Boot Shopping in León
Our son Danny has lived in Austin for years, and like many Texans, he proudly wears cowboy boots almost everywhere. He has several pairs of Tecova brand boots, and wore stylish python Tecovas on his trip to San Miguel. Danny and Mei invited me to join them on a day trip to León for some boot shopping. I didn’t want any boots for myself, but I was happy to tag along.
León was about 75 miles (120 kilometers) west of San Miguel. Mei hired a driver for the two hour drive, and we set out at mid-morning. On both sides of the narrow two-lane highway were scrub-colored hills, barren plains, and small gulleys. The landscape reminded me of Texas Hill Country.
As we passed through the tiny town of La Sauceda, about halfway to León, our driver pointed out a roadside restaurant that he liked. We came just short of yelling, “Stop!” and asked him to pull over. That restaurant, Gorditas La Flor, looked too interesting to pass up. Our driver happily joined us for a light lunch. There was a huge buffet of simple and delicious local dishes. It cost only $11 to feed the four of us.
León was big and busy, with tall buildings and noisy traffic - the opposite of quaint historic San Miguel. It’s the leather capital of Mexico, and leather boots and shoes made in León are sold around the world. Tecova and other well-known retailers have factories in Leon.
Our driver dropped us off at a shopping mall on the edge of Zona Piel, the Leather Market district. Danny was in search of boots made from elephant or alligator leather. (He and Mei had done some research and reassured me that these exotic leathers were ethically sourced and legal to purchase.)
Our first stop was a store in the mall selling Cuadra, a luxury brand. They had stylish boots with intricate hand-tooled (instead of embroidered) detailing. Danny was shown a limited-edition pair of elephant boots, with matching belt and elegance wooden box. The price? 32,000 MXN (about 1,600 USD). No thanks!
We left the mall and walked along a busy street to the heart of Zona Piel - an open-air market with endless rows of stalls selling cowboy boots. Well, there were a few stalls with sneakers, but most had boots. There were boots of every conceivable color, height, and toe shape. There were boots with bling, or fringe, or both. (And to go with your boots, there were hats, belts, and even saddles.) Every shop had boots with exotic leathers. We learned the difference between alligator and caiman. We saw plenty of python boots like the ones Danny was wearing, and even some turtle boots (illegal in the US).
The boots were of great quality, with embroidered detailing, and perhaps one third of the price of similar boots sold in the USA. As Danny and Mei tried on boots, we were amused to realize staffers were running to different stalls to fetch other sizes.
Mei bought classic white boots. After some deliberation, Danny chose boots made from deep black elephant leather. Mission accomplished, we walked back to meet our driver for the drive home. The high desert landscape was more beautiful on the return trip, with the setting sun giving the brown vegetation golden hue. As we neared San Miguel, we had to stop briefly while a real-life cowboy herded cows across the road.
I enjoyed spending time with Danny and Mei, seeing the countryside, tasting delicious local dishes at the roadside buffet, and experiencing León’s famous Zona Piel. And those new boots looked great!