Learning to Shoot Soft Goods

Last quarter in my advanced commercial class, one of our assignments was to shoot fashion/soft goods. The idea was to have an environment around our subject, or arrange and light it in a way that made it superior to a catalog-type shot. A friend of mine wears these boots almost every day. I've always thought they were stunning. So I was excited by an opportunity to shoot them in the studio.
My inspiration for this shot was a western, prairie day image- the idea that after a long day of working in the sun, you would trudge up the stairs to the porch, kick your boots off next to a chair, and watch the sun set off on the horizon.