Denise Langley
Denise Langley Design
Cortez, ColoradoDenise Langley Chaps

If Coco Chanel had designed chaps, it's likely they may have resembled the ones created by Denice Langley, as this month's "inner Cowgirl" is about taking the Western style to high design. Growing up in Cortez, Colorado, passionate about horses and being crowned Rodeo Queen in high school, Denice was always a step apart from the traditional look of her rodeo-ing counterparts. Even as a young girl, her eye went to the styles of Ralph Lauren, Coco Chanel and Hermes - sophisticated, rich and perhaps a bit whimsical.

Denise remembers when she was in high school, she just hated the cowgirl shirts and outfits that were available to buy at the local tack stores. She wanted to look different. She would buy $50/yard gabardine fabric, design and sew her own shirts to wear at competition. Soon, she wasn't just making them for herself but many of the men wanted them too. At a very young age, Denice Langley, designer, was born.

But life got in the way for a period of years and Denice became part of the six figure corporate world working in Oklahoma City as a retail manager for Helzberg Diamonds. Then one day, as she was nearing 40, she woke and realized she wasn't happy. "I would go to work when it was dark and come home when it was dark - seven days a week! This is no way to live!"

The opportunity to work with her mother's thriving business in New Mexico gave her the escape route she needed and put her back in the world of horses she dearly missed and loved. Selling her home and living in a horse trailer for a year and a half, Lisa got back into showing cutting horses.

But, in true Langley style, she wanted fancier chaps than the ones that were available. So, instead of saving up to have them custom-made, she saved up and bought her first leather sewing machine and designed her own. Incredible tooling, detailing and fit, they were an immediate hit and she found herself taking orders, designing and making chaps for many men on the circuit.

Not happy with the silver available to use as accents, she found her own silver supply and, with the help of a cassette video, became a self-taught engraver. That's Denice, self-taught all the way driven by a passion for transcending Western-style to high-design! Artist extraordinaire by nature, today her lines include purses to rival any Hermes bag; belts and accessories to adorn that little black dress, custom sandals, vests and coats. A stunning suede cape adorned with fur and sterling took the 2009 Western Design Conference Fashion Show by storm drawing oohs and ahhs from the savvy Jackson Hole crowd.

But wait -there's more! Denice creates the most fabulous line of boot accessories which she calls "UFF's." These boot adornments take any pair of cowboy boots or UGG's and transforms them to the mood your in that day. Want a little fringe, perhaps you're feeling a bit in the mood for mink? These interchangeable zip-on boot cuffs take the average and transform them into the exceptional.

Today, Denice is back in her hometown of Cortez, Colorado where she still works seven days a week but now it's in her studio with her horse right outside and her dogs at her feet. Everything Denice creates is original and completely hand-made. You'll find no rhinestones on anything she makes but what you will find is what she does create will turn heads on 5th Avenue in New York. It may be western-inspired but it's all high-style.

Denice Langley
Denice Langley Designs
10405 Hwy 491
Cortez, CO 81321
(970) 564-5184
denice@denicelangley.com
www.denicelangley.com

This month, Smoke Signals chats with Lisa Sorrell, founder, owner and artisan of Sorrell Custom Boots.

In a most engaging conversation with Lisa Sorrell, it became immediately evident that this woman is truly an artist passionate about her work - creating some of the most beautiful boots anyone's feet could ever don.

"I'm a boot maker, not a cowboy" is her opening statement. And how she stumbled into her craft is story of the most unlikely of circumstances. Lisa was raised in a strict religious community in Missouri akin perhaps the Amish. At an early age, Lisa began sewing her own clothes as what she was allowed to wear couldn't be "bought at Macy's." By the age of 15, she was an accomplished seamstress sewing clothes for women in the community. At the age of 20, she married and together she and her new husband moved to Oklahoma. Needing a job and knowing her talent for sewing, she answered an ad in the local paper for a position stitching boot tops. She had absolutely no idea what this was - had never heard of it before. But, her sewing skills landed her the job and she spent the next 1-1/2 years working with master boot maker and designer Jay Griffith. And the rest as they say, is history.

By 1996, she opened her own business which, as she tells it, could never have been done without the dedication and support of her husband Dale. Now, both wife and mother, her husband provided her the team support to develop her artistic design skills and begin marketing her rich creations. She began by making real working cowboy boots but her real love was creating what she calls "office boots" - the kind of boots men wear with the finest suits in professional environments. It was these "office boots" that brought her artistic talent to the forefront. In the most charming of statements, Lisa believes "cowboy boots are a way for men to wear high heels in bright colors."

Well done Lisa for in just 3 short years, her work was recognized and featured in Tyler Beard's hard-cover coffee table book, "The Art of the Boot" published by Gibbs Smith in 1999.

Today, Lisa's clients span the globe from Belgium to Buenos Aires. While the majority of her clients are men, the number of women she designs for is on the rise. She meets personally with each of her clients for custom fittings but more importantly so she can glean the personality of the person destined to wear them. Through that, she can create the design and incorporate the colors that will reflect the heart and "sole" of the wearer. "They aren't just a piece of footwear, they tell a story."

As a boot maker and an artist Lisa feels that "cowboy boots are the perfect representation of art and craft meeting." Today in her studio, she employs an apprentice but don't expect overnight results. The intense design work and craftsmanship that goes into each pair takes time.  You can be sure, though, that they will be worth the wait!

Lisa Sorrell
Sorrell Custom Boots
217 E. Oklahoma Avenue
Guthrie, OK 73044
405-282-5464
www.customboots.net
customboots@aol.com

This month, Smoke Signals is honored to "sit in the saddle" with...

Lisa Skyhorse, Skyhorse Saddle Company, Durango, Colorado

"It's so fun to be unique within the good old boys network," was Lisa's opening comment in our interview. Unique perhaps because she's a woman, but more likely unique because her passion, her artistry and integrity all go into each piece she creates - heirloom pieces that are built to ride.

"I feel so lucky that at a young age, just in my twenties, I discovered what it was I wanted to do - build the finest saddles. I was always artsy and as an art student at UCLA I began dabbling in leather as a medium and found I loved it. I began selling my pieces at street fairs (purses, belts, etc) which paid for my last two years of college."

Following graduation, Lisa moved to Northern California where she opened Sundance Leather Company and in short order, had 33 employees and a full manufacturing operation producing her purse and belt designs. One day she realized she had become a manager of a good-sized business and was no longer practicing the art she loved. She wanted to be an artist again. She spent the next two years apprenticing with a very traditional artisan saddlemaker. As she recalls, "When I finished the first saddle I ever made I knew this is what I wanted to do." And done it she has. As you're sitting at your computer reading this article, take a minute, open another window in your browser and go to www.skyhorse.com and just be blown away by the works of Lisa Skyhorse. Sometimes it's true, a picture is worth a thousand words... Sigh... it's one beautiful work after another. Okay, back to the story.

Along her way in life, in 1972, Lisa met husband Loren Skyhorse. A perfect match as Loren was the consummate horseman and quickly became as passionate about saddlemaking as she is. Coming from a long line of leather toolers, Loren works alongside Lisa today using tools that belonged to his grandfather. Together as a team they create works of art in saddlery.