Wearing Riding Boots In Style

Horse riding boots have a history of their own to tell, as testimonies to an age old activity which is still fashionable. As this footwear was first developed exclusively for men, an entire masculine hierarchy was mirrored by riding footwear.

Commoners would rarely ride, for they used horses as aids to their work. Noblemen however needed to clearly show their superior social status through this kind of footwear besides having flexible, tall thick and insulating riding boots. Noblemen’s courts would see pleasure or parade riders using more ornamental riding boots, while going hunting or waging war on horseback would require another.

Such footwear was traditionally made from leather, to help riders through dust, thorny bushes and in swampy lands while at hunting. This often could mean long riding hours in all seasons and under difficult circumstances, for besides pleasure and a display of power, hunting meant food. This is how such footwear has grown significantly tall, sometimes it want well over the knee, aided with laces at the back of the feet. If shorter boots were employed, chaps and gaiters would often be worn with them.

As warfare was in close connection to riding and noblemen were mostly the army riders, army riding boots became a question of social status as well. But all cavalry members had to wear uniforms, to wars which sometimes meant little else than months of horseback marches at various paces. Designs that were universally easy to wear, and at the same time classy, became appropriate. On one hand, there was the rounded or moderately sharp front design, which suited most kinds of toe shapes, as a must; on the other, there was the best or less good quality leather employed, as well as the more or less precious finishing involved, left to give indications of social status.

So, riding boots have always been an object of rigorous functionality standards and social concepts that afterward were easy to translate into fashion, besides being a typical men’s wear item that has gradually translated into the female world in our times. Fashion designers who have been attracted to this challenging footwear item have added a lot of subtle elegance to its rather stern look. The exquisitely different lines of boots that top specialized online stores like BP Country supply are the best proof that you should not expect ladies riding boots to be unisex items. Such collections will help you understand why riding boots have in their turn influenced urban fashion design in the last two decades.

BP Country is certainly the place to go when you are looking to invest in the best riding boots on the market.