Kathy Reeves’ boot story couldn’t be any more Texan. She got her first boots at a livestock and rodeo show.
Reeves’ father worked for a large animal feed company in Houston. One weekend, he was manning a booth at a livestock show and asked his daughter to help out. On the way, he ttook her to Palace Boot Shop, a legendary store that actor Paul Newman used to frequent. Her father picked out western jeans and a plaid shirt. But they left without any boots.
During the livestock show, Reeves had some tough luck, when she landed on a cow pie.
“He and a rancher would be walking along and talking and I’d follow him. They stepped over a big cow pie, I didn’t see and just slid through it,” she says. That’s when they decided it was time for some western boots.
Back to the Palace Boot Shop they went. Because the store was hosting boot-making demonstrations, Reeves got to watch the her custom boots being made.
Reeves says her custom boots were a gift of love from her dad, to compensate for difficulties Reeves had with her mother, who experienced chronic depression.
“I was so proud of those boots, I wore them til they actually pinched my feet,” Reeves says.
Written by Manu Schneider.