I got these boots from wildwestbootstores/google express. They would have been cute if I did not get an old, dry rotted pair. When I got them, they had some wrinkling on the foot of the left boot, and some on the right foot, but I thought I would "overlook" it. Bad Mistake. There was white dust and sand under the buckles and straps, enough to make me sneeze. I cleaned them w/ warm soap & water and leather cleaner to get the sand & white powder off. 2 days after receiving them, the foot region of the boots began to wrinkle, crumple in, loose their shape, the foot just "caved in."
An article about dry rot says: "If you can easily identify cracks, tears or breaks in the leather, it may be dry rotting. Leather begins to shrink as it dry rots, pulling the fibers of the leather apart. After these fibers are broken, they cannot be repaired. Feel the leather's surface. If it feels hard or brittle to the touch, it may have begun dry rotting. Observe any powdery substance that may have been deposited onto your fingers. If you can see any powder after touching the leather, the item is likely very dry rotted." (Note the white powder, that is what was all over the boots under the buckles and straps.) The article states: "Dry rotting results when the oils of the leather evaporate, causing the fibers to dry out and pull apart from one another. The evaporation of oil causes the leather become weak and possibly crack or break as a result." This can happen if leather has not been treated (application of leather conditioner), stored too long, exposed to high/low temperatures during storage.
Watch out for signs of dry rot on these boots that Wildwestbootstores are selling! If they are cracked, wrinkling on the foot or have white powder/dust/sand on them, they might have been stored too long, and might have dry rot. They used as an excuse that these are a so called "distressed" style of boots! I have purchased the distressed style of boots before, and distressed boots should have a distressed finish, but the boots' structure should not cave in, crumple or be damaged at the foot or any other region of the boot. If you purchase boots from them, and the foot region continues to wrinkle, crease, crumple, cave in and loose their shape 1 to 2 days after purchase, return them. ON AN EXPENSIVE PAIR OF BOOTS PURCHASED BRAND NEW, THE FOOT SHOULD HOLD IT'S SHAPE AND NOT CRUMPLE AND CAVE IN. Here are the pics of the boots 2 days after I received them. Note the crumpling, caved in look and heavy creasing. Compare to the pictures of the boots shown online brand new. Save yourself a heartache, return them if they look like this! Watch out for Wildwestbootstores.com selling old/used boots as brand new. These do not look like brand new boots. These look like they came from the thrift store! See the photos!
Great to hear from another happy customer! Happy Shopping