and sitting room
shoemaker's
between the boot & the body
These custom made leather bootpants were created for Buzz Bissinger, who came to me with a dream…
…along with some reference for the shape of the boot that he liked.
The all-in-one leather bootpants he dreamed of were not going to be worn just for limited occasions. He wanted to be able to wear them with some really stand out pieces by Gucci, Etro and others that he wears on a daily basis.
His style is basically couture/fetish. Tough, very edgy, a little dark and very high-end. He has no problem mixing in items from a women’s collection or a fetish collection if it suits him. Also he rides, and loves a full leather look. So if he could wear the bootpants out riding – that would be a plus.
I started searching for examples of similar pieces- finding only a few, mostly so-called “bootpants”usually loaded up with lacing and meant for pure novelty – some were sneakers, or wrestling boot inspired, others pure fetish. These had to work as wearable fashion.
My initial concept was quite clean – but as I worked on these it became obvious that a great deal more length than you’d ever expect is needed around the knee area to be able to sit down and move comfortably without dragging the pants down!
So after some experimentation (you can see in the photos) – I created an articulated knee, based on the back venting of a motorcycle jacket. The knee opens up like an accordion, for bending and sitting- and folds back together upon standing up. The interior flanges are made of a heavy stretch lambskin. It was really important that these bootpants be all leather.
The leather that Buzz chose for the body of the pants is one of the most popular cowhides I offer, it’s called Royce and comes in many colors. These skins tend to be a fairly smooth grain with a semi-matte finish, especially in the darker shades. Some other pants I’ve made in this leather can be seen here and here.
Between the experimentation and multiple the trips to the shoemaker, these all-in-one leather bootpants entailed more fittings than any single garment I’ve made so far. I really have to commend Buzz, he was such an integral part of the process- it became very collaborative and he was great to work with.