Emma Roberts leaned into studded Western boots for two off-duty looks just weeks apart, showing how the same footwear idea can work with very different outfits. On January 15, 2015, she paired a blue floral Charles Henry maxi dress with black Anine Bing studded ankle boots while shopping in West Hollywood.
The look followed a more casual airport outfit from December 28, 2014, when Roberts arrived at Los Angeles International Airport in dark denim and Chloé Susanna boots. Both pairs combine pointed, Western-influenced shapes with metal hardware, but the styling gives each one a distinctly different feel.
1. Emma Roberts Pairs a Floral Maxi Dress With Anine Bing Studded Boots
For her West Hollywood shopping trip, Roberts wore a long-sleeved blue floral maxi dress by Charles Henry, creating a softer backdrop for the black studded ankle boots.
She accessorized with a black Gucci crossbody bag, earrings, and round sunglasses, while the ankle-length dress left enough of the boots visible to make them an important part of the outfit.
Emma Roberts pairs a blue Charles Henry floral maxi dress with black Anine Bing studded ankle boots while shopping in West Hollywood on January 15, 2015 (Credit: WENN)
At 5 feet 2 inches (157 cm) tall with a US shoe size 6, Roberts is often photographed in height-boosting heels for events, but this outfit shows how a low ankle boot can work with a long dress without disappearing beneath the hem.
The ankle-length hem of Emma Roberts’ Charles Henry floral dress leaves her studded Anine Bing boots visible, while a black Gucci crossbody bag completes the West Hollywood look
Inside Emma Roberts’ Anine Bing Studded Western Boots
Roberts finished the look with black Anine Bing ankle boots that reinterpret Western footwear with pointed toes, tonal stitching, suede side panels, and low stacked heels. Rows of small metal studs give the black boots their most distinctive detail.
The combination works particularly well with the dress because the boots provide a structured, hardware-heavy counterpoint to the softer floral fabric rather than simply matching its feminine feel.
A close-up of Emma Roberts’ Anine Bing ankle boots shows their rows of metal studs, Western-style stitching, pointed toes, suede side panels, and low stacked heels
The Anine Bing boots were available with different hardware finishes, including silver-tone and gold-tone studs.
Anine Bing’s black Western ankle boots with silver-tone studs, pointed toes, tonal stitching, and suede side panels
The gold-tone studded version of Anine Bing’s black Western-inspired ankle boot
Western-Inspired Boots Were a Recurring Part of Her 2015 Style
The Anine Bing pair wasn’t an isolated choice. Less than two weeks later, Roberts wore Sol Sana Malvin booties while shopping in Los Angeles on January 28, 2015. Their pointed toes, oversized buckles, harness-style straps, and block heels offered another variation on the hardware-heavy Western footwear she was favoring during this period.
2. Emma Roberts Travels in Chloé Susanna Studded Boots
A few weeks before the Anine Bing outing, Roberts chose another studded, Western-influenced boot for an entirely different setting. She arrived at LAX from New York City on December 28, 2014, wearing black Chloé Susanna ankle boots with a relaxed travel outfit.
Emma Roberts wears Chloé Susanna studded ankle boots with dark skinny jeans, a black T-shirt, and a striped beanie while arriving at LAX from New York City on December 28, 2014 (Credit: WENN / David Buchan)
Roberts kept the rest of the outfit simple with a loose black T-shirt, dark skinny jeans, oversized sunglasses, and a black-and-white striped beanie. She also traveled with Louis Vuitton luggage.
The mostly black palette emphasizes the boots’ metallic hardware, while green socks peeking above the shafts create a small break between the black leather and dark denim.
Emma Roberts keeps her LAX outfit understated in a striped knit beanie, oversized sunglasses, black T-shirt, and dark skinny jeans, leaving the studded boots as its most detailed element
Why Chloé’s Susan/Susanna Boots Became a 2010s Shoe Icon
Roberts’ black boots feature pointed toes, rows of metal studs, and three buckled straps across the front. The Chloé Susan/Susanna boot originated in the house’s Pre-Fall 2008 collection and became one of the defining designer ankle boots of the following years, with its low Western-influenced silhouette, multiple buckles, and dense metal hardware appearing on numerous celebrities.
On Roberts, the low stacked heels make the boots practical for walking through an airport, while the pointed toes and gold-tone hardware keep them visually distinct from a basic black ankle boot.
A close-up of Emma Roberts’ black Chloé Susanna ankle boots shows the pointed toes, gold-tone studs, triple buckled straps, and green socks visible above the shafts
Why Studded Western Boots Keep Returning to Celebrity Style
Emma Roberts’ two outfits capture much of the lasting appeal of studded Western boots. The Anine Bing pair creates contrast beneath a soft floral maxi dress, while her Chloé Susanna boots add texture and hardware to an otherwise simple airport uniform. In both cases, the shoes make an impact without relying on a high heel.
That versatility is part of a much longer fashion story. Cowboy boots began as functional riding footwear, with sturdy construction, tapered toes, protective shafts, and heels designed around life on horseback. Over time, designers and musicians repeatedly reworked the silhouette, taking it far beyond its ranching origins and into runway collections, concerts, festivals, and everyday street style.
Studded versions push the familiar shape in a more decorative direction. Metal hardware catches the eye against leather or suede, while pointed toes, Western stitching, buckles, and stacked heels preserve the original boot’s recognizable character. The result can read differently depending on what surrounds it: tougher with denim and a T-shirt, unexpected beneath a floral dress, or theatrical as part of a stage look.
From Western Workwear to Pop-Culture Staple
Western fashion has experienced repeated revivals rather than one continuous trend. Its visibility surged again in the 2020s as designers revisited cowboy references and major pop-culture moments brought the look to a much larger audience. Beyoncé’s Cowboy Carter era became an especially influential example, while Taylor Swift has worn cowboy boots from her early country career through the Eras Tour. The television series Yellowstone also helped put Western clothing back into the mainstream conversation.
Those moments amplified a style with much deeper roots. Cowboy boots have moved through Hollywood, country music, rock culture, festival dressing, and designer fashion for decades, which helps explain why they keep returning even after individual Western trends fade.
Why Studs Change the Look
The appeal of a studded Western boot comes largely from contrast. A plain leather cowboy boot can feel traditional or utilitarian; adding rows of metal studs, buckles, or other hardware gives the same basic silhouette a sharper, more rock-influenced character.
That makes the style particularly adaptable in celebrity wardrobes. With jeans, studs can turn a familiar off-duty combination into something more distinctive. Under a long dress, as Roberts demonstrated with her Anine Bing boots, the weight of black leather and metal hardware offsets softer fabric and print. Onstage, embellished Western boots can become part of the spectacle itself, with performers and designers transforming traditional Western signatures into elaborate stagewear.
A Boot Style Built on Contrast
What makes the look endure is less about any single celebrity or fashion cycle than the tension built into the shoe itself: practical roots versus decorative hardware, rugged leather versus feminine dresses, and a traditional Western silhouette interpreted through contemporary fashion.
Roberts’ Anine Bing and Chloé looks are good examples precisely because neither feels like a costume. One pair works beneath a blue floral maxi dress; the other with black denim and a T-shirt. Years after those 2014 and 2015 sightings, that contrast remains one of the simplest ways to understand why studded Western boots keep finding their way back into celebrity wardrobes.
👢 More Ways Celebrities Wear Studded Western Boots:
- ⛓️ Rita Ora takes the Western boot in a rock-and-roll direction, pairing glossy black knee-high cowboy boots with chunky silver chains, a studded leather corset, and hotpants.
- 🖤 Ashley Greene gives studded Western ankle boots a relaxed LA feel with distressed denim cutoffs and an embellished top, showing how metal hardware can sharpen an otherwise casual outfit.
- ⭐ Miley Cyrus brings Versace’s studded Western boots to the stage, using the cowboy silhouette and dense metal detailing as part of a much bolder performance look.
- 🪶 Rosie Huntington-Whiteley combines Western fringe and studs in Saint Laurent boots, contrasting their pointed toes and embellished fringe with an understated black sweater and skinny jeans.
- ✨ Isabel Marant’s Caleen boots offer a sleeker take on the studded cowboy boot, with Jessica Biel and other celebrities showing how the sparsely studded Western design changes character with different outfits.
- 🌟 Rosie Huntington-Whiteley takes the cowboy boot above the knee in Isabel Marant, wearing suede Ladra boots covered in geometric rows of gold-tone studs for a more dramatic interpretation of Western footwear.