Champion Attitude Western Boots
Size: Women’s 8.5 M
Maker: Champion Attitude (1980s)
Material: Multi-Color Leather Overlays and Inlays — Robin’s-Egg Blue, Red, Cognac Brown, Green, White
Condition: Good Vintage Condition
The Boots
Pure 1980s western fantasy from Champion Attitude — a brand that made some of the most visually outrageous and collectible boots of the decade. Everything about this pair is hand-cut, hand-stitched leather overlay work at a level you almost never see, even from the era’s most ambitious makers.
The tall shafts are done in robin’s-egg blue leather and absolutely loaded with inlaid and overlaid imagery. The centerpiece on each shaft is a large horseshoe framing a hand-painted horse head in brown leather with a black bridle — detailed down to the eye and nostril. Surrounding that are red leather hearts, white leather birds in flight, white stars, and green prickly pear cacti with yellow blooms. A red leather collar wraps the scalloped top with more inlaid cowboy boots and cacti. The pull tabs are blue with white star cutouts.
Below the shaft, green leather rose vines with red star-shaped flowers wind around the ankle. The vamps are cognac brown leather with red wingtip overlays, and the toes carry more inlaid imagery — a running horse, a cactus, and what appears to be a lariat in yellow and green leather. Every single element is a separate piece of leather, cut and stitched by hand.
Champion Attitude
Champion Attitude was a small-batch bootmaker operating in the 1980s that specialized in bold, maximalist overlay and inlay work. Their boots were essentially wearable folk art — each pair a riot of color and Western iconography rendered entirely in hand-cut leather. They pushed the craft further into pure artistic expression than almost anyone else working at the time, and their boots have become increasingly collectible as fewer and fewer pairs survive in good condition.
Condition
These boots are in good vintage condition with vibrant, unfaded colors throughout. The robin’s-egg blue shafts remain bright and supple, the red leather is still bold, and the cognac brown vamps have developed a warm patina. All overlay and inlay work is intact and securely stitched. The pointed toes show light wear at the tips, and the leather soles display honest use with plenty of remaining life. The low stacked heels are solid. A remarkably well-preserved pair given the complexity of the construction.
