Paddock meets runway in new high-end shoe line

When you think of Tumalo and Sisters, rolling pastures, bright blue skies and grazing horses probably come to mind. You probably don’t think of high-end footwear. Two sisters want to change that.

Kelly Beall and Wendy Weems were born and raised on an Oregon ranch.

“If you were raised in our house, you had to ride a horse,” Weems says.

Cowboy boots were a necessary accessory for the daily work.

“It wasn’t something we thought about, as far as style,” Weems says. “It was just our life.”

But when they got old enough to start thinking about style, Beall says, they found something was missing.

“When we put on slacks and dresses, we had to put on cowboy boots,” she says. “It just didn’t dress it up as much as we wanted.”

So they decided to make their own shoes, from sketches Beall had drawn through the years.

“I loved her styles,” Weems says. “I just kept watching them and thinking, ‘I want to wear these shoes.'”

The sisters jumped in the saddle 1 1/2 years ago, and Y Knot Branded was born.

“It was a combination of things from our past, things in our closet, the horses,” Beall says.

Beal creates and Weems crunches the numbers. With names like ‘Saddled-Up’ and ‘Spur of the Moment,’ this shoe line is all about fusing the paddock with the runway.

“I’ve heard everything from, ‘Finally!’ to, ‘Oh, I’ve been looking for this,’ to, ‘Oh, I so needed this,'” Weems says.

As for Beall and Weems — they’re excited to break the shoes in with some line dancing.

The first shipment arrives in late June. The sisters tell me they’ve already secured retail spots in stores across the U.S. and Canada. Those stores have already started pre-selling the shoes.

For more information, visit yknotbranded.com.