Cowboy boots: it's all about the attitude

When men put on cowboy boots, they have a specific look in mind. Little Joe from Bonanza, Clint Eastwood from the spaghetti western films he did with Sergio Leone, or even Bo and Luke from The Dukes of Hazzard. More so than with any other footwear, men think they know what they want when pulling on cowboy boots. The problem, however, is most men have no idea what they want when it comes to fashion.

Cowboy boots are not for the faint-hearted; they are for the passionate and the driven. They are not for a Texas businessman trying to maintain a connection with his state's roots by sporting a pair with a business suit, but for a man who loves his boots as much as he loves his car, who grabs his boots from under the bed before he grabs his shirt, who would rather be without socks than his boots. Where is today's equivalent of the LAPD detective Martin Riggs (Mel Gibson's character from the Lethal Weapon series), who wore his cowboy boots better than anyone has on film in the past 25 years?

Unfortunately, men today seem to be looking at George W Bush, who did the Oval Office a disservice, but not because of his policies. Instead, it was one poor fashion choice: he wore pleated, creased trousers with cowboy boots. Forget about his neocon ways, never mind his views on stem cell research, gloss over what he said about the United Nations, ignore his ideas about creationism and disregard his comments about Vladimir Putin ("I looked the man in the eye … I was able to get a sense of his soul"). It was das boots!

The fashion choice of a White House commander-in-chief is not normally an issue in the newsroom of The National. My problem is that Bush seems to have inspired a few cowboy wannabes in Abu Dhabi. I do not mean the elderly Emirati I spotted one Sunday morning at Al Jimi Mall in Al Ain. Wearing a white khandoura and proudly sporting light-brown cowboy boots, he made me think that I have never seen a national look so cool. No, in the UAE capital, there are men who are pairing cowboy boots with cuffed, ironed slacks, à la Mr Bush.

The truth is, the cowboy boot can only be worn with one type of trouser: jeans. Not acid-wash jeans, not baggy jeans and not even the black variety. Blue Levi's jeans. Men must realise there are fashion dos and don'ts, but of course, not all fashion guidelines need to be followed. A man's personal style choices can be creative and independent and still be acceptable. Tradition must allow for vision. Think John Galliano and how he rejuvenated Christian Dior in the 1990s or Tom Ford's 10 years at Gucci, starting in 1994.

Cowboy boots with jeans, however, stand the test of time. In fact, a favourite pair of jeans with a comfortable pair of boots is about as classic a look as a man can pull from his wardrobe. But like so many choices we must make in life, men often need help. So the question is as follows: to whom can the cowboy-boot-wearing man turn for inspiration? Who can show the modern man how best to wear them?

In more recent pop-culture references, the only one who truly embraced the cowboy boot was Chuck Norris in his television show Walker, Texas Ranger. The martial artist donned the boots for the role of a police officer, but he never truly wore them. And therein lies the rub: few can wear them. New York City's Naked Cowboy, who recently announced he was dropping out of the race for mayor because of the red tape involved in his application, has the right attitude. He is passionate and obviously cares a great deal for his boots, but the rest of his outfit is weak. The actor and playwright Sam Shepard comes close. But the one who has style and charm all his own is Puss in Boots.

So the next time you are thinking it is time to slip on your cowboy boots, ask yourself one question: what would the puss think? Michael Jabri-Pickett is the foreign editor of The National. mjp@thenational.ae

THE SPECS

Engine: 6.75-litre twin-turbocharged V12 petrol engine

Power: 420kW

Torque: 780Nm

Transmission: 8-speed automatic

Price: From Dh1,350,000

On sale: Available for preorder now

Test

Director: S Sashikanth

Cast: Nayanthara, Siddharth, Meera Jasmine, R Madhavan

Star rating: 2/5

MO

%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ECreators%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EMohammed%20Amer%2C%20Ramy%20Youssef%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EStars%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EMohammed%20Amer%2C%20Teresa%20Ruiz%2C%20Omar%20Elba%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%204%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A

The specs

Engine: Four electric motors, one at each wheel

Power: 579hp

Torque: 859Nm

Transmission: Single-speed automatic

Price: From Dh825,900

On sale: Now

The White Lotus: Season three

Creator: Mike White

Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell

Rating: 4.5/5

Afghanistan fixtures

v Australia, today
v Sri Lanka, Tuesday
v New Zealand, Saturday,
v South Africa, June 15
v England, June 18
v India, June 22
v Bangladesh, June 24
v Pakistan, June 29
v West Indies, July 4

If you go

The flights
There are various ways of getting to the southern Serengeti in Tanzania from the UAE. The exact route and airstrip depends on your overall trip itinerary and which camp you’re staying at.
Flydubai flies direct from Dubai to Kilimanjaro International Airport from Dh1,350 return, including taxes; this can be followed by a short flight from Kilimanjaro to the Serengeti with Coastal Aviation from about US$700 (Dh2,500) return, including taxes. Kenya Airways, Emirates and Etihad offer flights via Nairobi or Dar es Salaam.

The smuggler

Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.

Khouli conviction

Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.

For sale

A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.

- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico

- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000

- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950

Look%20Both%20Ways

%3Cp%3EDirector%3A%20Wanuri%20Kahiu%3Cbr%3EStars%3A%20Lili%20Reinhart%2C%20Danny%20Ramirez%2C%20David%20Corenswet%2C%20Luke%20Wilson%2C%20Nia%20Long%3Cbr%3ERating%3A%203%2F5%3Cbr%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A

A MINECRAFT MOVIE

Director: Jared Hess

Starring: Jack Black, Jennifer Coolidge, Jason Momoa

Rating: 3/5

Company profile

Name: Back to Games and Boardgame Space

Started: Back to Games (2015); Boardgame Space (Mark Azzam became co-founder in 2017)

Founder: Back to Games (Mr Azzam); Boardgame Space (Mr Azzam and Feras Al Bastaki)

Based: Dubai and Abu Dhabi

Industry: Back to Games (retail); Boardgame Space (wholesale and distribution)

Funding: Back to Games: self-funded by Mr Azzam with Dh1.3 million; Mr Azzam invested Dh250,000 in Boardgame Space

Growth: Back to Games: from 300 products in 2015 to 7,000 in 2019; Boardgame Space: from 34 games in 2017 to 3,500 in 2019

Copa del Rey final

Sevilla v Barcelona, Saturday, 11.30pm (UAE), match on Bein Sports

if you go

The flights
Fly direct to Kutaisi with Flydubai from Dh925 return, including taxes. The flight takes 3.5 hours. From there, Svaneti is a four-hour drive. The driving time from Tbilisi is eight hours.
The trip
The cost of the Svaneti trip is US$2,000 (Dh7,345) for 10 days, including food, guiding, accommodation and transfers from and to Tbilisi or Kutaisi. This summer the TCT is also offering a 5-day hike in Armenia for $1,200 (Dh4,407) per person. For further information, visit www.transcaucasiantrail.org/en/hike/