wear each pair of boots in my collection without repeating any of them, for the duration of the line of boots that both fit me and fit my work environment. (For example, I can’t wear muddy engineer boots to work in an office.)
I wear cowboy boots when I drive my four-wheeled vehicle in cold but dry weather, and motorcycle boots with soles that provide better traction on slick pavement when I drive my truck in wet and cold weather — and of course when I ride my Harley which hasn’t been much lately as the weather has been uncooperative.
So here are the boots I wore to work this past week:
Continue reading
Putting the Boot Collection To Work
As most visitors to this blog and my website know, I own a lot of cowboy boots and motorcycle boots. As of today, I own 200 pairs of boots. Yep, that is quite a few. I made a pledge to myself to wear a different pair of boots each day so that I wear every pair of boots I own (and that still fit me). If it works out right, I will wear a different pair of boots each day for over six months.
For the last two weeks, here are photos of each pair of boots that I wore to work. Note, I change boots when I get home from work, and wear different boots on weekends, so what you see below are only the boots that I wore Monday through Friday in my office. (These are photos from my photo collection. I did not have time to take actual photos of each pair of boots every day):
Continue reading
Boots At Work
I have been enjoying opportunities to break out and wear some of my newer cowboy boots to work in my new-old-new-but-old office. (It is hard to explain, but let’s say that over the past 25 years, I have worked in the same building for different employers but in about the same space. The old place and colleagues have not changed, but my boots have!)
First day back, I wore…
Continue reading
What Does Wearing Boots Say About a Man?
Someone in Texas, the state in the U.S. known for cowboys and cowboy boots, asked this question via a search engine:
“Men who wear boots says what about the man?”
Boots say a lot about a man. From this boot-wearing guy, my opinions about what boots say about a man are:
Continue reading
Is It Okay to Wear Cowboy Boots to Work?
You think I make this stuff up, but here’s proof that even in the cowboy boot-wearing capital of the United States, there remains people who obsess about whether or not they can wear cowboy boots. In Texas of all places! Sheesh!
Answer: yes, of course you can. Any reservations are all in your head. If people say something about your wearing boots, just say, “thanks … I’m glad you like them.” That’s it. Simple.
I live on the U.S. East Coast. This location is not known as a place where men regularly wear cowboy boots. However, I have worn cowboy boots (and motorcycle boots) to work in a professional office setting for 30 years.
Has anyone said anything?
Continue reading
Must the Color of Your Boots Match the Color of Your Pants and Belt?
Men are sometimes concerned with fashion considerations, such as the color of boots to wear with certain colors of clothing, particularly for office wear.
In my opinion, such color-matching considerations do not matter when a guy is wearing denim jeans since boots and jeans go well together in any combination. However, the color-matching concerns could be an issue, albeit more of a personal one, with dress clothes.
Continue reading
Dehner Boots Go To Work on the Harley
When I woke yesterday morning at 4am, I felt chilled. I reached for the remote control to adjust the thermostat for more heat while snuggling closer to my partner for one last warm embrace. Dayum! It felt like winter. I’m not ready for it. Not ready at all.
There was a prediction the night before for some rain. I thought, then, that with wet roads and cold temperatures, that riding my Harley to work would not be an option.
We threw off the covers and went about our morning routine. As I dressed, I pulled on a pair of cowboy boots to wear with my dress clothes to work.
I stepped outside to retrieve the morning newspaper, and thought, “hmmm, it doesn’t feel that cold. It didn’t rain after all!” I went back inside and checked the thermometer. It was 43°F (6°C) — above my riding threshold. Change of plans for the vehicle to use to drive to work — the Harley! “Switch to motorcycle boots” was my immediate thought.
I went back to my bedroom, pulled the cowboy boots off, and as I was putting them away, I saw my tall, Vibram lug-soled Bal-Laced Dehner boots in the closet and said to myself, “sure, they will be perfect!” I pulled my socks up over the ends of my pants, then pulled the Dehners on over my pants. Comfortable! Great traction! Terrific feel!
I went downstairs to the kitchen. I handed my partner the lunch that I made for him, wished him a great day, and kissed him goodbye as he ran out the door to get to the Metro for his job in the city.
I got my lunch and other stuff that I needed to bring with me to work and went into the garage to get the bike ready to ride. I pulled out my truck and rolled the Harley out. After my usual T-clocs safety check, I donned my thick leather chaps, warm biker jacket, put on my full-face helmet, warm gloves, and off I went.
Okay, some of you may be wondering, “did he really wear his pants tucked into his Dehner boots around the office?” While I did tuck my pants into my boots before taking off on my ride, I did that in order to keep the pants clean. Somehow, road crap tends fly around and make my pants dirty, even if covered with chaps. However, when I parked the Harley and took off my chaps, I pulled my pants out of my boots and pulled the ends of my pants down over the boots. That way, my boots look much like laced dress shoes, and unless I sit across from someone and cross my legs, no one is the wiser.
It is possible, therefore, to wear Dehner boots at a typical business office with dress clothes and not have the boots be noticed (as an ostentatious display.)
Sorry for no photo — I tried taking one with my cell phone, but I could not download it directly into my computer due to some technical problem which I do not have the time to figure out, and I am not about to pay the carrier’s exorbitant fees to send photos to myself. (I will not pay for a data plan or a per-usage fee.)
Life is short: wear tall boots to work!
Cowboy Boots for Work
While I really do prefer to stomp in the mud sometimes or wear leather regularly, I admit, muddy boots or full leather won’t quite work in the office (giggle). Fortunately, I won’t have to dress like this, either. A relaxed dress code doesn’t require coat & tie for daily office wear where I’m going.
However, dress slacks and shirts with a collar are required. Fine, I can live with that as long as I don’t have to wear a noose very often, or a restrictive, hot jacket. Face it, as I have said often on this blog, I’m a jeans-n-boots-n-leather kinda guy.
Anyway, as a present to myself, I looked for a pair of new dress cowboy boots to wear to work when I start. I have always liked Lucchese Classics, but their prices were beyond what I wanted to pay. I mean, $700 for a pair of cowboy boots that look identical to a pair that cost 1/3 as much?
I know there is a quality difference, but I just didn’t want to pay that much for boots. However… as I surfed around, I found a pair of Lucchese Classic cowboy boots in dark grey that were on a close-out. I picked ’em up for a really great price. I ordered them on a Wednesday and they were delivered on Friday, with no charge for shipping.
The only thing was that these boots were one-half size larger than I usually wear. That’s fine — I bought a pair of Dr. Scholl’s gel insoles and put them in the boots. The insoles take up the extra room and make the boots very comfortable for all-day wear.
So… I’m well-booted for work… can’t wait to start….
Life is short: wear boots to work!
Cowboy Boots at the Office
I am still asked from time to time by curious and perhaps self-conscious men questions like, “do you wear cowboy boots to the office?” or “how do you get by wearing cowboy boots at the office?” or “you’re a manager of other people. Don’t you think wearing cowboy boots to work sets a bad example?”
This blog post came to light when I found a discussion on the professional social network “LinkedIn” titled, “Do you wear cowboy boots to the office”. The responses on that discussion were about as I expected: a few respondents said, “yes, I do,” but most said that they did not, or do not recommend doing so, with a few having very strong opinions about it.
Continue reading