How many cowboy boots have you seen in popular gossip rags and mainstream magazines this year? I’ll bet you can’t count them. And most of them were not on cowboys or cowgirls. Fashion trends have been dictated to the general public by celebrities for generations through TV, movies, and print media.
Western fashion was introduced to mainstream culture in popular television shows and movies portraying the western lifestyle generations ago. At some point along the way, western fashion was absorbed into other styles and now has been hybridized into many others.
An obvious example of this is jeans and denim jackets. In the 1950’s, jeans were worn most notably by cowboys and laborers. In 1955, James Dean wore jeans in “Rebel Without a Cause” and a western classic became the choice of an emerging class of pseudo-hoodlums! Now jeans were the epitome of cool, and they exploded outward through rock & roll and biker culture and other fashion channels like a giant web until it’s impossible to imagine a world without denim.
Now, with the internet driving cycles of popularity, the ebb and flow of fashion trends moves too quickly for most to keep pace with. But one thing is certain; although the popularity of western fashion waxes and wanes, it never disappears from the lexicon completely. Indeed, it seems to be making a big surge right now and the current popularity of country western music probably has something to do with that, particularly popular country music artists whose styles lean toward the mainstream… Lady Antebellum, Sugarland, The Band Perry, and Taylor Swift.
With the emergence of Taylor Swift as the world’s current reigning sweetheart, there seems to be as many dresses paired with cowboy boots as there are Starbucks in the Mall of America! And Taylor Swift is influencing a LOT more than just country music fans. Did you see her at the Grammys? Did you see her on the cover of Vogue last month? In two minutes of research I lost count of how many times she has appeared on the cover of a magazine that had nothing at all to do with country music or the western lifestyle. I also lost count of how many celebrities I could find wearing a variation of Taylor’s signature cowboy-boots-and-dress; Jessica Simpson, Brittney Spears Jessica Alba, Mary Kate Olsen, Ashley Olsen, Miley Cyrus, Rachel Bilson, Sienna Miller, Lindsay Lohan, Nicole Ritchie; and these are people who each influence a million more. The cowboy-boots-and-dress ensemble has gone viral!
Who wants to guess how many Charlie 1 Horse hats have been sold because some young guy wanted to be as cool as Kid Rock? Even Lady Gaga has her own signature Tony Lama boot styles!
Celebrities who have NOTHING to do with our lifestyle are telling the whole world what to wear. And it’s been going on for generations. Stetson still sells the “LBJ” hat made famous by President Lyndon Johnson in the 1960’s. Some people born after 1981 may have never heard of a fedora, but they know what an “Indiana Jones” hat is. And who has ever seen an episode of Bonanza who wouldn’t immediately recognize Dan Blocker’s hat as the “Hoss?”
Our society has always looked to celebrities to give us cues as to where the next trends are headed. As long as the western lifestyle is canonized and country music is popular, western fashion will not be far behind.
Ok, but then what happens when you wear this your whole life and then people finally see it because of someone famous wearing it, then all of a sudden you are a copycat and you don't wear it right, that's not now so and so wears it...
ReplyDeleteHmm - Makes me think another article should be in order. Real Cowgirls & Country Girls!
ReplyDeleteI'd say, beacause look at the picutre of the boots!? Please don't tell me that's what is considered cowboy boots. And if it is, I would love to see some of the people who wear them try and do what I do for work in them...
ReplyDelete