Dear Friends, in 1865 John B. Stetson came back east after a stretch out West and founded his own hat company in Philadelphia. The hat he made, the Boss of the Plains, was lightweight and waterproof, with a flat brim and a straight-sided crown, and it sold so well that within a year he opened a new factory. (I love that a whole look began with a practical hat.)

 

So what makes western style work now. Mostly function turned into shape: the stacked heel, the yoke, the snap, the flare. Think of this edit as small lessons, boots first, then shirts, jeans, fringe, belts and hats, with modern options so you can borrow one idea or all of them.

 

Boots are the loudest piece, so they open the lesson. Tecovas is the brand I would look at first: Paul Hedrick founded it in 2015 and sold boots at farmers' markets and fairs at first, and each pair is made by hand in over 200 steps. The Annie in black cherry cowhide has red-toned stitching, a snip toe and a stacked heel, and the Loretta in hunter green suede is extra tall with tonal stitching. Both suit straight jeans.

 

Frye is the old guard: John A. Frye opened his first shop in Marlboro, Massachusetts in 1863. The Billy is a tall burgundy leather cowboy boot with a low stacked heel, while the Wyatt from Sam Edelman is knee-high dark brown suede with a Cuban stacked heel. The Klyde from Dolce Vita is a dark brown suede ankle boot with western vamp stitching and a side zip, and the Billy bootie from Frye is brown suede with pull tabs. Ariat's Round Up Collins has embossed eagle stitching, and the Justin Reba Queen in burgundy python is the pick for a plain outfit. My tip: sit down in any tall boot and check that the shaft clears the back of your knee.

Jack Weil started Rockmount Ranch Wear in Denver in 1946 after seeing bull riders tear their shirts on the horns of the bull, and his answer was the snap shirt. His line was that cowboys do not stop to sew buttons back on. The yoke is the other half of the story: the pointed panel across the shoulders that gives the shirt its western outline.

 

Picture her on a cool morning with a denim shirt open over a white tee. The Levi's Teodora is dark indigo denim with a snap front, pointed yokes and chest flap pockets, the easiest place to begin. The Johnny Was Vintage Western is a green floral print with a contrast yoke and a snap-style front, which brings a soft print to the western outline until you add a boot. The Citizens of Humanity cropped western shirt is light blue denim with pointed yokes, a snap front and chest flap pockets, and the Ariat Farriday is mid-dark blue denim with pointed yokes.

 

If you want more to look at, Wrangler's snap shirt in dark indigo has pearl snaps and gathered cuffs, and the Lainey Wilson x Wrangler version is a pastel rainbow print with pointed yokes and snap cuffs. Madewell's oversized western is light wash cotton denim with pearlescent snaps, and the RE/DONE shirt is distressed medium blue denim with stud trim.

 

Fitting-room test: close every snap and lift your arms. The yoke seam should sit on your shoulder bone and the placket should lie flat, not pull open at the chest. What I would skip: heavy studs and a loud print on the same shirt, because one loud detail is enough.

Western jeans have a paper trail. In 1873 Jacob Davis and Levi Strauss received a US patent for copper rivets, which Davis had thought up to reinforce points of strain like pocket corners. In 1947 Wrangler introduced western jeans designed with the tailor Rodeo Ben, with felled seams, saddle-friendly back pockets and a zipper fly. Both were solving a problem for people who worked in them. I went deeper on a related idea in How to Style Barrel Jeans: The 1873 Rivet Patent Behind the Curve.

 

Today the leg shape does the talking. The Wrangler Retro Mae Deadwood is a medium wash mid-rise bootcut with western back pockets, and the Lainey Wilson x Wrangler flare is a dark wash high-rise with a red patent W patch. MOTHER's Runaway is a light wash low-rise bootcut with a slight fade, and the AG Farrah is a dark indigo mid-waist bootcut with a clean hem.

 

For a slight flare, the FRAME Rodeo is mid blue and low-rise. The 7 For All Mankind Dojo is a dark wash high-rise flare with a clean tailorless hem, the PAIGE Laurel Canyon is dark blue high-rise with a snug thigh and wide hem, and the Good American Good Legs is a mid blue high-rise stretch flare.

 

Buying test: put on the boots you plan to wear and stand on a hard floor. The hem should skim the floor at the back and just cover the boot opening at the front. What I would skip: a flare that stops above the ankle bone when you want to wear boots, because the leg line breaks in the wrong place.

Fringe has a practical logic: it moves, and it shows. The best fringe jackets use it in one place and leave the rest of the cut simple. In my fashion dreams it is a Sunday in October, the light is low, and a tan suede chore jacket is thrown over a plain tee and straight jeans.

 

That tan jacket is the AllSaints Clay, a suede chore jacket with flap chest pockets and a zip front. The Scully olive suede jacket is a western cut with long fringe across the yoke and sleeves, and the AllSaints Roiya is a tan suede field jacket with four button flap pockets and a collar. Lauren Ralph Lauren keeps it quiet with a tan suede flight jacket with a baseball collar and a snap-style front. If you want to keep going, Western Style: Worn-In Denim, Suede and Fringe is the one I would read next.

 

For more drama, the Nasty Gal jacket is cropped chocolate brown real suede with long fringe across the hem, and Scully's black suede jacket has fringe, a whipstitched collar and concho-style buttons. The BLANKNYC Smoked Paprika is a rust brown leather jacket with a notch collar and fringe across the shoulders and sleeves, and the Rock & Roll Denim jacket is a cropped rust faux suede shirt jacket with snaps, chest pockets and fringe on the sleeves. Know which you are buying: the real ones say suede or leather, the faux ones say so plainly.

 

Test: raise your arms to reach forward and make sure the fringe does not catch in a bag strap, and that the shoulders move without strain. What I would skip: fringe on both the jacket and the boots in the same outfit.

Accessories are where western style gets specific. A belt, a bandana or a hat can say it alone, which is useful when you are not ready for the boots. It also brings us back to Stetson, whose Boss of the Plains made the wide-brimmed felt hat the shape we still recognize.

 

Start at the waist. The Southern Grace is a silver chain belt of floral conchos with turquoise centers linked by rings, the lightest way to wear the idea. The petit moments Square belt is slim white leather with a gold western buckle and tip, and Lele Sadoughi's Horizon Oasis is tan leather with scalloped stitching and a large oval turquoise stone buckle.

 

Near the face, the rag & bone bandana is a pistachio cotton square with a floral western print, and the Madewell is a 100% silk twill bandana with a navy paisley print. Knot either one at the neck over a plain knit.

 

Then the hats. The Lack of Color Duke is a black wool felt cowboy hat with a curved brim and a gold stud band, the Brixton Sonoran is black wool felt with a wide brim and a snakeskin-print band, and the Brixton Cohen is a black wool felt wide brim hat with a ribbon band and pinched crown. Try each in front of a mirror and check that the brim does not cover your eyebrows. What I would skip: a hat, a bandana and a concho belt all in one outfit.

If you are building this slowly, I would choose a boot in a color you already wear, then a snap shirt that suits your shoulders, then a jean cut that fits over the boot. Add the jacket or the belt last, once the base feels like yours.

 

Stetson wanted a hat that could handle weather and a long day outdoors. Everything here started with a task and became a look, and that is why it still holds up. A rivet, a snap, a yoke, a brim: each one was an answer to a problem someone had at work.

 

With love, and good boots,