The fashion world has gone western.

Even GQ magazine contributor Chris Black said in a recent column that although he grew up in Georgia he never wanted to rock a big belt buckle and boots – until now!

He wrote….“In the world that I inhabit today, however, nothing is cooler than dressing like a cowboy. My fashionable friends and normies alike have adopted the look in various forms. It’s not rare to see someone strolling through Soho in all denim or a western shirt snapped up and paired with a classic pair of aviators.

Louis Vuitton’s menswear creative director, Pharrell Williams, released a fall collection in 2023 that is completely saturated with western style. The collection includes leather belts, boots, fringe and chaps and was showcased by models on the runway. Actors and actresses have also been spotted wearing western-themed attire at all types of events and on the red carpet. Jennifer Lopez wore western wear by Ralph Lauren at the company’s runway show in December, and Kerry Washington, wore a western-inspired ensemble to Elle’s Women In Hollywood Celebration in LA in December as well.

It begs the question: Will these high-end designers also have an impact on what we see competitors wearing in the show ring this year, in classes like Showmanship, Western Pleasure, Horsemanship and Trail?

Western Style On-Trend

It’s very possible that part of the reason we are suddenly seeing the traditional western style becoming on-trend again is due to the extremely popular television show Yellowstone and the rise in the popularity of country music.

“I definitely feel like a lot of the trends now are leaning toward the traditional western look,” said Tammy Schuster Bogart, owner of All That Show Clothing. “Yellowstone, country music and Nashville, have helped bring the western style back to the forefront. I have always offered traditional western vibes in my show clothes in addition to the more simple elegant lines. My casual clothing line is always loaded with western vibes as well. However, I’m still seeing the want for geometric and highly blinged shirts vests and jackets for Showmanship. Trends change yearly, but these shirts are still paramount.”

Rhea Scott Follett, founder of CR Ranchwear predicts exhibitors will follow the trend.

“I think any fashion trend has an effect on the showring, actually,” she said. “I know that designers gather inspiration from all around them – I know I do. It’s about color, cut and flair for the arena.”

Follett said what exhibitors always want is to have a fresh, clean, new and tasteful vibe.

“I think when Ralph Lauren does western, he has a certain look, and I personally love Ralph Lauren’s look,” she said. “I think that any designer getting into the western area is going to have, hopefully, a new flair and something that other designers can look at and say, ‘What can I do with this idea?’”

“CR Ranchwear has always had a more traditional western style in our designs,” Follett said. “Are we going to do the spaghetti cowboy? Absolutely not – we are trying to bring a tasteful look whether that’s traditional or something else.”

According to Follett, designers like Ralph Lauren also tend to create their own line from trends that they see from an outside influence and a feeling they get from that trend.

“I know I get ‘that feeling’ when I see something I like, and I think OK, how can I recreate that to make riders look good? How would that appear in the arena? These are great designers and I look up to them. Are they going to have an effect? Will we see exhibitors wearing Ralph Lauren in the arena? Maybe somebody will,” she said.

Who Influenced Whom

Alternately, it begs the question: did the horse show clothing designers have an impact on the high-end mainstream designers instead?

While I agree that the ‘real world’ high-end designers will have an impact on the designs we see this year, we’ve also seen these styles on our end for a while now. So, it is possible we had an impact on them instead,” said Kelly Mundrick Martin, owner of Head To Tail Boutique.

“In years past, we’ve followed fashion trends to influence our show designs, and I think it is very much the other way around right now,” insists Rebekah Kazakevicius, who owns and operates Brinks Hattery with her partner Kevin Glover. “Designers have taken notice of western lifestyle, and that’s perhaps why you’ve seen a lot of that on the runway with Ralph Lauren and Louis Vuitton. Even Dior with their classic saddle bag is showing this theme, and Hermes has always been heavily equine influenced. You have other high-end designers, like Celine and Valentino, introducing western influence in their designs as well, and even brands like Wrangler are shooting their campaigns more high-fashion.”

The Tell-Tales of the Traditional Style

There are people out there who want the traditional western look mainly because of type of riding they do, such as Ranch Riding, which has an impact on the industry as a whole.

“At CR Ranchwear, we try to meet that look all the time with our very simple shirts, the one color, and then also combining fabrics to make a ‘cheaper’ look on purpose,” Folett said. “This is because people want to look as if they’re actually Ranch Riding, even when showing, since the goal is using their horses for activities on the ranch. And yes, this is a very traditional look. Will everybody put their own flair to it? Absolutely. There will still of course be people who have a very simple way they want to look. But then, you’re also going to have some people that want to spice it up a little bit.”

Yokes, along with flower applique, and turquoise are also a classic look of the traditional style attire. A western yoke is curved, and a stylized contouring that comes to one or more points, as opposed to a straight stitch commonly found in conventional shirt designs. From a design point of view, yokes were created to accentuate broad shoulder and is still a commonalty in traditional style shirts.

“I do a lot with yokes, flowers, and turquoise stones which are all very much old style western,” Bogart said. “Traditional western attire typically has the yokes cotton and flower appliqué, as well as turquoise stones – it’s a very particular look. Not everyone will like that style of course, but some people do. Yokes, I would say, are what really make a shirt more traditional. Other than that, the old western look had scarves and simple shirts. But, I do not foresee scarves coming into trend at all.”

Most of the designers agree that yokes and turquoise make up an integral part of the traditional western style in apparel as well.

“I’ve had some beautiful pieces come along in the past year or so with western yokes and western themes -– they can be so much fun from the colors, fringes, conchos, and turquoise used,” said Martin, who also competes in American Quarter Horse Association classes. “For me personally, because I only have a Horsemanship horse right now, you’ll see me in different pieces. However, if my horse Hot Mess N A Dress and I do debut in Western Riding this year you might see me throw in some traditional western flare.”

According to Kazakevicius, clean lines are always in style.

“I’ve noticed a lot of color blocking and clean lines lately,” she said. “I have also noticed a lot of stripes and plaids in style recently too, but in a neutral color way. Still clean lines, but the neutrals tone it down and are easier to color match.”

As far as accessories like hats, the trends for how traditional the attire is seemingly depends on in which class the exhibitor competes.

            “I personally like to stick with a ‘less is more’ philosophy and have always focused on this when helping customers match hats with outfits,” said  Kazakevicius. “You can always add more, but starting with a clean slate is always a safer option.” “For the most part, exhibitors in classes like Halter, Showmanship and Horsemanship go with very simple and clean looks. I would say these classes are generally considered the most traditional as far as hat style is concerned. We are offering four new limited colors to help clients better match their outfits and put a cohesive look together. For classes with typically less traditional styles like Ranch, Reining and Trail  – you can have fun with those! Whiplace, buckstitch, and overlay are always a fun option to use when you get to go out of the box. These classes typically don’t follow the rules, so I’m anxious to see if they follow trend with some of the high fashion designers and lean towards cleaner lines this year.”

What’s Driving the Trends?

Follett says there’s one overall goal.

“Be it my shirts or someone else’s shirts, we want to satisfy what the customer wants when they go into the arena,” she said. “I don’t necessarily go back and study the traditional attire, although maybe now I should. I just know what my riders want and are asking for, and I’m trying to provide them with some different things to coordinate with their blankets and things that will pop during their ranch riding so I can give them a complete look.”

“At CR Ranchwear, we always try to embrace the traditional with our own flair, and we try to offer shirts that each of the disciplines feel that they can wear since we cater to so many different disciplines,” Follett said.

But all the designer agree that what’s most important making sure customers are comfortable in their choices.

“My personal opinion is that competitors need to wear what suits them and what they’re comfortable in – be it traditional or something else,: Martin said. “Competitors should let their personalities shine through with what they wear.”

And the industry is ever changing.

“I think we already have quite a bit of the tradition, but can we do a better job?” Follett asked. “I think always we can do a better job. That’s my goal – always to do a better job in meeting whatever the needs of the riders are in these different disciplines. I’ve recently had a few orders that were asking for more of the traditional look with a new flare, so this could potentially point toward the trend beginning to emerge in the horse world.”