COWBOY & THE WILD MIDWEST

THE WILD MIDWEST: A HISTORY

From the Wild West to the Wild Midwest, the cowboy aesthetic has made its way to Columbus and is hitting the streets in full swing this spring.

A look that began with the original Lone Ranger, and was later taken over by Ralph Lauren, is now making its way into city life.

The Lone Ranger

“A fiery horse with the speed of light, a cloud of dust and a hearty, ‘Hi Yo Silver!’,” said Frederick Foy in his most well known narration from “The Lone Ranger.”

The first episode of “The Lone Ranger” premiered in September of 1949 and quickly rose the ranks, becoming the highest-rated television program on ABC in the early 1950s.

Not only did “The Lone Ranger” rise the ranks in TV series but it simultaneously became a cultural icon. With “The Lone Ranger” came a long-standing wave of Western-inspired fashion that can still be seen today.

The original Lone Ranger, played by Clayton Moore, often wore a blue suede suit laced-up along his chest, a black belt and holster, black boots, a tan cowboy hat, a bandana around his neck and the iconic black mask over his eyes.

The cowboy character is a classically masculine portrayal that relies heavily on visuals like clothing and footwear to create meaning. A cowboy just isn’t a cowboy without a hat and a pair of cowboy boots.

A Brief History

As America became more and more urbanized and agriculture was no longer a part of everyone’s daily lives anymore the cowboy became an image that represented a true American West.

In the 1900s and into the early 1920s came movies like “The Gold Rush” and “Go West” which generated a demand for cowboys in the world of pop culture.

The 1920s-1970s was considered to be a key period in the history of Western fashion. This was the time in which cowboy clothing and boots were commercialized as a part of a new Western-wear industry.

Throughout the 1960s and 1970s, cowboy apparel became more and more dramatized; Western shirts had hand-stitched embroidery and bedazzled embellishments and pants were often form-fitting to show a person’s slim physique. The cowboy was no longer a symbol of agriculture, but rather a symbol of popular culture.

Ralph Lauren Western

In 1979, Ralph Lauren released a new line of denim, apparel and accessories using inspiration from the American West. The line, called Ralph Lauren Western, was meant to mesh the caricature world of the cowboy look with street style, molding it into everyday wear.

What really caught people’s attention was in the Fall 1978 season when Lauren’s models took to the runway in prairie skirts, tailored leather and cowboy hats. It was an anti-fashion statement that caught everybody’s attention.

The Urban Cowboy

The world of Western high fashion owes a debt to Ralph Lauren for being the first to take cowboy chic to the Paris runway. Moschino followed suit in the 1990s, taking cowgirl fashion to the Milan runway and in 2013, Karl Lagerfeld took Chanel’s pre-fall collection to the frontier using denim, blanket coats and turquoise embellishments.

Today’s cowboy showcases a more maximalist approach. The Casablanca Spring 2023 collection features brightly-colored fringe vests, bedazzled matching sets and embroidery galore that can be worn anywhere from Sedona, Arizona to the streets of New York to Newport Music Hall.

WRITTEN BY

SAMANTHA HARDEN