The first words that come to mind to describe Wendy Lane Henry's custom-made cowboy boots might be "John Wayne glitz," but don't try that phrase in her presence.

The owner of Back at the Ranch on Marcy Street sees her lines of custom high-end footwear more as "cowboy fashion-forward."

The former Manhattan fashion retailer and ready-to-wear designer found herself in Santa Fe in the late 1980s and, eager to continue in the clothing business, quickly adapted a Western flair.

In 1990, the lanky cowgirl fashionista opened a Western-kitsch shop on Don Gaspar Avenue — some boots, some hats and few snap-button shirts bought from Western- wear wholesalers were pretty much Henry's stock in trade.

"It was a little store, everything was used. It was me working and one other person," Henry said. "And now we're in the cowboy boot luxury business." She has 14 employees, including eight craftsmen in her El Paso boot factory.

"It sort of evolved into that," said Henry, 61.

The first step in the transformation from early cowpoke to cowboy couture was her move in 2000 to her current 1,600-square-foot adobe shop at 209 E. Marcy St., where neon "Howdy y'all" and "Happy Trails" signs greet patrons.

The walls are decorated with 1950s-era Western movie posters (remember Rex Allen and Slim Pickins in Red River Shore? — probably not), cowboy hats on real or faux horns from longhorn steers, and the desert de rigueur bleached cattle skulls.

Also lining the shelves among the adult boots is Henry's eclectic collection of scores of children's boots. "They're not for sale," Henry quickly insisted.

It was about five years ago on a trip to Malibu, Calif., that Henry noticed that a Western-wear shop's custom, high-priced cowboy boots were going like flapjacks on a bunkhouse griddle.

"I saw that they were making multiple sales with multiple colors," Henry said. "I saw that they were selling and that there was a market for it."

Flash forward a few years, thanks to word of mouth and some national notoriety, and Henry is peddling her gunfighter-chic boots to the likes of Randy Travis — a size 10, black saddle style with buckskin stitching on calfskin leather — a steal at $1,598; and to Daryl Hall of Hall and Oates, who went for the El Rancho, "roughout" (where the skin is turned inside out) pigskin with red, calf uppers and elephant-skin heels — another bargain at $1,498.

Others seen squeezing their Tinseltown toes into Henry's boots include Jane Fonda, Renee Zellweger and pop-psych maven Dr. Laura Schlessinger.

"A lot of Jane's friends buy their boots here, too," said sales manager Susan LaPointe, who Henry lured to her shop from LaPointe's former management job at Ann Taylor.

LaPointe also noted that both former New Mexico trail boss Bill Richardson (size 12) and current Roundhouse wrangler Susana Martinez (size 71/2) have bought the $2,598 Stars and Stripes calfskin boots replete with a red, white and blue American flag, a gold bald eagle and "Born to Be Free" etched on the collar."

"Bill buys a lot of boots for friends," LaPointe said.

Calfskin is the most common leather in Henry's boots, but more exotic skins include ostrich, caiman lizard and even the coarse sting-ray preferred by bikers for its durability.

The priciest high-end boots are the alligator skins. An unadorned pair can easily go for $7,000 or $8,000, though there is the $800 bargain-bin footwear.

Henry said her boots can actually be used for riding and shoeing horses, but that those who can afford the fancy footwear usually can afford to hire someone to do the horse shoeing.

As for the immediate future, Henry plans to introduce a line of handbags, and has wrapped up a deal with Peter Elliot, a Manhattan men's fashion retailer, to carry her boots for New Yorkers who long to put on the Western ritz.

ON THE WEB

• www.backattheranch.com