Cowboy Bootmaking Legend Lisa Sorrell on Myths, Lore, and Why Craft Has Never Been More Important

The Stitchdown Shoecast

Guthrie, Oklahoma-based Lisa Sorrell can trace her own bootmaking ancestry back to one of the first cowboy bootmakers ever: Gus Blucher (a man quite aptly named for a shoe). Gus presumably would've been quite proud, as for the last three decades Lisa has oh so gracefully maintained a position of remarkably high esteem in the cowboy bootmaking pantheon, thanks to her overall skill and coveted inlay/overlay work that commands a starting price of $10,000 per bespoke pair.
In what is without question one of our personal favorite episodes ever, Lisa dispels a stack of cowboy boot myths; gets deep into why the form and construction of the uniquely American art form evolved in the ways they did; discusses what makes 1940s cowboy boot lasts the unmatched pinnacle; and explains why she’s the “ambassador for raising prices” (it's almost certainly not why you’d think) and why cowboy boots are a whole lot like lingerie.
This episode was sponsored by Standard & Strange, which has taken all of the finest Japanese boots and brought them to Oakland, NYC, and Sante Fe, just for you
Theme Song: The Road by Punk Rock Opera