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The Last Cowboy Boot Masters of El Paso
In West Texas, artisans known as "Golden Needles" preserve the craft of making boots by hand.
At a workbench nearby, Victor Rodriguez squints as he coaxes one side of a boot top beneath the needle of an antique Singer sewing machine, creating a flame-shaped stitch in clean white thread. “Machines just don’t do it as well.” Situated along the route of westward cattle drives during the late 19th century, El Paso bootmakers had access to plenty of leather, as well as an abundance of customers—cavalry fighting in the Mexican Revolution and cowboys, both of whom valued the style for its sturdiness and a high, underslung heel that stayed put in a stirrup. Christ Chavez for Atlas ObscuraBut as big boot companies turned to laser cutting and computer stitching to streamline production and reduce costs, manufacturers in El Paso—where celebrities like Taylor Swift, Kendrick Lamar, and Chris Stapleton still arrive to pick out their flashy footwear—are struggling to replace these artisans when they retire or pass away.
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