Putting Together a Western Outfit

Putting together a western or cowboy outfit can be something that can easily be accomplished utilizing items already in one’s wardrobe or cheaply found at any store or thrift outlet.

OUTFIT SPECIFICS

Shirts can be any dress shirt from a linen or poplin-style fabric. The material should be a bit rougher and less refined. Basic colors can be beige, off-white and different shades red, blue, green, yellow, violet, orange and brown. The shades should be darker and not “loud.” The shirts can have patterns, but it should be simple stripes or small patterns: no paisley or complicated 20^th century style patterns. The collar can either be pointed or have a banded collar

Pants can be as simple as a pair of blue jeans or slacks. The slacks should be of a darker color like black, grey, green, blue or beige. Suspenders can be added with buttons sewn either on the outside or on the inside.

Vests are optional but add a nice look. A vest from any store will do in a pinch. The material should be of a heavy weight like herringbone or wool and mostly a solid color or stripes unless the outfit is more formal such as a banker, lawyer or land baron might wear. A more formal look with a vest would be silks, brocades, velvet, paisley and brighter colors such as yellow and purple. This would be best paired with a frock coat and cravat.

For neckwear, there is no requirement to wear a cravat or tie. For a more formal look, cravats can be added or a simple length of silk ribbon can be tied in a “rabbit ears” fashion similar to shoelaces.

Scarfs and bandanas can add an additional touch. The standard colored bandanas from any department store or a square piece of cloth will suffice.

Boots can either be regular lace-up boots or more traditional calf-high boots. The boots in use at this time tended to have a square toe and did not have the fancy embroidery found on modern cowboy boots. The boots that I tend to wear are actually Harley Davison motorcycle boots.

Optionally, a jacket can be worn. A frock coat gives a more formal “going to town” look, while a duster or long trench coat made of wool, cotton or linen can be used. Jackets can also be more sack-suit style made of wool, cotton or herringbone material similar to that worn by the characters of Teddy and The Man in Black on HBO’s “Westworld.”

Hats tended to be of felt or wool, though some wore leather and oilskin in rainier places. Bowlers were the most ubiquitous hat, worn by people both travelling on the railroad and living on the frontier towns. The more traditional cowboy hat tended to have flatter brims and high crowns. The modern Stetson look of the side of the brims curled up did not evolve until the 20^th century. Other styles that work are the Outback or Gambler style hats. Top hats could also be worn but would tend to get knocked off one’s head when climbing up and down the stairs to a rail car.

Accessories can include badges, guns/gunbelts, pocket watches, carpet bags and canes.

RESOURCES FOR OUTFITS

For both men and women, there are three main websites that have a number of options. All three have all of the outfit pieces and accessories.

The most cost conscious is Historical Emporium (https://www.historicalemporium.com/). There is a link for both Victorian and Old West sections. At the bottom of each page you can find complete outfits for sale.

The other two sites offer a wide variety of clothing and accessories but tend to have a higher price point.

The first is River Junction Trading Company (https://www.riverjunction.com/). They have a wide variety of clothing, hats and accessories that are not found on Historical Emporium. Some are custom made and require 4-6 weeks for construction as they are made to order.

The second site is Wild West Mercantile (https://www.wwmerc.com/cgi-bin/Category.cgi?category=home&type=store). They also have a large selection of items, some of which cannot be found on Historical Emporium, but the site also has complete outfits for sale.

For those of you looking to sew, there are several patterns readily available to use for outfits. The pattern that I used to make my duster coat was Butterick Pattern 3830. The pattern includes both the jacket and a bib shirt. This pattern can be found on eBay, Amazon and Etsy. Simplicity Pattern 2895 has the pattern for a frock coat, period style shirt and vest. This one is still available on the Simplicity website. The Butterick Pattern B6503 has the sack suit coat in it and is readily available on the Butterick website.

Most department stores and thrift stores will have most of the base items (shirts, pants, vests, suspenders, bandanas and boots) and you can put together an outfit for less than $100 or even $50 depending on where you buy the outfit pieces. Amazon and eBay are also good places for these items.

For accessories, all of the above-listed websites as well as Amazon and eBay will have them. Replica firearms and western holsters can also be found on Amazon and eBay as well.For accessories, all of the above-listed websites as well as Amazon and eBay will have them. When wearing replica firearms, be aware that they might be banned even if it is not stated specifically at the venue or event policy even if they have they prominent orange barrel tips.