I have a pair of basic black Tony Lamas that I have owned for nearly 20 years. I’ve had them re-soled twice (I danced clean through them!) and I still wear them when I need a boost of confidence. I may wear them tomorrow! I agree with the fit advice, a little loose in the heel and a little tight across the instep. They have a 1.5" heel that is perfect and I have never had to wear insoles with them. One of the best shoe buys I’ve ever made.
Those look more like Beatle boots :dubious:
In Australia we wear RM Williams boots, not as cowboy as y’all but pretty damn comfortable. I wear a black pair with my suit to work.
I would love a pair of Chippewa Roper boots in brown leather but they cost a fortune down here.
Those RM Williams boots are niiiice!
I actually have a pair in a very similar style, but without those pull tabs. Getting them on is quite the acrobatic endeavor. If I ever get to Australia, I’ll have to get myself a pair of the good ones.
I should be able to get to Lebeda’s and the Boot Hide Out on Saturday. Can’t go Sunday because, hey, Paramus still has blue laws!
If you want the same oair for dress boots & for work boots, that won’t turn out well. Real cowboys have 2 different pairs of boots for these uses.
I’d take Dan Post off that list (or put it a bit lower down). Acme are mass market boots, sorta like Chevy cars. Dan Post is Acme’s upscale lable, sorta like Oldsmobile cars. The others on that list are Cadillac-level brands. And it’s missing Nocona boots. They are the same level as Justin.
[In fact, the founder of Nocona Boots was Miss Enid Justin. After Daddy Justin died, she and her brothers got into fights about running Justin Boot Company, (they wanted to move to Fort Worth), so she moved across the street in Nocona, TX and started her own boot company, taking many of the old workers with her. So the companies are very similar – and they fight like brother and sister.]
Note that most pf these top-level boot companies will custom-make boots for you. You go to one of their dealers, get carefully measured, then the company manufactures a wooden mannikin (probably plastic nowadays) of your feet. Then they make you a custom pair designed around that, in any style/color(s) you want. And they save it, so in future years, they can just use it again to make you another pair.
But custom boots won’t come in your price range, especially the first pair. Though the fit will be incredible, and feel great.
I agree with these guys – go to a western store for boots. (I worked in them from about age 14 until I graduated college.]
That’s probably because the whole state isn;t much bigger than a good-sized ranch! 
But check with the New Jersey Horse Council. They can tell you where you can go to ride. They’re one of the more active state Horse Councils.
For me, “work boots” are those that I could get away with wearing to the office. 
Seriously, though, I’m looking for something on the “dress” side of that equation, but that’s still somewhat practical. Like, not something you’d wear to muck out the stalls, but something you could wear downtown on a Saturday night if you were taking your horse instead of your Prius. Here’s a drool-worthy pair that I just saw – would you say that they qualify? I assume any store in NJ would be well-stocked with dressier styles because Jersey isn’t exactly known for its preponderance of real cowboys.
I’ve browsed a ton of styles on line, and I’ve found there are countless appealing styles well within my budget, so I’m reasonably confident that I’ll find something that works in terms of both fit and style. Now that I have a little more of a clue (and thanks to everybody for that), I expect it to be a case of “I know it when I see it.”
Thanks for the link to the NJ Horse Council.
Custom boots have long been on the list of stuff I’d get/do if I had a bunch of money. That would be sooo nice.
Anybody have any thoughts on Old Gringos? They’re really expensive, but Lebeda’s has a 40% off coupon for them, so I might find a deal. Probably too fancy for me, but I figured I should ask.
Also, I wore my old boots last night and realized that I should have posted a pic originally. Here you go. They’re actually fancier than I realized, what with the faux-snakeskin foot and inserts and all.
Those are after-market heels. The original ones were nearly flat, maybe a half-inch or so. When those wore down and I brought them in to be re-heeled, I asked if there was any possibility that they could be built up at all so they’d be more like regular boot heels, and I understood if nothing could be done. They said “we’ll see what we can do,” and they came back perfect. I can’t even tell that those weren’t the original heels when I’m walking. Thanks, awesome shoe guy!
Fiancee is more of a cowboy boot fiend than I am, and she says that they’re about 20-30% more pricey than they should be. They’re also definitely a “pretty boot” not a functional one. She did mention that their last fit her better than Rocketbuster’s did, but still not ideal. “Very fashion forward.”
FWIW.
Success!!
I went to Lebeda’s Boot Hideaway today. Fantastic place with a wide selection and a knowledgeable and helpful sales guy. They had some western-wear and accessories, but it was definitely primarily a boot store. Turned out that the name is quite apt, because it is indeed hidden away from the main road.
Surprisingly, my foot width wasn’t a problem. Everything I tried on was pretty much okay. My absurdly muscular calves were what limited me a bit, but there were plenty of styles in with 11" shafts, which were fine.
I ended up buying 2 pairs! And now I have a boot wardrobe. :smack:
The first are these very plain and ordinary black Durangos. They’re not quite at the quality level I wanted, but they’re very comfortable, and at 99 bucks, cheap enough that I could get a second pair and not have to split the difference between plain and fancy. They’ll be a wardrobe staple to be sure. I might even be able to get away with wearing them to the office on casual Friday.
The second pair are these gorgeous Tony Lama wingtips. The richness of the color doesn’t really come through in the photo. I love the square toe and the embossed wingtips make them look quite luxe! They look perfect with jeans. One was poking me a bit in the ankle, but the sales guy tweaked them and the problem disappeared.
Total price was $314. He threw in a really top-notch shoehorn and I found a couple of little boot polishers in each box. Yay for bonuses!
Thank you all so much for all of the input. It was great to go in there with some basic knowledge and a better idea of what I was looking for.
Congratulations on the beginning of your new collection. I started with one pair four years ago (actually the red Ariats in the OP - super comfy!) and fell in love with the look and I now have about 10 pairs.
Love the Tony Lamas. As someone pointed out, a brand usually fits you or not and Tony Lamas sadly don’t fit me.
You know, its been in the back of my mind to visit there for a while. The double-H black engineers boot would work nicely on occasion, but if there was something on sale, that would Rock! 
Do we need a NJ [del]Dopefest[/del] boot-wearin’ get together?
Wore the Tony Lamas all day. Very comfy already, and quickly becoming moreso.
I’m jealous!
Yee-haw!
Are you in Jersey? We haven’t had a Jersey fest in an age. (Unless I missed something, of course)
I work there (sometimes), I play there on many a weekend in the summer, I gas up there almost all of the time.
But live there - Hell, no! (your property taxes are crazy)
Ah. So you’re from Pennsyltucky then?
How come when you go somewhere fun: an amusement park, a concert, a movie, a sporting event, the zoo, etc. you pay to go in & enjoy yourself & it’s free to leave but it’s free to get into NJ but you need to pay to leave at every border crossing that has a toll at the three states that NJ borders? :dubious:
P.S. I live in the “Pennsyl” part, not the “tucky” part!
Seems pretty obvious to me. The adjoining states really don’t want refugees from NJ. So they erect barriers to keep the NJites inside NJ.
Just so you know, this is kind of an old thread (last posts were from 2014) so some of the folks in this thread are gone now, and others might have moved on from this long ago. You might not get many replies. If you are really interested in discussing the topic, you could always start a new thread.