Crystal Wise
To step into Steven Parker’s boot shop is to take a trip to another time, maybe 100 years ago, before machines took the place of bare hands, before one-on-one meant FaceTime calls, before sweat was replaced by the tap of a keyboard.
Morris Boot Company, perched on Montgomery Street, right next door to another time warp, the vehemently old school Montgomery Street Café, is like a scene out of “Lonesome Dove” or “Gunsmoke” or “1883.” This is a boot shop where time and progress aren’t welcome; the closest Parker comes to modern amenities is a sewing machine.
A bootmaker most of his adult life, Parker is adamant about doing things the hard way — the old way, the way he was taught. Over the years, the 59-year-old Fort Worth native has worked in some of the city’s most high-profile Western wear stores and factories. But always — “always, always,” he says — in the back of his mind, he wanted his own shop, a place where he could make Fort Worth’s unofficial footwear by hand — an art that is practically taking its last breath.
“No one does it this way anymore,” he says, banging a nail into the heel of a boot, securing it in a way no machine can. “You have a problem with your boots, you call me, not an 800-number. But I’ll tell you what, you won’t have any problems with these. They’ll last you a lifetime.”
Surrounded by his hand tools of the trade and exotic hides from around the world that will, sooner or later, serve as boot skins, Parker spends his days — and some evenings and weekends — here, crafting boots in the same way a painter splashes colors across a canvas or a sculptor chisels out a statue. “No two pairs are alike,” he says, his lengthy salt-and-pepper beard drooping across his callused hands. “Nothing is pre-made. I don’t start working on your boots until we meet.”
Even during these COVID-19 times, he’ll only meet you in person at his shop. “I have plenty of face masks here, in case you need one,” he says.
Parker will then spend about 30 to 45 minutes with you. You’ll fill out a form in which you’ll specify your wants and needs; he’ll go over the form with you and take your measurements.
“The person who measures your foot is the person who’ll make your boots, and that’s me,” he says. “By the time we’re done, I’ll know every curvature of your feet, every bump, and your boots will be custom-made to address your uniqueness and idiosyncrasies.”
Parker takes pride in meticulously piecing nearly every component of his boots together by hand: the heel, the sole, the inlay. Stitching is sometimes done by hand, sometimes with a sewing machine.
It takes about four months for Parker to produce a pair of boots. At any given time, he concurrently works on six to eight pairs, documenting each pair each step of the way.
“One cool thing I do is send step-by-step pictures,” he says. “The first picture is the pile of materials I’ll use for their boots, with the caption: ‘Some assembly required.’ People absolutely love it. It keeps them in the loop, but it’s also a very personal touch, a document of their boots being put together.”
The cost of a pair of Parker’s boots hinges primarily on the boot skin. His least expensive pair costs a grand. That’ll get you a pair of bull hides with up to a 13-inch top, with custom stitching, in any color, heel, and toe.
Prices go up to $3,500 — the cost of a pair of standard American gator boots. “I know that may sound expensive to me and you,” he says, “but you’d be surprised how many gator boots I make. They last a lifetime, and they’re so gorgeous. They’re hard to tear up so you can work in them. But you can polish them up and make them shine really good.”
Parker’s boot skins also include hippo, elephant, ostrich, water buffalo, American buffalo, and a half-dozen other animals. “When I first started doing this, I found a company in Zimbabwe that specializes in skins from animals that died of natural causes,” he says. “No poached animals or anything like that.”
Morris has been open for nearly 15 years, and Parker has worked there for nearly 10 years. But his bootmaking days date back decades, to 1978, when he was herding cattle in the Fort Worth Stockyards. “There was this old cowboy who taught me how to tool leather,” he says. “He said, `You’re good with your hands; you’re a natural.’ Then I got introduced to a bootmaker, a guy who insisted on doing everything by hand, and I never turned back.”
Bootmaking was always a side hustle, though, until he met John Morris, a fellow appreciator of quality, custom-made boots. “It’s not every day you run across someone who’s as passionate about boots as you are,” Parker says.
The two went into business together, with Morris handling the business end of things and Parker handling the bootmaking.
“I have my wife to thank for this,” Parker says. “I never thought I could make a living doing this, but she kept insisting I could, kept pushing me to take a chance on it.”
Parker’s customers run the gamut, from young to old, from people who just want a nice pair of boots to show off on special occasions to real cowboys.
“All ages, all races,” he says.
Parker wonders aloud, though, who’s going to fill his shoes when he retires — if and when he ever does.
“It’s good to know a lot of people still care about these types of boots, but it is a dying art,” he says. “I can hardly find anyone who wants to learn this work anymore. It’s mostly done by machines and assembly lines. I don’t know who’s going to do this when I’m gone.”
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Morris Boot Company, 2006 Montgomery St., 817-862-3120
