Boot-a-licious

Elephant, cobra, stingray, alligator, ostrich, rattlesnake and sturgeon.

Nope, it’s not a zoo. It’s the CABoots Boot-O-Rama boot show, and that’s the selection of hides available for the elaborate and colorful custom boots.

It might be easy to confuse the boot show for an art show. The handcrafted boots are as unique as they are numerous. No color is off-limits and no style is impossible.

April Cervantes, a boot fit expert for CABoots, is hosting the show in Odessa. The Texas flag, skulls, a Chinese dragon, cherry blossoms and even landscapes grace the hide created to fit the boots.

Self-described “boot fanatic,” Kami Fine visited the trunk show and bought a pair of boots.

“They’re great to dance in; they’re comfortable. I used to live in cowboy boots,” Fine said.

Although CABoots focuses on custom-made boots, the company keeps a small inventory. It was from a limited selection of these boots that Fine purchased her pair.

“I like the stitching on the boots. It makes them very pretty,” Fine said.

Customers can buy everything from dress boots and work boots to belts. All of it is handmade, hand stitched and designed for and by the customer.

Liz Corll visited the boot show and had a fitting done by Cervantes. She flipped through a book that allowed her to mix and match hide types, colors and designs. Corll said she heard about the show and decided to order a pair or boots. After she decided on a design, Cervantes, traced and measured to get the exact dimensions of her feet.

This process goes back a long ways, more than 75 years.

Joey Sanchez and his wife, Priscilla, are the owners of CABoots. Sanchez said that his great-grandfather emigrated from Mexico and had his beginning by working with Tony Lama. In the mid-1930s, Sanchez said his grandfather decided to open his own shop.

The El Paso–based company has been family-owned for four generations. Cervantes said the company, which does a lot of business on the Internet, has shipped boots worldwide and even provided boots for some household names.

Johnny Depp wore CABoots boots in “Pirates of the Caribbean.” The company’s boots were also featured in “3:10 to Yuma.” KISS and Jon Bon Jovi have also sported the footwear. During a phone interview with Sanchez, he said he was in Denver, Colo., delivering boots to the Denver Broncos cheerleaders. CABoots has provided boots for the Metropolitan Opera and other theater productions around the world.

“It’s pretty exciting when stuff like that happens, but it’s like icing on the cake,” Sanchez said.

Sanchez said they have several designers but also welcome the designs of the customers. Each boot ends up being a reflection of the wearer.

“It’s spontaneous and organic, and it has a life of its own,” Sanchez said of the design process.

IF YOU GO

>> What: CABoots Boot-O-Rama boot show.

>> When: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. today.

>> Where: MCM Eleganté Hotel Caribbean Room.

>> Call: 915-544-1855.