Can you wear cowboy boots with a suit? Absolutely. A well-made pair of western boots can even elevate a suit and add a refined touch of western flair.
Professionals, wedding guests, and even several of our nation’s presidents dating back to Teddy Roosevelt have paired their formalwear with western dress boots–so why can’t you?
The key to sporting your favorite western boots in soft, polished leathers and exotic skins like our gator, lizard, and full-quill ostrich all comes down to how you pair them. Not sure where to start? Don’t sweat it—we’ve got you covered with the five golden rules for pairing boots and suits:
- Toe Shape
- Boot Material
- Sole Type
- Boot Color
- Pant Length
1. Toe Shape
When the occasion calls for a professional or formal look, pairing your suit with cowboy boots has some rules you need to follow. Rule one: avoid square-toe boots! Since square-toe boots tend to be more casual, they don’t always work well for more formal or professional settings. To maintain a cohesive look, we recommend wearing boots with a tapered or round toe.
We offer two sizes for all of our boots, D (average) and EE (wide), so it’s simple for every foot shape and size to find that perfect glove-like fit. After all, what good is looking good if you’re uncomfortable? The right pair of right-fitting boots won’t just elevate a suit, they’ll make you feel at ease and confident. And that is something people will notice every time. Our lizard skin boots like The Nolan, is one such example, shown below in Bourbon lizard.
2. Boot Material
The right boot material will take your look the extra distance. While goat skin boots and roughout leather roper boots look incredible and can certainly complement other looks, they don’t belong under a suit.
We recommend pairing your suit with cowboy boots made of exotic leathers, like The Wyatt boot in Grain ostrich or The Dillon caiman boot in Pecan, also pictured below. These exotic boots hides stun and will elevate and add western style to even the nicest tailored suits.
For a more nuanced look when pairing cowboy boots with a suit, stick to rich, polished, supple, full-grain leather like The Earl boot pictured below.
3. Sole Type
When pairing boots with formalwear of any kind, never select boots with a chunky, heavy-lugged, rubber sole–period! Choose a pair of polished, well-made boots with good-looking thin rubber soles, as seen on The Jake or The Jason. Or, stick with classic leather soles, as seen below on The Nash.
4. Boot Color: The Best Boot & Suit Color Combinations
To pair cowboy boots with a suit, it’s best to stick with classic boot colors: black and shades of brown. Depending on your boot color, you will have a few different suit color options to choose from.
Pro Tip: Always match your belt color to your shoes and your tie (if you’re wearing one) to your suit. We offer several matching men’s western belts in full-grain and exotic leather to make that task simple. For last-minute sprucing up, travel with a leather care kit.
Black Cowboy Boots
As a general rule, it’s recommended that the dress shoes you wear should be as dark or darker than the color of your suit. There’s no better way to effortlessly achieve this task than with a pair of black boots!
Black is the most versatile color that can go with just about anything, making it an easy choice for unlimited formalwear options. Feel free to pair a black, charcoal, grey or light grey, blue, or navy blue suit with cowboy boots like we did with The Wyatt boot in Midnight full-quill ostrich shown in the photos below.
Brown Cowboy Boots
If you want to pair a suit with a more casual and modern look, we recommend styling your suit with brown boots in a dark, medium, or light shade. Not only can sporting a pair of brown boots offer a nice change of pace if you’re used to always wearing black boots, but they also still pair well with many classic suit colors already hanging in your closet.
For instance, we love to pair brown boots (dark brown boots in particular) with black suits, charcoal, mid and light grey suits, navy suits, and brown suits. Just look at how striking the rich Walnut color of The Townes alligator boot pairs with this grey pant!
For a more fun or relaxed look, opt-in for a blue, navy blue, or light grey suit with cowboy boots in lighter shades of brown, like medium or light brown. See this look in action below with this groom wearing The Wyatt in Pecan ostrich or this professional-looking fellow below wearing The Chance in Chestnut with a dark blue suit. Talk about two men who know their style!
5. Pant Length
As you can see from the photos above, no well-fitting suit pants should roll or bunch. Your pants should be tailored to fit the boot, starting with length.
You’ll want pants that, at their longest, hit the top of the vamp. This not only looks clean, but it gives any impressive detailing on the shaft a moment to shine. If time allows, we also recommend wearing your boots to the tailor with your unhemmed pants to get a perfect fit over the boot.
If you have a suit ready to go but need a pair of boots you can throw on out of the box and look like a rockstar, The Dean is a low-profile alternative to other cowboy boot styles ideal for slimmer pant legs. It’s also available in medium Bourbon brown, dark Stout brown, and Midnight black, depending on your needs or preferred look.
Suit Up in Style with Tecovas
From first call to last call and beyond, no other boots keep up with all of life’s adventures and special occasions quite like Tecovas. Browse and shop Tecovas today to find your new go-to pair of dress boots, western wear, and western men's accessories for every way you like to work and play.