Western Jewelry is Big News this Summer

Summer jewelry in 2008 is definitely going to make any outfit.  Summer 2008 is here in full force and so are the summer trends for western jewelry.  This summer, jewelry is all about big and colorful, with the color blue being the leader of the pack.

Summer Jewelry’s Got the Blues

Colorful jewelry is one of the hottest trends this summer and anything that is blue seems to be the hottest.  One of the coolest blues going this year happens to be turquoise; and we at Allens Boots know turquoise.  For years, turquoise jewelry has been a popular staple of western wear and we carry a large selection of some of the turquoise around.

Check out our line from Vogt jewelry, especially the turquoise cross necklace, its individually crafted and comes with a lifetime guarantee.

Summer Jewelry is a Big Deal

The other trend in jewelry this summer is big, and we definitely know the meaning of big in Texas.  Let me tell you, nothing says big and bold and beautiful in jewelry than Montana Silversmith’s Bold and Beautiful Bracelet.  Silver and gold electroplated with precision engraving and measuring 2” at its widest point, Montana Silversmith’s cuff bracelets are sure to capture the eye of any fashionista.

Our line of Montana Silversmith and Vogt necklaces also fit the trend of big summer jewelry.  The Montana Silversmith Bold Round Silver Concho Necklace features a pendant with a hammered silver finish and cubic zirconium accents, as well as a chain made up of three different styles of beaded chains.  Our chunky necklaces will make an excellent accessory to your favorite summer dress.

Summer Jewelry is the Star of the Show

Celestial designs also take a front seat in jewelry trends this summer; so put away your necklaces and bracelets with your name on it and put on ones with your horoscope sign, stars and moons on them.  Now, while we can’t help you out with the horoscope signs, we definitely have your stars covered.  I mean, Texas is the Lone Star State after all.

Calgary Stampede is here! Calgary Stampede is here!

The Calgary Stampede has arrived. It is by far the biggest 10 days in Canada, well at least as far as rodeo enthusiasts and the city of Calgary are concerned. The annual Calgary Stampede turns downtown Calgary into one big salute to the cowboy. You will find everything that you are looking for from the rodeo itself to a midway and from chuckwagon races to free pancake breakfasts.

Calgary Stampede Rodeo

The rodeo part of the Calgary Stampede involves some of the finest cowboys in the world. They will be competing for glory and fame in such events as Bullriding, Barrel Racing, Bareback, Saddle Bronc, Steer Wrestling, and Tie-down Roping. You can even watch the little cowboys and cowgirls compete in wild pony racing.

Calgary Stampede is more than a Rodeo

There are so many other activities at the Calgary Stampede to enjoy besides the rodeo. If you are looking to catch a good show full of music and wonderment, then you are going to want to catch the Grandstand Show. The Grandstand show this year is based around a Dream Catcher theme to honor and recognize all the people that came to Canada full of hopes and dreams. The Grandstand Show is described as Broadway … Western Style.

Calgary Stampede Brings Big Music

If Broadway shows aren’t really your style, then you can always catch a great musical act at the Pengrowth Saddledome or the Coca-Cola Stage. This year brings many popular acts to downtown Calgary. So grab your cowboy hat and your dancing boots and come and catch the sounds of Sugarland, The Judds, Kid Rock, Natasha Bedingfield, Dierks Bentley, Finger Eleven, or the Plain White T’s.

Calgary Stampede Brings Big Screams

Finally, if you want to try your luck at the Calgary Stampede midway; there are plenty of games for you. You can do everything from target practice games to the ring toss to Whack-a-Mole. Now, if you are more of a daring cowboy, you can climb on into a seat on one of the many rides. The midway brings many adrenaline-pumping, heart-racing rides this year.

Forget all of this talking about the Calgary Stampede, we are grabbing our best pair of jeans and our boots and heading north. See ya there, eh?

*Photo by Calgary Stampede

Summer Camp for Summer Break

Summer Camp is the perfect way for you little cowboys and cowgirls to spend all that free time during their favorite break … summer break. There are several cowboy and cowgirl summer camps throughout the country. One of the cowboy summer camps that we know about isn’t too far down the road in Humble, Texas.

Cowboy City Texas, founded by Mike and Mary Wall, is home to six cowboy and cowgirl summer camps a year. The summer camps are offered to boys and girls ages seven to fourteen and are chocked full of cowboy boot wearing activities.

Summer Camp Teaches Horsemanship

Summer camp at Cowboy City Texas is all about fun for the beginner and immediate horse riders. But don’t you worry; Cowboy City Texas provides the horses for all summer camp participants.

Cowboy and cowgirl summer camp is centered on horsemanship. Summer campers will learn and work on horse grooming, riding, barreling, cutting, roping and many other rodeo type activities. In fact, there is a summer camp rodeo at then of the summer.

Summer Camp Chocked Full of Western Fun

Other activities summer campers will enjoy while at summer camp are western theater, nature awareness trails, mud fights (be prepared to wash camper’s jeans every night), archery and more.

Attendees of cowboy and cowgirl summer camp also have the opportunity to learn western arts and crafts, play sports with other cowboys and cowgirls, go swimming (make sure you take off your cowboy boots and cowboy hats first), and even go shovel surfing. Now, we aren’t quite sure what shovel surfing is, but it sounds pretty fun.

Western Gear for Summer Camp

Before you take your little cowboy or cowgirl off to summer camp, whether at Cowboy City Texas or another western summer camp, swing by Allens Boots and we will make sure your summer campers have all the western gear they need.

*Photo by Cowboy City Texas

Mules in the Hot Sun

So it’s hot outside and you really want to wear your cowboy boots with your new jeans or your new skirt or dress; although the mere thought of having all that leather on your legs in 90 degree weather causes you to instantly break out into a sweat.

There is an answer to having the boot look without all of the boot … Mules! And we aren’t talking about the four-legged kind.

These Mules Were Made for Walking

Mules, by definition, are backless and very often close-toed shoes. The open-toe version is called a slide. They are very popular among women and are believed to have gotten their start back in the 18th century. Mules gained popularity in the 1970’s as clogs, but re-emerged in the 1990’s and haven’t looked back.

Mules, Mules, Mules

Mules come in all sorts of colors and styles, they can be dressy or casual and they are extremely comfortable. In fact, Allens Boots has yellow mules, red mules, black mules, multi-color mules made by Charlie 1, Old Gringo, Frye and Ariat. You name it; we have it to go with all your summer styles.

Mule Rules

Now before you run off with your mules, there are a few things you should know about proper mule fit.

• You need to make sure that your heel fits on the back of the mule properly. Take care that your heel isn’t hanging over the edge, sitting right on the edge or not close enough to the edge. Just a little edge showing is perfect.
• Make sure you get up and walk around in the mules you are interested in buying. That way you know they stay on your feet and that they look right with your legs.
• If you are planning on wearing socks or hosiery with your mules, make sure you bring them with you when you try them on.

Cutting Horse Adds Spice to CEO Life

There was an article in Fortune Small Business Magazine today about a woman who is CEO by day and a Rodeo Queen by night. Yes, you are reading this correctly.

According to the article, Anita Lind Janssen spends her days as CEO of a company that handles asset management for large firms in the middle of transition. This is a job that requires conservative decisions and very little risk. Wanting to add a little spice to her life, Anita put on a hat, polished up her boots, and became a cowgirl.

It also appears that cutting runs in the Lind Janssen family. Ryan Lind, Anita’s son, placed in the top ten of the youth division at the National Cutting Horse Western National Finals this past weekend. I am sure that his mother couldn’t be more proud of her cowboy son.

Cutting Horse: What is it?

Cutting is a western riding style event where a horse and rider are judged strictly on their ability to separate a calf away from a herd of cattle for a certain period of time.

Cutting, which is becoming quite a popular equine sport these days, is special in that once the calf is separated from the herd, the cowboy or cowgirl loosens up on the reigns and the horse then takes over in keeping the calf separated. These horses are known as a cutting horse.

Cutting Horse Queen is One of Many

After reading about Anita, we did some poking around into the careers of the members of the Women’s Professional Rodeo Association. We found out that Anita isn’t the only corporate big wig that likes to compete with their horses for stress relief. We found an owner of a women’s western store, a President/owner of a drilling company, a ranch owner, a Chief of Staff of a state assembly, and a CEO of a golf construction company.

Who would have ever thought that participating in adrenaline pumping rodeo events could be so relaxing?

*Photo by Mike Murrow

Cowboy Museum’s Annual Memorial Day Event

The National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum, located in Oklahoma City, will be celebrating its 18th Annual Chuck Wagon Gathering and Children’s Cowboy Festival this Memorial Day weekend. The festival will run from 10:00 am to 4:00 pm on both Saturday, May 24th and Sunday, May 25th.

Dressing like a Cowboy More than Alright at Cowboy Museum

Grab your kids, put on your jeans, boots and cowboy hats and head on down to what the American Bus Association has named one of the Top 100 events in North America. You, your family and more than 10,000 other Old West fans will sure to be pleased with all the exciting activities and food planned for this jam-packed weekend.

Chuck Wagons Circle the Cowboy Museum

There will be authentic chuck wagons present offering up some of the finest wrangler food from Oklahoma and Texas. Festival goers even receive their very own tasting bowl to fill up with cowboy favorites such as brisket, biscuits and gravy, stew, and cobbler.

Children’s Cowboy Festival Events at the Cowboy Museum

There will be plenty of good ‘ol western entertainment for the family at the festival. Little Cowboys and Cowgirls can get pony rides, stagecoach and wagon rides, learn how to make a rope, design a bandana, and even pet a Longhorn steer. For the older cowboys and cowgirls, there will be entertainment from the likes of Don Edwards and Red Steagall.

There is even a cowboy bootmaking demonstration, which we here at Allens Boots are the most excited about.

Cowboy Museum has More to Offer than the Festival

The National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum was founded in 1961 and is considered an institution of Western history, culture, and art. More than 9 million visitors a year come to see the Cowboy museum’s collection of Western art and artifacts and to garnish an insight into the Old West.

*Photo by National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum

7th Annual CMT Awards

The CMT Awards, the only fan-voted music awards in country music, were held in Nashville, Tennessee on Monday, April 24th, 2008. And just like seasons past, the red carpet was overflowing with country music’s biggest stars donned in cowboy boots and cowboy hats. Even Rodeo Star, Ty Murray, was on hand in his best western wear to find out who the country music fans picked as the best of 2008.

2008 CMT Awards: Performances

The 2008 awards were hosted by the father and daughter team of Billy Ray Cyrus and Miley Cyrus, who is also known as the star of the Hannah Montana TV series. However, they weren’t the only stars on stage. Between the announcements of the winners, musical performances by some of the hottest country singers filled the air. Performers included everyone from Kenny Chesney and Keith Urban to the biggest winner of the night, Taylor Swift who went from shoeless while presenting to sporting her best pair of boots for her big performance.

2008 CMT Award Winners

The fan-voted winners of this year’s CMT awards were as follows:

• Video of the Year: Taylor Swift, “Our Song”

• Duo Video of the Year: Sugarland, “Stay”

• Male Video of the Year: Trace Adkins, “I Got My Game On”

• Wide Open Country Video of the Year: Alison Krauss and Robert Plant, “Gone, Gone, Gone (Done Moved On)”

• Collaborative Video of the Year: Bon Jovi featuring LeAnn Rimes, “Till We Ain’t Strangers Anymore”

• Female Video of the Year: Taylor Swift, “Our Song”

• Performance of the Year: Kellie Pickler, “I Wonder”

• Comedy Video of the Year: Brad Paisley, “Online”

• Tearjerker Video of the Year: Kellie Pickler, “I Wonder”

• Supporting Character of the Year: Rodney Carrington, “I Got My Game On”

• Video Director of the Year: Michael Salomon

• USA Weekend Breakthrough Video of the Year: Kellie Pickler, “I Wonder”

• Group Video of the Year: Rascal Flats, “Take Me There”

History of Cowboy Church

The history of Cowboy Church goes back to the Old West. During this time, cowboys and ranch hands rarely had access to churches. So when they could, they would gather with their families in a local meeting place, usually the saloon or a barn, and have their own church service. Today, Cowboy Churches exist all over the country and still believe that it doesn’t matter where you get your religion as long as you get it. There are even rodeo ministries that travel around to different rodeos and provide a church service to the participating cowboys and cowgirls.

One of the most famous cowboy churches is the Nashville Cowboy Church in the Opryland area of Nashville, TN. The Nashville Cowboy Church has a yearly attendance of over 20,000 and has visitors from all 50 states and several countries, such as Australia, Scotland, Brazil, England and Russia.

Boots, Jeans and Hats are Proper Attire at Cowboy Church

Cowboy Churches have a very unique dress code in that cowboy boots, cowboy hats and western wear are all considered proper attire. The thought is that if you are welcome to come as you are, than you are more likely to come. Just make sure that you remember to remove that cowboy hat during a prayer, but as soon as you hear “Amen,” you can put it right back on.

Cowboy Church Offers More than Just Church

Most of the cowboy churches offer many events to bring the parishioners together. Almost all churches offer horse riding outings with the pastor; and some even offer rodeo style contests such as boot races.

There is a Cowboy Church near You

If you are interested in checking out Cowboy church, you are in luck because chances are there is one near you. Check out cowboychurch.net for a listing of all Cowboy Churches in North America and Canada. We here at Allens Boots even have one not too far down the road.

*-Photo by April M. Fronick - EAGLE 102 News

After a visit to Texas, Guy Kawasaki, popular entrepreneur, venture capitalist and blogger, decided he needed some new Lucchese boots. A short Google search later and Guy found a great pair of Lucchese Classics on AllensBoots.com. We talk with Guy about his boot buying adventure.

Q: How did you discover Allens Boots?

A: I was trying to find some Lucchese boots on Zappos, but it simply didn’t have the selection that I wanted, so I went to Google and typed in Lucchese and came upon [Allens] Boots.

Q: You were in town for SXSW. Did you make it by the store?

A: I was, but I didn’t know about the store then. Nor was I looking for boots. It’s a long convoluted story: I met a bunch of crazy web folks from Houston at SXSW. In a few weeks I’m speaking in San Antonio, so I decided to hop on over to Houston to see those folks again. One day the guy who taught me how to ice skate showed me his Lucchese [boots], so I decided I had to have a pair for my San Antonio-Houston boondoggle. That led to my search for boots online.

Q: Cowboy boots don’t necessarily seem like the natural footwear choice for someone from Hawaii who went to school at Stanford and became a tech executive and author. When did you start wearing boots, and why?

A: My wife made me buy a pair years ago, but I hardly wore them. Then I spoke in Phoenix for a fast-food association, and they gave all the guests a pair of boots. I liked them so much that I decided I wanted another one in black. My wife told me to buy Lucchese from Zappos.

Q: How often do you wear your boots?

A: I go in spurts. I’ll wear them every day for a week, then not at all for a month, then every day for a week. I like to travel with them because they’re easy to put on after passing through airport security, but having to pack three pairs of shoes (sneakers to work out in, dress shoes for speaking in and boots) can be a pain.

Q: What do you wear your boots with - traditional blue jeans, slacks, khakis?

A: Jeans. Boots are only made for jeans.

Q: How many pairs of boots do you own?

A: Four, not counting the one I ordered.

Q: What made you choose the Men’s Lucchese Classics Tan Mad Dog Goat?

A: It’s the simplest design I could find. I don’t want to look like a pimp who is trying too hard, and ostrich gives me the creeps.

Q: You have a lot of projects going on - what’s your biggest at the moment and why?

A: My primary project is Alltop.com. This is a collection of sites covering a diversity of topics on the Internet like wine, food, art, music, fashion, politics, economics, journalism, cars, gadgets, design, environment, etc. We assemble all the top stories and present their headlines on one page. You can think of it as an “online magazine rack.”

Q: What’s next for the cowboy boot wearing Guy Kawasaki?

A: There’s lots of work to do with Alltop. I’m also a venture capitalist looking for the next Google. Incidentally, as a venture capitalist, I have to deal with a lot of bullsh*t, so that’s why I need boots.

About Guy Kawasaki

Popular entrepreneur, venture capitalist and blogger, Guy Kawasaki is a managing director of Garage Technology Ventures and a columnist for Entrepreneur Magazine. Previously an Apple Fellow at Apple Computer, Inc., Guy is the author of eight books including The Art of the Start, Rules for Revolutionaries, and How to Drive Your Competition Crazy. Currently Guy is focused on Alltop, a metasite providing immersive content on dozens of topics.

Fashion Trend of Spring: Color, Color, Color

The biggest fashion trend of spring 2008 is all about color. We are talking blues, pinks, oranges, purples, reds, yellows – you name the color and if it is bright and alive it is in. Put your blacks, grays, browns and boring monotones in the back of your closet and wake up your spirit by adding some excitement to your wardrobe. According to an article in the Austin American-Statesman; “When it comes to wearing color, the rule of thumb this season is simple: the bolder, the better.”

Fashion Trend of Spring: Colorful Cowboy Boots

Cowboy boots are no exception to the rule of color for this spring’s fashion trend. Cowboy boots come in all shapes, sizes and colors. You can walk down the aisles of Allens Boots and you will see orange, red, blue, purple and even pink. Some have bold prints to go with the bold colors, and for the not so daring, some are a little simpler. Not to mention, cowboy boots go with every style and every color those designers are putting out there.

Fashion Trend of Spring: Bright Western Wear

Just because it is has a style all its own, it doesn’t mean that western wear can’t be on the cutting edge of fashion. The spring 2008 lines of western shirts by Southern Thread, Panhandle Slim, Rockies and many more are all about bright and bold colors. Let’s face it; life is more exciting when you add a splash of color to it.

Fashion Trend of Spring: Big and Bold Jewelry

No outfit this spring is going to be complete without big and bold accessories, this includes jewelry. Big cuffs, gold jewelry, and natural gemstones, like Turquoise top the list this spring for the hottest fashion accessories. So when you have found your perfect pair of springtime boots, make sure you take a gander at our Montana Silversmiths and Vogt jewelry lines. We are pretty sure you will find what you need to be a fashion icon.