Horseshoe and Insurrection let you kick up your heels with vintage cowboy boots

Cowboy boots give me a special kind of sass. I slip on a pair and all of a sudden I'm transformed into a classic country queen, a la Patsy Cline. Wear 'em with the right outfit, and I turn feisty-yet-lovelorn like Tammy Wynette. They make me want to kick up my heels, dance the night away and ride off into the sunset.

I recently visited two stores in Seattle that sell cowboy boots, Insurrection in Greenwood and Horseshoe in Fremont. While the stores attract a different type of cowboy-boot wearer, they both exhibit a reverence and love of this uniquely American footwear.

The connoisseur heads to Insurrection for immaculate vintage boots and faithful new reproductions of styles popular from the 1930s to the 1970s. Insurrection's walls are lined with boots from well-known brands like Tony Lama, Acme and Justin, with prices ranging from $100 to $1,600. The boots feature colorful leather inlays, intricate stitching and a patina that comes from decades of love. Even their new boots have a wistful, understated flair.

Insurrection is one of only four stores in the world to carry Rocket Buster, whose limited-run boots range in price from $925 to $1,200. The leatherwork on Rocket Buster boots is insanely beautiful. One pair features white and green desert flowers and white butterflies on a red and black background -- a true work of art.

If you've always wanted a pair of boots, but are looking to spend a little less dough, check out Horseshoe, where the boots range from $88 to $248. I spied some white ostrich ropers (short boots with a flat heel) for $148, a dusky blue-grey "wear with everything" pair for $98 and some amazing tall brown eel skin boots for $248 that I'm having a hard time getting out of my mind.

Owner Jill Andersen has a flair for pairing modern clothing with vintage boots and gets a thrill when a customer walks out the door with her perfect pair. "Women transform when they put cowboy boots on," she says. "They get an air of confidence." Andersen intends to expand her collection of confidence-boosting boots when Horseshoe moves into its new digs in the former Olivine spot this October.

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