In Texas they take these things seriously. Word has slipped that Rick Perry has taken off his cowboy boots for good, saying they worsen the back pain that was reportedly the proximate cause of his 2012 presidential campaign’s worst moment.

But that don’t sit well with the state’s land commissioner, Jerry Patterson. “Tell Rick that boots can be purchased with normal heels,” Patterson commented to a columnist for the Austin American-Statesman. “I lament the fact that our governor could now pass for a West Coast metrosexual and has embarrassed us all with his sartorial change of direction.”

The New York Times further notes that:

Mr. Perry’s remark that he was no longer wearing boots appeared to violate at least the spirit of House Concurrent Resolution No. 151 — a formal declaration by the Texas Legislature designating cowboy boots as the state footwear of Texas, in honor of their role “in the mythic romance of the Lone Star State.” Mr. Perry signed the resolution in June 2007.

Nothing against the boots versus shoes debate, but if there’s one thing that softens Perry’s look, it’s these hipster glasses he’s been wearing of late.