The Cowboy Boots We Love

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It is extremely rare for us Esquire editors to wax poetic about how much we love a brand twice, much less thrice, but Tecovas is just that good. We keep on coming back to 'em for cowboy boots and leather slip-ons, because at the end of the day, the Western brand is doing it right. Trust me—having grown up in Texas, the unofficial cowboy boot capital of America, I've tried my fair share of boots. Tecovas are simply and truly the best of the best.

Now that we live in an era where cowboy boots are leaking out of their previous confines of the Southwest, you need to snag a pair, and they should really be Tecovas. Once upon a time, in the era predating TikTok trends and influencers who normalized cowboy-core for the everyday man, cowboy boots held very distinct connotations—they were for guys who knew how to ride horses and chewed on tobacco, but they've always been versatile. They could be worn with anything from bootcut jeans and a flannel to formalwear or—and I'm not exaggerating in the slightest—a football uniform, if you were a student at my deeply Texan high school (the whole thing was very Friday Night Lights). Now, they're widespread. Here in New York, I see people wearing them all sorts of ways, with skirts and dresses and shorts and jeans and khakis and chinos.

One pair of Tecovas will last you not only through all of those styling choices, but also through time. Back in my youth, I snagged a cute pair from Amazon...and they fell apart almost immediately. There's a reason cowboy boots (authentic ones, at least) are expensive; it's because you're paying for quality and durability.

That's exactly what Tecovas is all about, too. When I got The Abby boots a year ago, I wore them to the ground, and still do. They can withstand New York sidewalks and subways and miles and miles of walking. I wear them to work and to brunch and to happy hour and to concerts. To this day, they look pretty much new, but I've also seen how Tecovas look when they do get a little bit worn out—somehow, the brand makes shoes that just get more and more ruggedly handsome (and comfortable) with wear.

What makes Tecovas different than other brands is that it uses its Western heritage as a jumping-off point, not as a centerpiece. Its cowboy boots are contemporary; sure, they're authentic and traditional, and they draw from cowboy boot history, but at Tecovas' headquarters in Austin, the brand is designing boots through a lens of modernity, not nostalgia. Classic meets contemporary. This is a brand all about looking forward, not moving backwards. Shop some of our favorite pairs below.

The Johnny

The Annie

The Doc

The Cartwright

The Abby

The Dillon

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