If I were to pick cowboy boots with the most amazing natural colors and textures, I would choose ostrich and goat boots. They have a unique look accompanied by gorgeous natural wrinkles.
The natural creases are what make many cowboy boots famous, especially exotic ones. And in the world of cowboy boots, people love that natural beauty.
However, in addition to the natural wrinkles you need to be aware of, there are many wrinkles on cowboy boots that can worry you and they can cause a few more wrinkles on your forehead.
Alright, but are those creases on your cowboy boots now normal or not?
To give you the most precise answer, I will share my experience in this post.
Let’s check it out!
Key takeaways
- Cowboy boots often have natural creases, which is normal because genuine leather always has wrinkles. But on the other hand, cowboy boots can also show unnatural creases, which is largely due to poor care.
- Some exotic leathers like goat or ostrich leather often have slight and natural creases, so you should not worry too much about it. On the contrary, you should feel excited about this because it is extremely unique.
- Most cowboy boots aren’t supposed to crease, but there are plenty of boots with a breakthrough style (usually for women) with a very creased and sagging shaft.
- Cowboy boots that are not clean, moisturized, dry, clean, or in shape are all common causes of unnatural creases – and it’s not normal at all. Cowboy boots, if not taken care of properly during use, still easily get many creases even though they have none in the beginning.
- You can see some ways to minimize, prevent, and fix cowboy boot creases here.
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Creases on Cowboy Boots: Is this Normal or Unusual?
In fact, whether cowboy boots are supposed to crease or not depends much on the style of the boots. However, in general, most cowboy boots won’t have creases, especially cowboy boots for men.
Men’s cowboy boots often have a clean look instead of breaking style with wrinkles like in women’s. Therefore, they often have flat surfaces.
Meanwhile, cowboy boots for women often have many features.
In addition to breaking, I have seen many cowboy boots for women with slight creases and sagging shafts.
Therefore, to know whether cowboy boots are creased or not, you should try to find out about their original design or talk to the seller.
You don’t get any information, experience the boots yourself. If you feel good, confident, and comfortable when wearing them, nothing can stop you.
But usually, cowboy boots with creases in the shaft are not new and quite normal, but it is not okay if creases appear on the vamp (foot).
As mentioned above, women’s cowboy boots with wrinkles in the shaft can be intentional, as this is a fashion break. Meanwhile, for men, this may not affect much in terms of style because they often hide the shaft under their pants.
However, it’s not okay if the vamp is the part with a lot of creases, your boots won’t look good in this case. The vamp is the main part that gives style to cowboy boots.
Not to mention, when the top of the foot is heavily wrinkled, it will affect the fit of the boots. Your foot will slip in the boot because this area is where your foot is held.
The vamp of cowboy boots should be flat and properly stretched to create a clean look.
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There are many cases where many cowboy boots start to have many creases after a period of use. This is largely because cowboy boots aren’t well taken care of.
For example, cowboy boots will quickly dry out, crack, and lead to creases if you don’t moisturize them regularly with a leather conditioner.
In another case, if you can’t keep cowboy boots upright, they will fold and create unnatural wrinkles. They will lose their original shape, and you won’t see the beauty that caught your eyes again!
The above creases are not natural and most people hate them. If you want to know more details about the causes and solutions, we have a thorough article here!
Also, if you are a lover of cowboy boots made from exotic leather. You will find many boots with very natural creases and cracks.
Goat or ostrich leather, for example, have slight creases near the welt, they are very natural and you don’t need to worry. In fact, many people love these creases.
Abnormal Creases on Cowboy Boots and How to Deal with Them
It is a fact that not only cowboy boots, but nearly all leather items tend to have creases. But how long those wrinkles appear depends quite a lot on how you use and care for them.
The most common cause is that cowboy boots have not been moisturized for a long time, thus making them lose elasticity and quickly form wrinkles.
Another cause is when your boots often get wet or damp. This leads to degrading the leather quality and allows wrinkles to appear over time (like when the skin of your fingers is constantly being soaked in water).
If you are a lazy person when it comes to cleaning cowboy boots, that is also a big reason why creases appear on cowboy boots.
Wearing a pair of boots that don’t fit well also causes creases soon. Or cowboy boots made from some poor-quality leather can also be a trigger.
Here are some common causes of abnormal creases on cowboy boots and how to deal with them.
1. Cowboy Boots are Too Dry
Cowboy boots are made from 100% leather, so they need to be moisturized to keep their softness and elasticity to avoid cracks or wrinkles.
If your cowboy boots haven’t been moisturized in nearly half a year, those recent weird creases are the result.
You can easily identify these creases by looking around them, you can see cracks appear in some positions. Or, touch the surface of cowboy boots with your hand, and you will feel how dry they are.
To overcome these problems, use leather conditioners to moisturize cowboy boots. Conditioner can darken the boots and mask creases.
In addition, leather conditioner (or mink oil, neatsfoot oil) also nourishes cowboy boots from the inside. This helps heal damage caused by dryness of the boots and minimize the formation of creases.
In addition to leather conditioners, shoe polish is also a good way to hide wrinkles. However, make sure you completely condition the boots first.
The time to condition cowboy boots will vary, depending on the type of leather that makes the boots. Cowboy boots are not only made from some familiar leather such as goat, cowhide, or bull hide but they are also made from exotic leather such as caiman, ostrich, lizard, and python.
We have an article on how to condition boots and the time required for each type of leather here, you should check them out.
Cowboy Boots are Too Wet (for a long time)
There’s no doubt about it, as water is one of the cowboy boots’ hidden enemies. If you let your cowboy boots soak in water for too long, without drying them out, you’re done.
One of the mistakes many people make is not drying the cowboy boots from the inside, and with the 11-inch-tall construction, that’s not easy either.
As a result, over time, water seeps into the leather and gradually destroys its texture. From there, the boots will appear creases.
To prevent that from happening or getting worse, you need to make sure your cowboy boots stay dry inside and out. Using boot dryers or boot trees may be essential. We have a pretty thorough method guide here!
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2. Cowboy boots are Too Dirty
Dirty cowboy boots are also an underlying cause leading to creases.
Mud, soil, cement and water, all of these factors cause cowboy boots to quickly lose their original quality and gradually form wrinkles.
You will also easily recognize this cause because there will be mud inside the cracks or crevices of cowboy boots.
Don’t let that happen, make sure they are clean, use a horsehair brush and leather cleaner to do it periodically.
Just because you can’t see dirt doesn’t mean your boots aren’t dirty.
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| Click image for more info on Tecovas
3. Cowboy Boots are Not properly Stored causing a Loss of Shape
Cowboy boots need to be upright, not broken or bent, and should have a certain amount of tension. That’s the principle of storing cowboy boots.
Contrary to that, if cowboy boots fold during the storing process, creases will definitely appear.
The telltale sign of these creases is a straight line across the shaft of cowboy boots.
You should use some tools like a boot rack, boot shaper, or boot trees, they are very necessary during the boot storing process. Make sure the boots don’t lose their shape or they may have creases.
4. Cowboy boots are Too Loose
Another reason cowboy boots crease unnaturally is that they are poor fitting.
When cowboy boots have too much room in the heel, toe box, or calf, the excess leather quickly sags and creates ugly wrinkles. This often happens in cowboy boots that are too loose.
Well, if that’s the case, then you can take some measures like wearing thick socks, or putting in extra insoles to make your cowboy boots fit tighter. This creates a certain tension for the leather and ensures that it does not crease or wrinkle.
If your cowboy boots are still new, don’t try to use any tips or hacks to shrink them (usually ineffective), but exchange them for boot makers.
5. The Quality of the Leather is Not Good
It is a fact that many cowboy boots are not made from quality leather.
If you don’t want to experience ugly creases, then you should opt for full-grain leather, this is a very popular leather in the cowboy boot world and also one of the highest quality leathers.
If you use synthetic or faux leather boots, they tend to wrinkle soon.
Above all, remember this. Most full-grain leather has natural wrinkles, and people love those wrinkles. Don’t confuse it with abnormal creases while in use!
Natural Creases on Cowboy Boots and How to Know
In addition to the above cases, you should note that in fact, cowboy boots also have many natural wrinkles.
And as mentioned above, the cowboy boot world loves these wrinkles, because they are unique and you won’t be able to create them, especially in exotic boots.
These causes are often explained by the construction of cowboy boots and the materials they are made of.
In general, the natural creases created below are very normal and there is almost nothing you can do but live with them.
1. The nature of leather already has wrinkles and creases
If you pay close attention, cowboy boots whether made from cowhide, bull hide, ostrich, or goat all have wrinkles, creases, or cracks. Those are the natural things about cowboy boots.
What you need to do is go to cowboy boot shops, observe and touch as many cowboy boots as you can. From there, you can feel the natural creases and distinguish them from other creases.
In general, the natural creases on cowboy boots don’t give the cowboy an old look, or cause cowboy boots to become slouching or sagging.
When you see them, you will understand!
2. The construction of cowboy boots makes them have more wrinkles than other boots
In fact, with the 11-inch taller construction, the pressure on the bottom of cowboy boots is more than that of most other footwear.
So you will easily see creases at the ankle or at the top of the foot. Because those are the places where there is a lot of pressure due to the weight of the entire shaft!
In addition, cowboy boots are usually made of large pieces of leather instead of small pieces of leather put together. Those large pieces expose to more environmental factors such as heat, cold, and water, so they are more prone to wrinkling.
Shoes that are made of small pieces of leather are often less susceptible to impacts (the effects are spread over many small pieces of leather instead of one large piece of leather), so they retain quality longer and are less prone to creases.
Overall, there’s not much you can do about them other than enjoy them.
You should know that cowboy boots have nice wrinkles because the bootmakers made them very well. Since not all boots are good, you still need to rely on your intuition and make your own decisions.
3. Cowboy boots are used too much and too hard
Time will degrade everything, and cowboy boots are no exception.
Today, cowboy boots are very versatile and are used for many different jobs, including heavy work at construction sites. That directly causes cowboy boots to quickly degrade and appear creases, this is very normal.
Well, it’s hard to find any real solution to this problem other than taking good care of your cowboy boots as suggested above (moisturize them, keep them clean and dry inside out, keep the shape of the boots, etc.).
Taking good care of your cowboy boots will make them last longer and have as little crease as possible. That is the best thing we can do.
Conclusion
In summary, there are two types of creases on cowboy boots, one is normal but the other is not.
Wrinkles due to the nature of the leather or the structure of cowboy boots usually do not affect the wearer’s experience much. And people often love them.
Meanwhile, the creases created by not taking care of cowboy boots are a different story. They are uglier, and less natural, and make cowboy boots look old, slouching, or sagging.
Whether the creases on cowboy boots are normal or not depends a lot on your judgment!
Howdy y’all, and welcome to From The Guest Room, your ultimate guide to all things Western! I’m Jay Gatz, a lifelong cowboy boot enthusiast with over 5 years of experience in the Western style world. I’m excited to share my knowledge with you and help you discover the perfect cowboy boots and western gear to elevate your style. Let’s explore the rich history and timeless appeal of Western fashion together!