Buy some threads

I've been playing around with gouache and painting my reader girls and haven't been following through with the Home Town prompts for Art in the Time of Self Quarantine for a few days, but today I was inspired by the prompt "buy some threads," i.e., where do you shop for clothing in your home town?

This isn't exactly where I shop for my clothing (I do most of that online), although I have made a couple of trips to this iconic place in the past. But in Van Nuys, if it's cowboy gear that you need, the place to go is the Country General Store on Van Nuys Boulevard at the corner of Sylvan, just south of Victory Boulevard.

The store has been around since 1956, when the San Fernando Valley was closer to its original Wild West status. There were many ranchers and farmers living here who needed functional clothes for hard work—riding horses, hauling oranges, forking out the barn loft. After a while, though, as both the Valley and the store evolved, it became less a surplus store and more a purveyor of the best western wear, whether it was for weekend cowboys, actors, or the real thing.

Country General Store has supplied wardrobe for Dancing with the Stars, The Boys, No Country for Old Men, CSI, 24, Saving Grace, W, Knight Rider, The Hannah Montana Movie, Heroes, Land of the Lost, Leverage, and NCIS, among others.

There is a large Latinx population in Van Nuys, and it seems like whether or not those guys and gals have ever ridden the range, roped some dogies, or come near the rear end of a bucking bronco, a certain percentage of them still favor the cowboy hats, the fancy snap-front shirts and, above all, the beautiful cowboy boots that are found here. If you drive down Van Nuys Boulevard and look at the people walking along the sidewalk, you'll see what I mean.

Saunter in and salivate over their wide range of beautiful footwear, from Frye workboots and Minnetonka moccasins to Tony Lama and hand-tooled Lucchese. You can get you a Stetson custom fitted, try on a fancy Double-D shirt, and finish off your outfit with some basic Levis or Wranglers.

I haven't worn cowboy boots since I was a young rider—the combination of super wide feet with an unusually high instep make it impossible for me to cram them into boots unless there's a zipper involved (which is quite uncowboy-like). But if you have a hankering to deck yourself out in full western style, this is the store for you. Their motto is, "The twinkle in your eye starts with some sparkle on your feet."

Uniball pen, watercolor, in Bee sketchbook.

4-9-2020