Tuesday, January 31, 2012

The Most Expensive Boots In The World

I was about to take a trek through the history of boots when I stumbled upon an article in Forbes Magazine that stopped me in my tracks. The article is entitled “The Most Expensive Cowboy Boots” (see link below).The paragraph that really jumped out at me was this one: “Tres Outlaws in El Paso, Texas, once clocked a customer for $75,000 for a pair whose mind-boggling design traced the history of Mexico, including $18,000 worth of gold and silver coins from various historical eras. The design alone took 100 hours, the hand-carving another 300 hours and the color and dye work an additional 200 hours. As pricey as those boots were, Tres Outlaws has another pair on order that will run even higher.” Even higher? I don’t know about you, readers, but I doubt I’d cash in my life savings to be that well shod, though there’s obviously a market for thoroughbred boots.

The Forbes article put me on a whole new track, which led to a story about football fans doling out tens of thousands of pounds for three pairs of match-worn boots belonging to soccer stars Rio Ferdinand, Wayne Rooney and John Terry. According to footy-boots.com, Ferdinand planned to auction them to raise funds for his charity the Live Dream Foundation. For the occasion, John Terry’s Umbro Speciali’s were embellished with 2,374 jewels, including 27 carat of white diamonds, 11 carat of sapphires and 84 black diamonds. Not to be outshone, Wayne Rooney’s Nike Total 90 Laser II’s sported 2,576 gems with more than 10 carat of white diamonds and 31 carat of black diamonds. Ferdinand’s boots were in the same league – 2,494 stones, gold-tipped laces and spray paint graffiti by no less than film producer and former musician, Goldie. As it turned out, the boots didn’t fetch the estimated price. Rooney’s sold for £18,000, Terry’s for £20,000 and Ferdinand’s for £22,000.

Wayne Rooney’s Nike Total 90 Laser II’s
                                                 
Manolo Blahnik Alligator Boot
The sky seems to be the limit when it comes to men's boots. What about women’s boots then? The priciest pair I found are by Manolo Blahnik (who else?) and made of alligator skin, finest alligator skin, I should point out. This fashion discovery shattered any remaining hope of historical research for this post as off I went in search of other designer boots to see how much they cost. I confess I got sidetracked when I came upon a pair of Gucci woven leather boots on Net A Porte - and a sensational ocelot bootie by Alexander McQueen. As you can see from the pictures below, I took a detour from price and eventually ended up focusing on style.


Gucci's woven leather boot  $3,750


Alexander McQueen's ocelot bootie $1,695











No Price Tag
No Price Tag















No Price Tag
No Price Tag


http://www.forbes.com/2006/04/03/cowboy-boots-expensive_cx_ns_0404feat.html

I'll be back mid-February with
the next post. See you then.

14 comments:

  1. Amazing isn't it, that a pair of boots could match the cost of a house? With a designer daughter, I am all for paying for good design and recognising the effort and time that goes into producing it but I think I live in another world to the people who can actually afford to buy these boots. My life's savings are staying put I think! :-)

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  2. I don't know what it is about a pair of cowboy or men's boots that gets people going crazy and forking over the dough, but it certainly is amazing. The women's boots you pictured made me ooh and aah, but I will just have to admire the photos and keep dreaming for now! Great post! :)

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  3. One of these days I'm going to do handbags. It's amazing how much women dole out on those pretty little evening purses. In the meantime, I'm seeing if I can dig up the world's most expensive gifts of jewelry for the next post and maybe throw in a gem or two from the distant past.

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  4. Wow...that's some amazing footwear there! I love the intricacy and creativity the designers went about in making them. I have to say I'm not so keen with things made with animal products...but they are certainly intriguing works! Great article. I just followed your blog on fb...I'm looking forward to more of your posts. :)

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  5. Hi Jessica, I'm with you when you say you're not keen on animal skins. A good friend of mine wasn't quite as subtle in her indignation when she saw those ocelot boots (: The only comfort us animal lovers have is not many could have sold at that price. Thanks for dropping by!

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  6. Shoes make people crazy. I don't understand it, but then, I just bought another pair of shoes I didn't need today.

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  7. I can relate, Andra. Guess that's why I wrote "Why they called me Imelda."

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  8. Hi Lilin. Thanks for the heads up. Now you have me rushing off to check out Christian Louboutin (: But, seriously, you've managed to convince me to do another post on shoes. Thanks for commenting!

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  9. Tony Lama also has a history of very expensive boots with the El Rey style. The latest edition costs $50,000 and was made to celebrate their 100 year anniversary. It also has an interesting story as the first two editions (circa 1950 and 1960s)were stolen for their jewels!

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    1. Bec, thanks so much! Your add to the conversation is exactly why I love reader feedback. I often find I learn as much from comments as I do from a blog. I'm sure I'll be blogging about boots again some time, so I'll definitely check out Tony Lama boots and include them. Thanks again!

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  10. This is exactly what my life is lacking!

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    1. I'm not sure if you're referring to expensive boots or frivolity, PC (: But maybe the two go together.

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  11. I hate wearing shoes, but I love reading about them. Your blog, which I discovered via Deborah Barker, is a treasure. You've probably seen the shoe museum, but just in case: http://www.batashoemuseum.ca/

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    1. Andrea, thanks so much for sharing the shoe museum. No, I haven't seen it - yet. Thanks for stopping by via Deborah. Love her blog so very special to have a visit from one of her readers. Hope you'll come back.

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