How I Met Your Mother: What Happened To Ted’s Cowboy Boots

What happened to Ted’s bright red cowboy boots in How I Met Your Mother? The infamous boots made their introduction in season 3 of the sitcom. Ted’s favorite footwear would make a few more appearances within the series before they met their fiery fate.

Ted’s (Josh Radnor) red cowboy boots first appeared in the episode “Everything Must Go.” Marshall (Jason Segel) and Lily (Alyson Hanigan) are forced to pay a lot of money to repair the slanted floor in their apartment. To come up with the finances, Marshall suggested that Lily sell some of her designer clothes. This got the group talking about clothes they keep but never wear which caused them to bring up Ted’s cowboy boots. Marshall, Lily, and Robin (Cobie Smulders) made fun of Ted for never wearing his boots so he decided to don them throughout the episode. In Ted’s mind, he totally “pulled them off” and to prove it to his friends, he got style approval from the “G-CWOK” (gay couple without kids) that Lily sold her art to.

The origin of Ted’s red cowboy boots was revealed in the season 6 episode, “Hopeless.” Robin met a man named Nick at a bar and instantly recognized him. He worked at the same store where Ted bought his cowboy boots against Robin’s advice. Ted mocked the boots at first but the saleswoman claimed that Ted would look hot in them so he instantly bought them. Ted didn’t know it at the time, but those boots would be worn by a handful of people in the years to come.

In How I Met Your Mother season 4, Ted wore the cowboy boots during “Three Days Rule.” Ted got a girl’s number and decided to text her rather than wait three days to call her per Barney’s (Neil Patrick Harris) rule. He got a ton of confidence when the girl texted back which is why he put on his boots. In reality, Ted was texting Barney and Marshall who were trying to protect him from moving too quickly.

Later, in season 8, Ted brought up the fact that his friend Stuart borrowed the red cowboy boots and never returned them. In reality, a flashback revealed that Stuart gave them to Barney and explained that his wife used them for his Wonder Woman costume and a man could never get a woman wearing those boots. Barney accepted that challenge before Robin tried to cut up the boots with a pocket knife. Robin then found the boots in Barney’s closet, meaning he carried on with the challenge.

That same season, Ted started to date Jeanette (Abby Elliot), a girl the rest of the group thought was crazy. At one point, she wore Ted’s red cowboy boots which made him fall for her even harder. Lily warned Ted that the relationship would go up in flames and that literally happened. In “Weekend at Barney’s,” Jeanette found Barney’s Playbook but thought it was Ted’s so she destroyed everything in his apartment. As Ted and his friends watched from outside, Jeanette threw his belongings out of the window before she set his boots on fire.

The moment the red cowboy boots were destroyed was the same moment that Ted decided he needed to settle down. By giving up his boots, he gave up on his lifestyle of frivolous dating. The article of clothing was a representation of his old life. How I Met Your Mother was an expert in using objects like that as more meaningful motifs. Whether Ted was really able to pull off the red cowboy boots is still up for discussion.

About The Author

Kara Hedash
(1745 Articles Published)

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Kara Hedash is a features editor and writer for Screen Rant. From time to time, she dives into the world’s most popular franchises but Kara primarily focuses on evergreen topics. The fact that she gets to write about The Office regularly is like a dream come true. Before joining Screen Rant, Kara served as a contributor for Movie Pilot and had work published on The Mary Sue and Reel Honey. After graduating college, writing began as a part-time hobby for Kara but it quickly turned into a career. She loves binging a new series and watching movies ranging from Hollywood blockbusters to hidden indie gems. She also has a soft spot for horror ever since she started watching it at too young of an age. Her favorite Avenger is Thor and her favorite Disney princess is Leia Organa. When Kara’s not busy writing, you can find her doing yoga or hanging out with Gritty.

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