Western wear

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
(Redirected from
Western shirt
)
Not to be confused with Western dress codes.
Woman wearing fringe jacket and hat, United States, 1953

Western wear is a category of men's and women's clothing which derives its unique style from the clothes worn in the 19th century

cowboy boots
.

Hat

Lawman Bat Masterson wearing a bowler hat. The bowler hat was later replaced by the cowboy hat.

In the early days of the

Union Cavalry as an alternative to the regulation blue kepi.[2][3]

Stampede strings were installed to prevent the hat from being blown off when riding at speed. These long strings were usually made from leather or horsehair. Typically, the string was run half-way around the crown of a cowboy hat, and then through a hole on each side with its ends knotted and then secured under the chin or around the back of the head keeping the hat in place in windy conditions or when riding a horse.

The tall white

gunslinger as they made him an easy target, hence the preference of lawmen like Wild Bill Hickok, Wyatt Earp and Bat Masterson for low-crowned black hats.[4]

Originally part of the traditional

mountain men like Davy Crockett for their warmth and durability. These were revived in the 1950s following the release of a popular Disney movie starring Fess Parker.[5][6]

Shirt

snap fastenings of the type popularized by singing cowboys

A Western shirt is a traditional item of western wear characterized by a stylized

bandana
fabric, and fringe. The "Wild West" era was during the late Victorian era, hence the direct similarity of fashion.

A Western

fringe jacket during his Wild West shows and they were fashionable for teenagers in the 1970s and late 2000s.[9]

Another common type of Western shirt is the shield-front shirt worn by many US Cavalry troopers during the American Civil War but originally derived from a red shirt issued to prewar firefighters. The cavalry shirt was made of blue wool with yellow piping and brass buttons and was invented by the flamboyant George Armstrong Custer.[10] In recent times this shield-front shirt was popularised by John Wayne in Fort Apache and was also worn by rockabilly musicians like the Stray Cats.

In 1946, Papa Jack Wilde put snap buttons on the front, and pocket flaps on the Western shirt, and established

Rockmount Ranch Wear
.

Coat

When a jacket is required there is a wide choice available for both linedancers and

fringe jacket like Annie Oakley.[13]

For more formal occasions inhabitants of the West might opt for a suit with "smile" pockets, piping and a yoke similar to that on the Western shirts. This can take the form of an

rhinestone cowboy
.

Trousers

Cowboy wearing leather chaps at a rodeo
A Texas tuxedo comprising a denim jacket, boots and jeans.

In the early days of the Wild West trousers were made out of wool. In summer canvas was sometimes used. This changed during the

Wrangler jeans[17] and Lee Cooper. These were frequently accessorised with kippy belts featuring metal conchos and large belt buckles
.

Leather chaps were often worn to protect the cowboy's legs from cactus spines and prevent the fabric from wearing out.[18] Two common types include the skintight shotgun chaps[19] and wide batwing chaps. The latter were sometimes made from hides retaining their hair (known as "woolies") rather than tanned leather. They appeared on the Great Plains somewhere around 1887.[20]

Women wore knee-length

stockings.[22]
After World War II, many women, returning to the home after working in the fields or factories while the men were overseas, began to wear jeans like the men.

Neckwear

Working cowboy wearing a bandana or "wild rag," 1880s

During the

bandana around their necks to absorb sweat and keep the dust out of their faces. This practise originated in the Mexican War era regular army when troops threw away the hated leather stocks (a type of collar issued to soldiers) and replaced them with cheap paisley kerchiefs.[23]

Another well-known Western accessory, the

bowtie commonly seen on stereotypical Southern gentlemen like Colonel Sanders[25] or Boss Hogg. In modern times it serves as formal wear in many western states, notably Montana, New Mexico[26] and Texas.[27]

Footwear

See Cowboy boot

Image gallery

References

  1. ^ The Hat That Won the West, retrieved 2010-02-10
  2. ^ Stetson Hats 1865–1870, Jeffery B. Snyder 1997
  3. ^ * CavHooah.com – Stetson Page
  4. Nebraska State Historical Society
  5. ^ The Coonskin Cap
  6. ^ Height of the Craze. 1957 Wales
  7. ^ Western Shirts
  8. ^ "Guayabera". Archived from the original on 2021-05-06. Retrieved 2011-10-31.
  9. ^ The Western shirt
  10. ^ Shield front shirts
  11. ^ 1. ^ U.S. Cavalryman, 1865-1890, by Martin Pegler
  12. ISBN 0-8109-0615-5
    .
  13. ^ ""Little Miss Sure Shot" - The Saga of Annie Oakley". Archived from the original on 2012-03-05. Retrieved 2011-03-28.
  14. ISBN 0-87905-591-X
    .
  15. ^ US 139121, Davis, Jacob, "Improvement in fastening pocket-openings", published 1873-05-20, assigned to Levi Strauss & Co. 
  16. ^ Transcript, Levi Strauss vs. H.B. Elfelt, District of California Circuit Court of the United States Ninth Judicial Circuit, 1874. National Archives, Pacific Sierra Region
  17. ^ Official website
  18. ^ English schooling chaps Archived 2011-07-28 at the Wayback Machine. Web page accessed April 28, 2008
  19. ^ Cowboyway.com, explanation of chaps styles. Web page accessed March 10, 2008
  20. ^ "Westerners: Wild and Wooly Chaps." Wild West Magazine, February 2007, The History Net. Archived 2007-09-30 at the Wayback Machine Web site accessed September 2, 2007
  21. ^ George-Warren, Holly, and Michelle Freedman: How the West Was Worn, p. 184-187.
  22. ISBN 0-87830-526-2
    .
  23. ^ Don Troiani's Soldiers in America
  24. ^ Arte en la Charerria: The Artisanship of Mexican Equestrian Culture Archived 2010-01-31 at the Wayback Machine at the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum, Oklahoma City
  25. ISBN 0-385-18122-1
  26. ^ "Richardson's Secret Weapon: The Bolo Tie". The Washington Post.
  27. ^ Texas, The Lone Star State: Bola Tie (Bolo Tie)

Further reading

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