Giddy up for this season’s runway look (which you might already own)
Dolly Parton once said it takes a lot of money to look this cheap, but the new spin on country is rhinestone-free.
It feels too easy to blame this on Harry Styles, but given the way the crowds at his Australian concerts took to wearing cowboy hats, I’m left with little choice but to assign responsibility to him. Country and western is back, and it’s bigger than Texas.
There is something powerful about dressing as if you’re about to ride a horse, as if you might be able to crack a whip (and not just metaphorically). Defined by denim – all kinds, except ripped or bleached – gold and silver hardware, fringing and plaid, the look is about rugged strength.
Margot Robbie rocks the cowgirl look as Barbie in the hottest film of the year.
In natural fabrics such as leather, suede, cotton and linen, it can be both casual and polished, elegant and everyday. It’s unisex, it’s ageless, it’s for all seasons. And right now, it’s everywhere.
At Schiaparelli, creative director Daniel Roseberry – himself Texan-born – showed western elements aplenty in his 2023 fall-winter collection: everything from a dark indigo denim jumpsuit (complete with criss-cross laces and top stitching, and stiff-pointed collar) to a denim bustier dress with heavy gold buttons and ruffled fabric at the flanks.
At Chloe’s Resort 2024 show, models in shearling vests carried whipstitched bags, and both Ganni and Khaite have made their cowboy boots cult favourites.
Zimmermann’s autumn 2023 ready-to-wear; Ganni’s spring 2023 ready-to-wear; Ralph Lauren’s spring show; Gucci’s Resort 2023 show; Chloe’s Resort 2024 show.
Gucci’s Resort 2023 show featured caped boleros with pelvis-skimming boots and wide-brim hats. At Proenza Schouler, actor Chloe Sevigny opened the fall-winter 2023 show in an oversized black coat, nipped at the waist with a leather lace tied over a leather midi skirt.
And, ever the arbiter of cool, Kate Moss appeared on Bottega Veneta’s spring-summer 2023 runway in a flannelette shirt over wide-legged denim trousers. Checkmate.
Fashion’s love affair with the prairie is not new; it tends to come around every few years. Some houses have been flirting with it for decades – witness Gucci’s horsebit detailing and Chloe’s saddle bags.
Ralph Lauren has made a career out of it, with his California-meets-Colorado cool, a look he has been perfecting since he started out in 1967.
The designer’s spring 2023 show was perhaps the best example of it yet: set on the grounds of Los Angeles’ Huntington Library, it was a lesson in how the west was won. Lauren took denim and leather and suede, gave it all his signature spit and polish, and emerged with the show of the season.
The Ralph Lauren show was exemplary in how this season’s country look is more refined than rugged. It’s less about the 10-gallon hat and more about a streamlined midi-skirt worn with a delicately embroidered cotton shirt.
The spring 2023 issue. Joann Pai
Appropriately, this time around the trend seems to have swelled from the popularity of television series Yellowstone, which is often referred to as “Succession with horses”, as well as the influence of the music industry (Harry, of course, and Beyonce’s western-accented Renaissance tour wardrobe).
It would be remiss not to mention that the trend even turns up in the hottest film of the year, Barbie. When Barbie and Ken first visit the real world, they adopt matching cowboy looks to fit in. The message? Nothing is as all-American as country.
“I’m always partial to a cowboy boot,” says Lauren Nicholls, owner of the very chic Melbourne boutique Filly’s Stable (and several pairs of cowboy boots). “Partly I love it because it really does work for everyone. It’s not a trend that relies on loving prints or florals or even a particular shape.” The other reason Nicholls digs the trend is because it’s lowercase-S sexy. “It doesn’t scream, it’s not in your face. Wearing a cowboy boot tells the world you mean business.”
Kate Moss in Bottega Veneta’s spring-summer 2023 show; Chloe Sevigny for Proenza Schouler.
Of course, it can also tell the world you’re off to a costume party – so beware the top-to-toe rodeo look. Nicholls advises adding cowboy boots to your wardrobe and dipping your toe in the water with double denim. Avoid bolo ties unless you are in a country band (in which case, howdy) and add elements like fringing with caution (“Bottega is probably a safe bet,” says Nicholls, and I have to agree).
As for hats, Nicholls is on the fence. “I don’t subscribe to the hat . . . unless it’s from Vivienne Westwood.” Giddy up.
The spring issue of Fin Magazine is out on Friday, August 18 inside The Australian Financial Review.
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