3 Expert Shoemakers Say Ron DeSantis Is Probably Wearing Height Boosters

[Demovictory9]

https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2023/10/31/desantis-boots-shoemakers-00121044

3 Expert Shoemakers Say Ron DeSantis Is Probably Wearing Height Boosters
The internet has questions about the governor’s boots. So I asked the experts.

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truthers might be onto something.

“I’ve dealt with these politicians many times,” says Zephan Parker, the bespoke bootmaker behind Houston’s popular Parker Boot Company, which, he says, has made height-increasing cowboy boots for a number of Texan politicians. (No, he won’t reveal any names.) “I’ve helped them with their lifts. [DeSantis] is wearing lifts; there’s no doubt.”

For Parker, there are two giveaways. At a DeSantis campaign event in Tampa, a photo was taken of him from his side, showing the governor in his black cowboy boots and navy worsted suit. Traditional Western boots are typically built with an elevated heel, ranging from 1 1/2” to 1 7/8”. DeSantis’ boots have a traditional Western silhouette, but, to Parker, the heels appear shorter. When you stick inserts into cowboy boots, the combination of the height-increasing lifts and the heels can “turn them into five-inch stilettos,” Parker says. “That’s too much for the common man. So on a ready-made boot, they’ll cut down the heel about half an inch to accommodate the lifts, which looks to be what happened here.” (Shaving down the heels does negate some of the height value of having lifts in the first place.)

The other giveaway, Parker says, is the boots’ tops (what most people would recognize as the shaft). Cowboy boots are made to fit snugly; on their website, Tecovas recommends getting boots sized so that you feel a rush of air leave the boot when your heels drop into place. But such a snug fit leaves little room for a wedge-shaped lift, so people who wear lifts often have to size up in width. This increases all the other measurements in tandem, including the circumference of the tops.

Looking at the photo of DeSantis at his Tampa campaign event, Parker points out how the tops are pushing against his trouser legs. “He looks like he’s wearing trousers with an eight-inch opening,” the bootmaker estimates, “which is plenty of room for a Western boot on a man of his proportions.” The fact that the tops push against the trouser legs suggests to Parker “the boots are bigger than intended, probably to accommodate his lifts.”

Link to tweet

[yardwork]

1. Interesting. That explains why his boots look so sloppy.

[Demovictory9]

2. They look floppy and cheap

[PJMcK]

3. What a sad little man (n/t)

[yonder]

4. In that photo, everybody but one is very sober faced. Grim even.

I assume the one that is not is his wife.

[Demovictory9]

13. Nope. His wife isn't in that pic

[yonder]

14. ..

[Wonder Why]

5. A brain booster would be more useful to him.

[2naSalit]

7. I was thinking...

Lobotomy instead.

[Wonder Why]

8. That was done when he started his presidential run.

[2naSalit]

11. Silly me!

I forgot that part!

[Earth-shine]

6. Those boots fit him like clown shoes.

It's obvious that the tips of his toes are about where the balls of the feet should be.

The toe box is completely empty.

[obamanut2012]

9. KNwon it for years -- I am a seasoned short-man celebrity in lifts spotter

Am never wrong! Once you know what to look for, it jumps right out.

[Kennah]

10. I'm no expert, but I agree

[maxsolomon]

12. Donald Trump wears lifts.

It's the Alpha Male Republican Way.

Dye your hair, get implants, wear lifts, orange makeup, get veneers. So authentic and masculine.