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How The West Is Worn .....
There’s More to the Western Look Than Being a Cowboy
Rapid City, SD -- Whether you hold to the fashion philosophies of a Beau
Brummel or a Mae West, what you wear and how you wear it presents the most
visual statement of self.
And it’s a surprisingly short trip from Rodeo Drive in Hollywood to say,
Vintage Cowboy in Hill City. You can’t get much more country than the
collections seen strolling down high fashion ramps ‘round the world these
days. But you don’t have to blow your trust fund trying to look as if you’ve
experienced baling hay.
“Designers have been incorporating some form or another of what we know as
cowboy wear, for years,” says Becky Husman, who along with other organizers
are presenting the Black Hills Stock Show Foundation Fashion & Style Show,
Sat., February 1 in the Civic Center Theater at 4:30 p.m.
They are envisioning trendy yet traditional.
There’s no shortage of fashion savvy people in a part of the country where
living in the Wild, Wild, West is no less true today that it was a century ago.
“Some use of materials that have evolved over time began as a necessity,”
says Husman, who chairs the event that is a fund raiser for the Foundation’s
scholarship programs. “First and foremost, people wore leather, fur, and wools
to keep warm and dry. People weren’t making fashion statements back then; they
were just surviving.”
From that has come enduring styles (some now crafted in synthetics) worn
around the world. The genre even makes its way into the pop culture where
variations of the cowboy’s belt buckle have become a hot fashion accessory.
“There’s more to the western look than being a cowboy,” observes Husman,
a former Miss Wyoming. “But they look pretty good in that stuff, don’t they?
“You can too. We’ll present the looks, the style, the fashions that will
show you how easy it is to look and feel like the song says - a little bit
country and a little bit rock and roll .... without losing sight of your own
sense of style.”
Over time, it’s those examples of adaptations that has seen western
fashions also play to high fashion. And everything in between.
Take a stroll through stock show any time during it’s 10 day run and you’ll
see most every interesting combination of country, western, casual and formal
wear imaginable - from the horse set outfitted in tweed hacking jackets to the
durable ranch cowboy outerwear of oilskin dusters, to eyelet work boots (popular
with the younger, urban crowd), to handbags that beg to be thrown over a saddle.
If you can’t find a heel style or calf height on a boot to suit you, then you’re
not looking.
For others, says Husman, it’s a matter of pulling together clothes that
will take a person from home to the business community and on to a service group
meeting.
“Women who have to move through the day in any number of settings and who
aren’t going to be running home to change,” she explains; where what you
start your day in is what you’ll end your work day in. That’s a concept that
can be achieved in whatever particular fashion style suits someone.”
This show will allow for `atmosphere’, says Husman. With the theme, “The
Clown Jewels” in keeping with the Foundation’s annual original art
series, the event will see a barrelman or two strolling among the fashionista’s.
Runway presentations from a number of area retailers will be followed with wine
and cheese and clothing line and accessories displays to browse through.
Participating stores (that include Bustles & Britches, Black Hawk;
Crossfire Silver, Sturgis; D.J.’s, Hill City; RCC Western Stores, Rapid City;
Some Wear Special, Rapid City; Vintage Cowboy, Hills City; Western Way and
Western Woman, Rapid City) are all offering the opportunity for clothes horses
not to leave empty handed with a number of $100 gift certificate drawings. And
people can leave with something else as well; knowing that just by attending, an
afternoon of fun and fashion at an event that will help young adults achieve
their academic dreams is a true definition of what it means to have ....... style.
For more information on how to support the Foundation’s scholarship
programs through a Stockman’s Club membership and what additional services are
provided through a membership, call 605-718-0810. Email: foundation@bhssf.com
and see more details on the web at: www.bhssf.com
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