At Home with Jena Malone

Jena Malone will tell you that cowboy boots are meant for all activities–and she means all of them. She’s worn hers through airports, tucked her chargers and eye mask inside for safekeeping and (her words, not ours) copulated in them. Ask her what she can’t do in a pair of Partlows and she’ll actually have to think about it. Here’s the interview that almost made us blush.

LAWREN
Okay, this is the first time I've ever done this, so you guys bear with me.

JENA
It’s okay, I'm here with you, don't worry.

LAWREN
What's your horoscope sign?

JENA
Oh, I have so many, like 5 or 6, houses in Scorpio. So my Sun is Scorpio, my Moon is Scorpio, my Rising is Scorpio, my Mars is Scorpio. It's a lot.

LAWREN
A lot of Scorpio. There's a lot of Scorpio going on in this house.

JENA
It's a little dangerous.

LAWREN
What was your first impression when putting on a pair of Partlow boots?

JENA
That they were beautifully made. They were boots that I could only have dreamed of. I feel like once you're in the lane of loving cowboy boots you're kind of always looking for them, you know? And, mostly, they're used and fit other people's feet. I'm obsessed with the hardware on them and I think that they're so hard to find.They’re just so elegant. I love how they're made. I love wearing them. I love coming over to your house and stealing yours and I'm like okay, what new ones can I try on? It's my favorite.

LAWREN
Any memorable nights in your Partlows?

JENA
I travel in my Partlows, which I find to be really fun going through the airport security, keeping them next to me. I just find that it's almost like I have a travel partner, because I take them off when I'm seated in tiny seats and then I put things inside of them so I don't lose things. I feel like it's nice to arrive in a new country or a new place in your boots, you know?

LAWREN
Oh my gosh I love that–so what you're saying is they double as travel bags?

JENA
Yeah, I mean I don't ever use them besides in a seat like that, you know. Like I love putting them right next to where I am so that I can put all the things that I know I lose on planes right in there.

LAWREN
What's one piece of wardrobe that always makes you feel like yourself?

JENA
Cowboy boots. Really just cowboy boots. I feel like they've become such a big part of my identity in the past like 10 years, which is wild.

LAWREN
I'm going off cuff here but Kasey and I often talk about this. I feel like cowboy boots just make me feel like a boss bitch. Like when I walk in a room, even though they're not super high, you're, it gives you some sort of like masculine power in a way or it gives you some sort of power. It's what I feel.

JENA
Well, I think that most of the shoes I had worn before, like combat boots, felt like they empowered me but in a way that kind of made me feel rough and tumble. You know? I used to wear combat boots a lot. But I also felt like they weren't very flattering. And I feel like cowboy boots have this mythical…like you can do anything in them. They're a little bit of like the superhero shoe, you know?

LAWREN
That's kind of how I feel. That's how I feel like when I walk in a room I just feel like I can just do anything in them.

JENA
Yeah. Very confident. I feel like when I see someone in cowboy boots, I trust that they know where they're going. You know what I mean? I could ask them for directions. I would follow them in an emergency. Like you don't put your cowboy boots on and not know what the fuck is going on.