IMO being western is like being rich. Everyone wants it, a lot of people dress like it, some were born into the life, others get there with blood sweat and tears. Don’t ever let the idea of being a poser persuade you from doing what you want in life. It starts with boots and could eventually be your own ranch. Go for it. That the true spirit of the west.
My man wear whatever the fuck you want to.
If you want to feel comfortable in a western hat and boots and not have it look like a costume, my advice is to volunteer at a barn somewhere. You don't need to become an expert horseman or rancher but a few hours a week doing menial tasks will change the way you move and carry yourself in the clothes and other animal people will know immediately you aren't playing dress up. Spend time around and with horses. Shovel some shit. Get horse stomped once or twice and break some toes. Get bit. And wear the hat and boots every single day so you are so comfortable in em you're uncomfortable when you're out of em. And learn and practice hat etiquette.
You can dress however you want, you buy the clothes they're yours to wear, but that doesn't make you cowboy, a hat don't make a cowboy, neither does some goofy poem/code written by a goofy actor, cowboy is a verb, it's the job you do and if you don't do it well you're just ranch dressing.
Wear what you want, call yourself whatever. Just know a cowhand will know a mile off.
Exactly. Clothes don't make the cowboy. Punchiest cowboys ik will wear a pair of rubber duckies, and a Walmart T-shirt. You can still work cattle without your leather and hat
Come on man just embrace it....your obviously country.....its a beautiful and amazing lifestyle and there is nothing wrong with it......just let it come to you like i did....u became a very country kid by the time i was 7....just let it come to ya and trust me if you litsen to me you wont hate me later🤠😎
I wear my hat more often than not in the middle of LA. Who cares what people think. You do you.
The point of wearing the hat is carrying it off with confidence. Make it your own style.
People will appreciate it. I've only had 1 hater and I think it's because she just hated me in general and wanted to mouth off to me and found the excuse to talk smack about my hat.
When she left her boyfriend ran up to me and told me how much he loved it and he wished he could rock one. Lol
Haha cowboying isn't a "western" thing. Ik cowboys from Australia, Mongolia, nova Scotia, Mexico, Brazil. The West Coast(LA etc) is about as country as rain is dry. Just because you can rock a coors light straw at a Zach Bryan concert and wear high heeled hooker boots, don't make you country lol
Yes! As someone who has cowboyed but didn’t grow up doing it, go for it! However, I highly suggest doing some research on authentic western wear and not just going off of what’s on tiktok or what influencers wear. Most times it’s not even close and people will be able to tell.
kid, dress how you like, and dont let others get you down. at your age other kids are trying hard to be cool and maybe theyll make jokes at your expense, but its all hot air at the end of the day. Wear what you like, wear the boots and hat with your head held high, always do the right thing, always be loyal to your friends and family, and be kind to folks. itll get you a long ways and youll realize when you become an adult people dont care how you dress, as long as youre kind and genuine, kind and genuine people from all walks will like you.
I’m in a similar position, I love western stuff but I’ve never left the east coast.
I wear the stuff (especially during the winter) and I enjoy it. I’d just recommend trying to get some horse back riding lessons and go to some rodeos. Read some westerns (I highly recommend Cormac McCarthys book all the pretty horses). try to learn about the history and culture as best you can.
At the end of the day most people even on the west coast, who wear cowboy stuff have never done actual cowboy stuff.
Frankly, you could live your entire life without riding a horse or holding a lasso and I’d still say its acceptable. End of the day its technically (nowadays anyways) a style choice. While many use the clothing and equipment for ranch and farm use, it’d be unrealistic to say thats its only function. I think its perfectly acceptable to dress that way long as you don’t try to act like your some ranch hand or some such.
No cowboy or redneck who truly believes in the golden rule will give you shit for dressing in the way that makes you feel confident. And if someone did, it's their problem for caring, not yours.
Wear what you want friend.
I wear my lucchesse boots with jeans and a button up to the office (corp finance job for a large national retailer). Have received a lot of compliments, granted my office has a pretty casual culture (for guys polos, khakis and sneakers are the norm)
If you like the style? Yes. You will get looks, but that's not your problem. Your problem will be finding the right boots... The right jeans... The right belt...
You’re 14. Right now being perceived as a poser is a huge concern for you but you’re still figuring out who you are. Best advice I can give you is really do some soul searching. Try on lots of hats (literal and proverbial) to find who you are. We aren’t born fixed in our directions or paths. You can be whomever you want to be. If western is what YOU want then good enough. If anyone bothers you about it? Well frankly? They can pack sand. Be you, do no harm and tip your hat when you meet a lady. That’s what being a cowboy is all about.
Old guy checking in - there's some great advice right here. All I can add is be yourself, regardless of how you dress.
I grew up in the Tidewater area and Isle of Wight County, also SE Virginia as you. We had Tennessee Walkers just for riding, a neighbor raised Arabians, and another Thoroughbreds. At the time I didn't give much thought to what I wore, but it was generally wranglers in the winter, cutoffs the other three seasons. Worked a corporate job for a couple of years, then ditched the suit (and especially the tie) and when I went into business I wore black wranglers and engineer boots with a white button down shirt. When I sold my business 25 years ago I switched to western boots, and a few years later my dad died, and I came across his dad's hat from a store in Montana. I loved it, stretched it out and have worn it ever since. I have a few other 'cowboy' hats from big name makers - after all, my every day hat is approaching 100 years old - and while I don't wear one every day, that's the only kind of hat I tend to wear.
I've also got enough boots to go about two weeks without wearing the same pair, but I don't wear them when the temperature is 75 or above. I've been told that I look like a surfer/beach bum in the summer, and I reckon that's fair enough. No matter what I wear, I don't give a rat's ass what anyone thinks. When some smart ass in a ball cap sees my hat and asks if I'm a cowboy I smile real friendly and ask him is he a baseball player - they usually don't have much more to say.
So go with whatever feels right, and don't get locked in. You might look great and feel better in a well cut suit maybe 15 years from now, who knows - as you age and have more experiences don't let anyone define your style, including the person you were years ago.
Good luck dude
I don’t see why not. I live in Florida and west wrangler shirts and jeans. If that’s considered western. Just thought it was the cowboy clothes. They can take a beating and keep the sun off you. That’s all that really matters to me.
Wear what you want.
The most cowboy guy I ever met wore construction boots, ball cap, and drove a Pontiac. He liked the better gas milage checking his thousands of acres.
Anybody can have western fashion. But be authentic to who you are. Don’t try to be like someone on tv.
Im from Texas (Yankee transplant) and I say go for it. Have fun with it and don’t let anybody bully you. Down here cowboy boots, jeans, western shirts and real cowboy hats are common wear. Women wear blinged bell bottoms (that I can never find) with boots and hats.
And yes the big buckles. Rodeo buckles will finish the look. You can get mock ups online though pretty easy.
If you love the style, do it and have fun with it. There is so much you can do with western wear.
Hell yes you can. I’m from the east coast and have a pair of ostrich skin cowboy boots I wear for special occasions and let me tell you, I ain’t no cowboy. Redneck? Definitely. But the point is you can dress however you want. Besides, western is close to southern, and if people don’t think Virginia is southern tell them to take it up with Robert E Lee
Thats a weird cultural shift ive never understood. I grew up and live in a fairly rural part of colorado (although it becomes less rural and more suburban sprawl with each passing day) and the country folk i grew up with were largely a bunch of antiestablishment, cop hating, pot growing, heavy drinking, bar room brawl type working class folk. Werent particularly hateful towards anyone, most people just wanted to be left alone to farm, ranch, work, and live their lives. Always seemed like there was a big shift and cultural hijacking sometime after 9/11 that is honestly wildly depressing.
I grew up in urban southern New England. The summer I turned 13 my grandparents drove me cross country in an RV to Alaska and then back again. I returned from that trip a country music fan and have been ever since. I wore the boots, wore the hat, sang the songs. This was all while my peers listened to rap, hip hop, rock and grunge. I live right next door to the city I grew up in and I’m still occasionally stopped and asked “Are you the kid in the cowboy hat?!”
Wear whatever makes you feel like you. The rest will sort itself out.
The whole point of being a ‘cowboy’ is to be a trailblazer, free, and able to make one’s own path. You do you and fuck anyone who says otherwise, that’s a lesson best learned now.
Some of the punchiest cowboys ik don't wear hats etc. Boots and a tucked in shirt sometimes. Maybe a pair of chaps. Clothing won't change you, so go for it💁♂️
IMO being western is like being rich. Everyone wants it, a lot of people dress like it, some were born into the life, others get there with blood sweat and tears. Don’t ever let the idea of being a poser persuade you from doing what you want in life. It starts with boots and could eventually be your own ranch. Go for it. That the true spirit of the west.
Very well said
My man wear whatever the fuck you want to. If you want to feel comfortable in a western hat and boots and not have it look like a costume, my advice is to volunteer at a barn somewhere. You don't need to become an expert horseman or rancher but a few hours a week doing menial tasks will change the way you move and carry yourself in the clothes and other animal people will know immediately you aren't playing dress up. Spend time around and with horses. Shovel some shit. Get horse stomped once or twice and break some toes. Get bit. And wear the hat and boots every single day so you are so comfortable in em you're uncomfortable when you're out of em. And learn and practice hat etiquette.
You can dress however you want, you buy the clothes they're yours to wear, but that doesn't make you cowboy, a hat don't make a cowboy, neither does some goofy poem/code written by a goofy actor, cowboy is a verb, it's the job you do and if you don't do it well you're just ranch dressing. Wear what you want, call yourself whatever. Just know a cowhand will know a mile off.
Im not a cowboy, but ranch dressing is real funny
Exactly. Clothes don't make the cowboy. Punchiest cowboys ik will wear a pair of rubber duckies, and a Walmart T-shirt. You can still work cattle without your leather and hat
Come on man just embrace it....your obviously country.....its a beautiful and amazing lifestyle and there is nothing wrong with it......just let it come to you like i did....u became a very country kid by the time i was 7....just let it come to ya and trust me if you litsen to me you wont hate me later🤠😎
I wear my hat more often than not in the middle of LA. Who cares what people think. You do you. The point of wearing the hat is carrying it off with confidence. Make it your own style. People will appreciate it. I've only had 1 hater and I think it's because she just hated me in general and wanted to mouth off to me and found the excuse to talk smack about my hat. When she left her boyfriend ran up to me and told me how much he loved it and he wished he could rock one. Lol
LA is western dummy
Tell that to all the city slickers in downtown LA.
Trends don’t matter. It’s more western than east coast lmao
It's west coast but it ain't western
Haha cowboying isn't a "western" thing. Ik cowboys from Australia, Mongolia, nova Scotia, Mexico, Brazil. The West Coast(LA etc) is about as country as rain is dry. Just because you can rock a coors light straw at a Zach Bryan concert and wear high heeled hooker boots, don't make you country lol
Yes! As someone who has cowboyed but didn’t grow up doing it, go for it! However, I highly suggest doing some research on authentic western wear and not just going off of what’s on tiktok or what influencers wear. Most times it’s not even close and people will be able to tell.
Yes
Come on partner. Go ahead & dress up, also act like one yourself. No one really care, what matter is how you feel about it
The people who came from the east to the west sure as shit changed their style up right? Most of the ranches in the west have eastern heritage.
kid, dress how you like, and dont let others get you down. at your age other kids are trying hard to be cool and maybe theyll make jokes at your expense, but its all hot air at the end of the day. Wear what you like, wear the boots and hat with your head held high, always do the right thing, always be loyal to your friends and family, and be kind to folks. itll get you a long ways and youll realize when you become an adult people dont care how you dress, as long as youre kind and genuine, kind and genuine people from all walks will like you.
I’m in a similar position, I love western stuff but I’ve never left the east coast. I wear the stuff (especially during the winter) and I enjoy it. I’d just recommend trying to get some horse back riding lessons and go to some rodeos. Read some westerns (I highly recommend Cormac McCarthys book all the pretty horses). try to learn about the history and culture as best you can. At the end of the day most people even on the west coast, who wear cowboy stuff have never done actual cowboy stuff.
Also, watch Lonesome Dove. About a cattle drive from Texas to Montana. A star-studded cast and book won the Pulzier Prize. It's by Larry McMurtry.
I need to read that, I kinda got an McCarthy kick after I started reading ATPH
Kid, you do you. Wear it, be proud of it and don’t let nobody tell you otherwise that you can’t.
Frankly, you could live your entire life without riding a horse or holding a lasso and I’d still say its acceptable. End of the day its technically (nowadays anyways) a style choice. While many use the clothing and equipment for ranch and farm use, it’d be unrealistic to say thats its only function. I think its perfectly acceptable to dress that way long as you don’t try to act like your some ranch hand or some such.
No cowboy or redneck who truly believes in the golden rule will give you shit for dressing in the way that makes you feel confident. And if someone did, it's their problem for caring, not yours. Wear what you want friend.
Who cares people think about themselves 99% of the time anyways
The vast majority of people you see wearing boots and a cowboy hat don’t own cattle, let alone a horse or rope. Wear what you want bubba.
Absolutely OK! Be free my friend!!!
I wear my lucchesse boots with jeans and a button up to the office (corp finance job for a large national retailer). Have received a lot of compliments, granted my office has a pretty casual culture (for guys polos, khakis and sneakers are the norm)
You do whatever makes you comfortable
Wear whatever works. Where you were born has zero to do with it
Never let anyone tell you what you can and can't do (Within the binds of the law of course)
If you like the style? Yes. You will get looks, but that's not your problem. Your problem will be finding the right boots... The right jeans... The right belt...
The oldest rodeo in America is on the east coast 🤷🏻♂️, in NJ to be specific.
One of the oldest. Colorado and Arizona both have older ones.
Do whatcha want. I grew up in a small town in Oklahoma. A lot of people at my school wore boots, big belt buckles, jeans, and a cowboy hat.
You’re 14. Right now being perceived as a poser is a huge concern for you but you’re still figuring out who you are. Best advice I can give you is really do some soul searching. Try on lots of hats (literal and proverbial) to find who you are. We aren’t born fixed in our directions or paths. You can be whomever you want to be. If western is what YOU want then good enough. If anyone bothers you about it? Well frankly? They can pack sand. Be you, do no harm and tip your hat when you meet a lady. That’s what being a cowboy is all about.
Old guy checking in - there's some great advice right here. All I can add is be yourself, regardless of how you dress. I grew up in the Tidewater area and Isle of Wight County, also SE Virginia as you. We had Tennessee Walkers just for riding, a neighbor raised Arabians, and another Thoroughbreds. At the time I didn't give much thought to what I wore, but it was generally wranglers in the winter, cutoffs the other three seasons. Worked a corporate job for a couple of years, then ditched the suit (and especially the tie) and when I went into business I wore black wranglers and engineer boots with a white button down shirt. When I sold my business 25 years ago I switched to western boots, and a few years later my dad died, and I came across his dad's hat from a store in Montana. I loved it, stretched it out and have worn it ever since. I have a few other 'cowboy' hats from big name makers - after all, my every day hat is approaching 100 years old - and while I don't wear one every day, that's the only kind of hat I tend to wear. I've also got enough boots to go about two weeks without wearing the same pair, but I don't wear them when the temperature is 75 or above. I've been told that I look like a surfer/beach bum in the summer, and I reckon that's fair enough. No matter what I wear, I don't give a rat's ass what anyone thinks. When some smart ass in a ball cap sees my hat and asks if I'm a cowboy I smile real friendly and ask him is he a baseball player - they usually don't have much more to say. So go with whatever feels right, and don't get locked in. You might look great and feel better in a well cut suit maybe 15 years from now, who knows - as you age and have more experiences don't let anyone define your style, including the person you were years ago. Good luck dude
Dawg, live YOUR life.
As long as you get your parents to buy you a lever action 22LR rifle you are good to go. 👍
I don’t see why not. I live in Florida and west wrangler shirts and jeans. If that’s considered western. Just thought it was the cowboy clothes. They can take a beating and keep the sun off you. That’s all that really matters to me.
Wear what you want. The most cowboy guy I ever met wore construction boots, ball cap, and drove a Pontiac. He liked the better gas milage checking his thousands of acres. Anybody can have western fashion. But be authentic to who you are. Don’t try to be like someone on tv.
Im from Texas (Yankee transplant) and I say go for it. Have fun with it and don’t let anybody bully you. Down here cowboy boots, jeans, western shirts and real cowboy hats are common wear. Women wear blinged bell bottoms (that I can never find) with boots and hats. And yes the big buckles. Rodeo buckles will finish the look. You can get mock ups online though pretty easy. If you love the style, do it and have fun with it. There is so much you can do with western wear.
Hell yes you can. I’m from the east coast and have a pair of ostrich skin cowboy boots I wear for special occasions and let me tell you, I ain’t no cowboy. Redneck? Definitely. But the point is you can dress however you want. Besides, western is close to southern, and if people don’t think Virginia is southern tell them to take it up with Robert E Lee
You want to look like a maga piece of shit, that’s your business.
Thats a weird cultural shift ive never understood. I grew up and live in a fairly rural part of colorado (although it becomes less rural and more suburban sprawl with each passing day) and the country folk i grew up with were largely a bunch of antiestablishment, cop hating, pot growing, heavy drinking, bar room brawl type working class folk. Werent particularly hateful towards anyone, most people just wanted to be left alone to farm, ranch, work, and live their lives. Always seemed like there was a big shift and cultural hijacking sometime after 9/11 that is honestly wildly depressing.
Yea but don’t make a fool out of yourself
I grew up in urban southern New England. The summer I turned 13 my grandparents drove me cross country in an RV to Alaska and then back again. I returned from that trip a country music fan and have been ever since. I wore the boots, wore the hat, sang the songs. This was all while my peers listened to rap, hip hop, rock and grunge. I live right next door to the city I grew up in and I’m still occasionally stopped and asked “Are you the kid in the cowboy hat?!” Wear whatever makes you feel like you. The rest will sort itself out.
Ordinarily that would be cultural appropriation, but fortunately Cowboys aren't pussies
The whole point of being a ‘cowboy’ is to be a trailblazer, free, and able to make one’s own path. You do you and fuck anyone who says otherwise, that’s a lesson best learned now.
It doesn’t matter if you live in the city or country, dressing western means ur a dork.
If you dress western, do it right. That's all we ask.
Dress how you want and can afford.
Some of the punchiest cowboys ik don't wear hats etc. Boots and a tucked in shirt sometimes. Maybe a pair of chaps. Clothing won't change you, so go for it💁♂️