Meeting a Boot Making Legend

David Moore and the Art of Boots

My friend David Moore, Jr. and I have known each other for a looong time. We first met at Mark D’s gym in Nogales about 15 years ago, and bonded over suffering during circuit training. We have been friends ever since. Even though we aren’t technically related, in a town with no other Moores, we consider each other cousins from another Moore.

David Jr., or Cousin David as I’ll call him, works with his dad, David Sr. at David’s Western Wear, a magical place in downtown Nogales. David Sr. is a treasure of a human. I mean, Cousin David is cool and all, but his dad is extra cool with a cherry on top. David Sr. is a living, breathing, boot-making legend and a really interesting and funny person too. He also has boot whisperers that work there that have been stretching and sewing leather for boots for years and years.

David Jr. does a lot of things in addition to working at the store with his dad and family, including doing custom embroidery for people and businesses that need hats, jackets, shirts, and whatever else you can think of. Need your logo on something? Go see David. Need other cool stuff? Go see David. Need a rope, a cowboy hat, and some western wear? Go see David. Need custom boots? Get thee to David’s place asap!

It just so happened that I needed some custom embroidery, so I went to see Cousin David. For whatever reason, I’ve never had the chance to swing by the store before and spend time chatting with the Davids. Boy have I been wasting my life. I just happened to hit it on a morning when they weren’t too awfully busy, and I spent the better part of an hour talking to David and his dad about boot making, life, and all kinds of other stuff. It was the highlight of my month.

David Jr. and David Sr.

David Sr. has been making custom boots since 1962. He started with boot maker Paul Bond back in the day, and he has been making custom boots ever since with his team of artist boot experts. How many of you have been practicing an art since 1962? Exactly. Almost none of you. I haven’t even been alive that long, but adjusting for when I was born, I still don’t come proportionally close to having that much experience doing something. Cousin David is following in the family art, too, by the way, so it’s a boot empire over there.

Either way you shake it, David Sr. knows boots and has made them for all kinds of people, including John Wayne, Stewart Granger, and other stars. Hollywood used to make all kinds of movies here, especially westerns. When these stars came to town, David made them boots. He and his people have also made boots for astronauts, senators, people who played James Bond in the James Bond movies, and more.

I have many friends that have custom boots made by David Sr. You come to the shop once and get fitted for boots. David’s Western Wear keeps the last, which is a fancy way of saying they keep a replica of your foot. That means you can call and order pairs of custom boots from anywhere in the world for years and years. They have people that order new boots all the time and maybe haven’t been to the shop in years. This is not your normal trip to the shoe store!

How many questions do you think you could ask someone about making boots? 10 questions? 20? A hundred? It’s safe to say probably a million questions. I’m a professional question asker, and after dozens of questions, I’m just scratching the surface. During the visit, I would make my goodbyes, and then I would end up asking another question and sticking around for 20 more minutes. Then, I would say goodbye again, and another 10 minutes would pass. I was walking out with Cousin David, and we got halfway to the door before we turned around to see some other cool art and such in the office.

How fascinating to talk to people that work with all kinds of different materials to create beautiful, comfortable boots. And when they both happen to be smart, funny, and wise individuals, it makes the conversation even better. I was talking to someone else after my recent pilgrimage to David’s Western Wear, and this person said they often go see the Davids to talk about life and business. The Charismatic Gurus of Morley Avenue. Maybe that’s their new side business.

The things they have seen and the people they have met, the crazy requests, and the variety of customers…it all fascinates me. Do you know how to make your own boots? My guess is no. Do you know crafts people practicing traditions that survive generations? There aren’t too many around these days.

It’s interesting to think about how you do something for so long that it becomes intuitive, that it becomes second-nature, like breathing. I imagine there’s a point where you get so good at doing something that it transcends being a craft and it becomes an intuitive art, a thing you conjure up out of the ether. Is there a little spark and a poof of smoke with each new pair of boots magicked into existence at David’s?

It’s also interesting because boot making is so tactile, so tangible. You can touch it and hold it up and examine it from all sides. You can smell the leather. You can feel it as you slide your foot in it, and you can wear it on your feet to go out and see the world. Boots are also a part of the long history of the Great American West and all that entails. Whew. That’s a whole other story…boots and the American West.

I’ll be going back to get myself a custom pair of boots soon. Stay tuned for boot photos. My only request is they don’t let me pick some crazy color because I can’t be trusted. I am also trying to convince David Jr. that he needs to get started writing his book of essays about life and boots and working with his dad and living on the border. If you see him, ask him how the book is coming.