A Boot Collector Feature
A calfskin specialist whose client list ran from a sitting president to Roy Rogers to Priscilla Presley, working at what the trade calls level one — the very top tier of handmade Western boots.
T.O. Stanley founded his namesake boot company in El Paso in 1979, building a reputation that put him, in the trade's own language, at "level one" — the very top tier of handmade Western boots. His clientele spanned decades and worlds: George Bush, Dean Martin, George Strait, Merle Haggard, Roy Rogers, and Priscilla Presley all wore his work. Stanley passed away in 2023, and vintage pairs bearing his name are now treated by collectors as, in one description, "a wearable piece of history."
Stanley built his reputation on supple calfskin, intricate stitching, and a careful hand-lasting process meant to give each boot both structure and staying power — boots built to develop character with age rather than simply look good new. That versatility carried into how his boots got worn: paired traditionally with denim, but just as often styled unexpectedly with dresses and skirts by clients who saw the boots as a fashion statement in their own right rather than strictly Western wear. A quiet signature mark on the boots themselves: "SB" stitched into the sides of the vamp, a small detail that identifies a genuine Stanley pair at a glance.
Stanley's own shop is gone, but the boots he built are still out there — aging exactly the way he built them to.
Pairs from smaller, custom, or long-closed makers rarely come up for sale, so this search may not find anything. It’s worth checking back now and then.