OPINION: Western fashion deserves cultural appreciation – The Student Life

Slow down there, cowboy! Have you also caught the bug of Western fashion infatuation this season? Me too. 

Western fashion is currently going through a huge revival. Cowboy boots, hats, boot cut and flared jeans, bolo ties and turquoise jewelry are breaking through onto fashion runways and the mainstream media alike. Wanna-be cowboys and cowgirls are emerging from the shadows of our campuses, but they seem to be embracing the Western fashion items without realizing the problematic ties and significance in country culture these trends hold. 

This fashion deserves to be celebrated, appreciated and honored by our meaningful participation in it. But it has to come from the acknowledgement and understanding of where these symbols of American culture originate from. 

If you are curious about dabbling in Weste rn fashion, there is some history as well as certain rules and conventions that you should be aware of before galloping away.

Original Western fashion defined by iconic symbols of cowboy boots and hats were appropriated by white Americans from Mexican, African and Native American cultures. It is a widely agreed upon, but often disregarded historical fact, that the first cowboys were people of color. 

In the 1600s, Spanish colonizers brought the first cattle to present day Mexico, and enslaved Northern African men to tend them. The vaquero methods of ranching were then adopted by Mexican and Native American peoples, many of whom brought these practices to areas of the modern United States such as Texas and the Southwest. 

The iconic image of the American cowboy has been unjustly white-washed, and most aspects of Western fashion, as well as ranching and horseback riding styles, can be traced back to vaqueros: the original cowboys. 

The invention of the cowboy hat is often attributed to John B. Stetson, a hat-maker from Philadelphia in the late 1800s. Yet his designs were almost certainly based off hats worn by enslaved Fulani people from West Africa. Meanwhile, the history of cowboy boots remains entangled with an array of cultures and time periods from Mongolian soldiers in the 13th century to Civil War soldiers in the United States.

It is unfair and simply untrue to label Western fashion as “white culture” and not take its historical and cultural roots seriously. By choosing to pigeon-hole and stereotype country fashion, we are only perpetuating the cycle of historical erasure and cultural appropriation. It is time that we started respecting Western fashion and honoring its origins. 

At the same time, nobody should feel discouraged from participating in the Western fashion movement because of the style’s connection and significance to many cultures and communities in the United States today. Western wear is an integral part of America’s fashion history, but it is important to wear it with respect and understand the customs around it. 

Because Western wear was developed to be practical for ranching and horse-riding, each style of hat and boot evolved with its own customs and conventions, creating different cultural settings for each style and garment. 

There are hundreds of variations of boot styles: square, round, snip or pointed toe, leather or rubber outsole, Roper or Fowler heel, cowboy, Western, fashion, work boot — the possibilities are endless. Generally speaking, square, rubber-soled, shorter heeled boots are reserved for everyday wear, while tall, leather, pointed toe boots are more formal and should be worn for special occasions. Whatever you do, just make sure to wear a pair of bootcut, cowboy cut or flared jeans with your boots — steer away from the straight leg ones — that will bring you some dirty looks at the local honky-tonks.

There is etiquette around cowboy hats that wearers should follow, such as taking your hat off inside, and making sure to handle it by the crown and not the brim so as to not damage its shape. Most importantly, don’t let anyone else see the inside of your hat.  It’s bad luck if they do.

Cowboy hats are seasonal: Straw hats are worn in the spring and summer, and warmer, felt hats come out in the winter months. Felt hats are also more formal than straw hats, so if you are going to a formal event in the summer, bring out the felt — but not if you’re going to a wild rodeo.

Perhaps the most important rule about cowboy hats originates from the proverb “A Man’s Hat is His Castle,” meaning do not ever touch another cowboy’s hat. Do not even ask them to touch it. I once witnessed an oblivious tourist ask to try on a cowboy’s hat in Fort Worth, Texas. Let’s just say that when he responded to the request, all etiquette rules went out the window. Don’t ask why, just don’t do it — it’s tradition.

Another cornerstone of Western fashion that holds deep cultural significance is turquoise jewelry, as the stone is believed to have protective powers in Navajo culture. Although turquoise jewelry has been adopted into the fashion mainstream and used in other styles of jewelry outside of Native American traditions, it is still important to support Navajo artists when purchasing Navajo jewelry. This means seeking out pieces made by Navajo silversmiths and to support their work and honor their traditions. 

This is difficult, as real handcrafted turquoise jewelry is expensive. But by purchasing cheap, fast fashion turquoise jewelry, you are taking away business and harming these independent jewelry makers sharing their cultural traditions with the world. You can always invest in cheaper alternatives, like pieces that showcase a smaller turquoise stone and use steel instead of silver, and still own a piece of the beautiful jewelry style.

Colonialism has homogenized the diverse roots of Western wear and erased the cultural history, significance and traditions around these clothes and jewelry. We should acknowledge and learn about the history of Western fashion because it is a coalescence of diverse cultures in America, and we should honor it by respecting the traditions behind it.

So before you commit to those cowboy boots, do your research. Look up the different boot styles and what they are used for. Support authentic boot, hat and jewelry makers by investing in brands that have a long historical tradition behind them. Learn about the conventions of the clothes that you wear, especially when they have such deep cultural ties like those of Western fashion.

Following this framework will not only help you understand and appreciate your clothing even more, but it will also ensure that you don’t get laughed at if you decide to visit some cowboy spots in the Southwest — you don’t want to look like a store-bought cowboy.

Writer bio: Elizaveta (Lisa) Gorelik CM ’25 is from Moscow, Russia. She is uber excited about the upcoming Black Friday deals at Boot Barn.

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