Ramon Navarro - Custom Cowboy Boots and Shoes Forum

they love making boots? These questions and others
will be treated in the following
sections on a few of the masters of Texas boot-making.
Ram6n Navarro:
Ram6n Navarro is a man of 53 years. A sincere man of humble origins, Ram6n is
soft-spoken and almost hesitant
in his manner. Rather than boasting of his skills or
dropping famous names, he prefers to let his art speak for itself. As it turns out, his art
speaks volumes about his tremendous abilities.
His fatheiowned a small cobbler's shop in rural Mexico near Guadalajara. It was
here that Ram6n learned his craft and perfected the basics of shoe and boot-making.
However, the boots that he and his father inade were not the fancifully ornate boots
now common in custom boot-making. Rather, their boots and shoes were simple models
made
for a working-class market. Compared to his recent styles, these first forays in
boot-making must seem very bland and almost rudimentary. However, it was in that small
shop
in the heart of Mexico that this great boot-maker developed the basic skills of
excellence and pride in one's work.
After growing up in Guadalajara, Ram6n moved to San Antonio where he
worked for five years in various boot shops. Here he began to study the finer forms of
boot-making and learn the difficult art of topstitching (embroidering the upper halves of
the boots). His fortune led him to Austin
in l97l
when he heard of an opening at the
legendary Capitol Saddlery. They needed an experienced man to help in the shop with
Charlie Dunn. Naturally, Ram6n jumped at the chance to work under such a master of
boot-making as Dunn. Dunn long enjoyed the acclaim
of boot fanciers and power
brokers who came from around the world to be fitted for a pair of custom boots. Ram6n
learned much of the finest points of boot-making from Dunn and greatly benefitted from
the great paradigm of Texas boot-making. When Dunn left in the early 1970s, Ram6n
inherited the post of head bootmaker. He has been practicing and perfecting his art at
Capitol Saddlery for nearly 22 years.
His philosophy of boot-making reflects his humble upbringing. He contends that
while one needs no special artistic talent to make custom boots, the greatest necessity is
that you enjoy crafting boots. He dismisses with a shrug any comment that supposes
supernatural boot-making powers that he may have. The greatest reward in making a
pair of boots is that the customer is satisfied. "It's not really the way you make them [a
pair of boots], it's the way people want them to be lthat is important]."" Ram6n is
capable of doing any facet of boot construction, but he prefers top-stitching. He has
unique designs of his own that he uses as well as customer requested ones. His real
motive for doing top-stitching, he confessed, is that "the guy who does the bottoms gets
dirty all the time, and I don't like to get all dirfy."'n
Ram6n emphasized that boot-makers,
in
general, know one another and have a
friendly sense of competition and mutual admiration. No true rivalries exist
because
everyone is able to fully appreciate the work of the others. Also, custom boot-makers are
often so backlogged that no one worries about a shortage of orders. Custom bootmaking is one of the few occupations in which one can freely enjoy one's work and the
work of others.
It is somewhat obligatory to ask custom boot-makers which famous people they
have made fitted for boots. Ram6n grudgingly provided a few names of state legislators
and officials, some West Texas
oil men and a number of notable Mexican politicians.
Some prominent entertainers include Harry Belafonte and Henry Fonda. His favorite
story is when Cheech Marin (of Cheech and Chong) came in to be fitted for boots. His
fiist movie had just been released and no one knew quite who he was. Ram6n tried to
convince him to buy some of the cheaper stock boots because
it
looked like Marin did
not have enough money to afford custom boots. Finally, Ram6n gave in and began to
make the black ostrich boots (with a $500 price tag). In the end, the boots were mailed
to Marin at his Malibu home with an apology from Ram6n attached.
Navarro, APril 14, 1993.
30lbid.
In the late 1970s, the rage for boots was at its height. Ram6n remembers how the
orders piled higher and higher as boots took over the fashion world. Lately, he notes,
styles have turned toward highly ornamented boots with detailed stitching. Also, the
short-top boots of the 1940s and tr950s are making a comeback. That this return to the
past should happen is inevitable. Also of significance is the rise in orders from
professionals and politicians. As the 1980s began, Texas businessmen tried to find a
distinctive emblem that would be accepted in the realm of finance, law and other fields.
They found this emblem in the boot, which has now become part of the standard
"uniform" of Texas business and politics.
Ram6n continues to work with a f9w helpers at Capitol Saddlery five days a
week. They turn out about 15 pairs of boots weekly. Prices begin at $500 for a simple
calfskin boot with minimal stitching. Ram6n, like most boot-makers, is totally committed
to excellence in his craft. He prides himself on the fact that in his 21 years at Capitol
Saddlery, only one pair of boots has ever been returned by a dissatisfied customer. His
dedication, his skill, and his art all contribute in making boots that are beautiful in form
and function.