General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsWhy Texans Dress Like Cowboys
Something has always bothered me about the State of Texas - and I mean something more subtle than the naked fascism, Orwellian moral inversion, and Satanic cruelty that are otherwise synonymous with it. It's something most people never think about or mention, because it seems so innocuous: In Texas, it's considered normal (i.e., not at all insane) for fully-grown adults to dress like people from the 19th century (cowboys) on days that aren't Halloween and in places other than a ComicCon.
Moreover, they don't do this in a whimsical, being-weird-is-cool sort of hipster way, but in the same way you decide to wear a t-shirt and jeans, as if they have no comprehension that this is utterly bizarre and out of whack with reality. See, there's a word for cowboy clothes in the 21st century: Costume. These countless people walk around their communities and jobs wearing a costume - one denoting a profession they don't have, have never had, and never intend to have - and no one sees anything awkward or cock-eyed about it.
And their motive is readily identifiable, as far as it goes: They see the cowboy costume as an expression of cultural identity. But let's think about that in the context of the rest of the United States of America - who else does this? Do millions of Californians walk around dressed like 1840s gold miners?
Can't say I've seen a lot of these guys in daily life in 21st century California:
[img][/img]
Have you seen many of these guys on the streets of Miami lately:
[img][/img]
And, of course, Massachusetts is just swarming with these:
[img][/img]
Can't even throw a brick without hitting someone dressed like this in Chicago:
[img][/img]
And good ole New York, with its vast and deep cultural history, surely its streets in the 21st century are swarming with these guys:
[img][/img]
Seen many 18th century French fur trappers lately in Louisiana, Missouri, Arkansas, etc.? Do people walk around Minnesota dressed like 19th century Scandinavians?
If we go worldwide, one would expect to find Tokyo full of people dressed either partially or completely like Edo samurai; the streets of London brimming with medieval peasant garb; France with Merovingian Franks; and normal people in Denmark, Norway, and Sweden going about their everyday lives in Viking battle armor with not a single askance look cast in their direction.
But of course, that doesn't happen, because pretty much everywhere on Earth with a developed economy, people dress like the century they're in. Because their culture is not batshit insane. They might put on a traditional outfit for ceremonial holidays, but that's it. And within the United States, even that is pretty rare.
And it isn't like Texas is generally open-minded to all forms of anachronism: People would definitely stare if you walked around Dallas looking like a Roman centurion or a medieval knight. In fact, it isn't even really an option to dress like any other period from Texas' own history. Looking like Davy Crockett would be extremely conspicuous. And dressing like someone from after the cowboy era, like say the 1920s, would also be extremely conspicuous.
No: Texas has simply chosen this costume to aggressively express its sense of group identity, which no other place in the country does. So you wear boots evolved for horse riding even though you've never even touched a horse, put on that douchebaggy, facepunch-worthy hat designed to protect a person from the elements on the Open Range even though you live in suburbia and work in an office, and that's considered normal, everyday, non-psychiatric-referral behavior.
Is it Texas' massive inferiority complex that clings to every superficial method of holding itself apart, desperately highlighting even the flimsiest, most fictionalized idea of past cultural merit to contrast with the ugly reality of its character repeated over, and over, and over in modern American history?
See, Texas never thought much of cowboys when they actually existed in any numbers. Why would they? Cowboys were poor (and we know what Texas thinks of poor people). They were also overwhelmingly Mexicans and blacks (and we know how Texas feels about them too) - nothing more than bottom-rung hired hands from the underclasses doing shitty work in a time before the minimum wage. They were basically hobos with a few skills, drifting from one area to the next and one greedy, sociopathic employer to the next.
But now the useless nth-generation spawn of the landowners walk around in plastic facsimiles of what they imagine their former serfs wore, pretending to possess the idealized virtues they fantasize were created in their ancestors' victims by the terrible circumstances imposed on them. They try to turn the ugly, degrading, sadistic reality of their state's cultural roots into some kind of noble mythology that makes them noble by association - a fantasy past they can channel by partly or fully wearing Halloween costumes year-round.
Nowhere in America is free from ugly history, and nowhere is entirely free from self-gratifying illusions, but nowhere other than Texas in this country is such an impenetrable thicket of neurotic cultural perversions, destructive lies, and ass-backwards attitudes to every single thing in life. Dressing like 1950s Western TV characters in normal life is just one of the more bizarre and conspicuous signals of that general asshattery.
hobbit709
(41,694 posts)And most of them are laughed at.
True Blue Door
(2,969 posts)The boots, the giant belt buckles, the shirts, bolo ties, and you can't claim the hats aren't commonplace.
JohLast
(81 posts)I live in very much in the Texas country. Boots - everyone wears them, back to this later. Cowboy hats, just see them on ranchers and farmers. Very uncommon sight. Boots - I wear them everyday. They feel the best on my feet. Sneakers hurt my feet, crocs will not stay on my feet. Also how many of you are still wearing the same pair of shoes that you wore in high school. I have a pair of boots that are over 50 years old that I still were everyday. They cost me $250.00 back in the 70's. I guess I just don't understand boot snobs. What does it matter to you anyway?
DisgustipatedinCA
(12,530 posts)DawgHouse
(4,019 posts)They have a nice hard sole and the elevated heel gives a gentle stretch of the tendon.
DisgustipatedinCA
(12,530 posts)yurbud
(39,405 posts)At least the cowboy costume was practical for a job at one time.
Wearing suits and ties never enhanced the ability to do any job. At most, it signaled that someone didn't have to do physical labor, and in fact, couldn't do much besides sit, stand, and walk short distances.
Dressing up like Davy Crockett would make more sense than a suit for most jobs.
DawgHouse
(4,019 posts)4b5f940728b232b034e4
(120 posts)than more reasonable shoes.
NYC_SKP
(68,644 posts)Construction boots with steel toes, there's a reason.
So it goes with western boots. They are designed with purpose, functionality.
That much should be obvious.
delete_bush
(1,712 posts)average consumer, but I've got to tell you, I've got two pairs of boots from the early 1980's that are the most comfortable footwear I've ever worn. And it's been a long while since I've bothered to wear them, so thanks for the reminder! I'm gonna shine 'em up and put 'em on!
GummyBearz
(2,931 posts)So you hate Texas, a lot. And everyone gets that now. But you could have simplified your argument to this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=QxP442T-aZ0#t=19
Kilgore
(1,733 posts)does that mean I must carry an umbrella and wear a Gortex jacket??
Or does my big belt buckle and bolo somehow bring it all back into balance?
Me thinks you are extrapolating the data a wee bit far.
Kilgore
pnwmom
(109,445 posts)But yes to the Goretex.
Kilgore
(1,733 posts)But lots of rain gear and sunscreen for the summers here in Wahkiakum County.
pnwmom
(109,445 posts)You never know when we might need them.
Kilgore
(1,733 posts)Let em think it rains all the time.
BTW, its 80 with a sunny blue sky here today.
Kilgore
pnwmom
(109,445 posts)We just finished the second coat of painting our deck. We're ready for the rain now.
eridani
(51,907 posts)pnwmom
(109,445 posts)because clouds are a very poor predictor of actual rain.
And by the time it does rain, they've lost their umbrellas.
AgingAmerican
(12,958 posts)It rains so lightly that one isn't needed. I remember it raining for a month strait when I first moved to Seattle, and we got an inch total in that month. Was like a constant light mist falling all the time.
Of course now with climate change, it does tend to rain a little bit harder. Used to be the hard rains only came in the Spring.
Still, almost nobody I know carries or owns an umbrella. I have only owned one since moving here 35 years ago, and it folded up 20 minutes later in the wind.
Boudica the Lyoness
(2,899 posts)We get 8 to 9 inches of rain here.
Washington is not all wet.
hobbit709
(41,694 posts)giant belt buckles are out unless you're a rodeo type.
Cowboy boots were not made for walking. I might have seen two bolo ties in the last 5 years.
the people I know that live and work on a ranch wear jeans, usually T-shirts and work boots. And you'd know the reason for the hat in the TX sun.
And everyone in southern California dresses like a surfer dude.
Cleita
(75,480 posts)(horse country) and the hats for working in the sun. Haven't seen a big belt buckle though since I lived in TX.
Moonwalk
(2,322 posts)Depending on the season.
Righteous.
Xithras
(16,191 posts)Outside of the major urban areas (and even in them, to a far lesser extent) "cowboy hats" are ubiquitous throughout the western United States. Do I wear one when I have to drive into the office in Dublin? Not usually. Do I wear one when I'm working around my property in the Central Valley? Or hiking on a trail? Or doing generally anything else that requires me to be outdoors on a typical 105 degree summer day out here? Yes, every time.
"Cowboy clothes" weren't developed as a fashion statement or style, but as a cheap and practical solution to western conditions. They have withstood the test of time because they are as cheap and practical today as they were in 1850.
By the way, your 49er comparison falls flat on its face too. Do you own a pair of blue jeans? Congratulations, you're dressing like a California gold miner. Denim jeans were developed for the miners during the 1849 California gold rush. They became ubiquitous afterward because they were cheap, durable, and good at doing what they were designed for. Just like the cowboy hat and cowboy boots.
ManiacJoe
(10,136 posts)yeoman6987
(14,449 posts)For goodness sake, this is a terrible OP for those of us who expect equality for all. Since when does DU bash a group of people and the state they live. I find this place more right wing by the minute.
roguevalley
(40,656 posts)yeoman6987
(14,449 posts)ms liberty
(9,765 posts)Southern bashing is completely accepted here and always has been.
Jamaal510
(10,893 posts)you can't believe everything you see on TV shows and movies.
Iamthetruth
(487 posts)I wonder if the OP actually has been to Texas. Sure you go out to the country bars you will see this but on an average day it's very uncommon. Dallas is a very vibrant, art friendly city, Austin is ver progressive and Houston is very diverse. You can find outliers anywhere.
840high
(17,196 posts)Texas twice.
BlueCaliDem
(15,438 posts)I've enjoyed it immensely and I can't help but agree with you regarding Texas' inferiority complex and the need to cling to an image of the 1800's as tightly as some in the South cling to their Confederate flags while dismissing the Stars 'n' Stripes like the traitors to this country that they really are.
Paladin
(28,707 posts)Must be the day for it.
NYC_SKP
(68,644 posts)otohara
(24,135 posts)in a recent poll.
In 2013 Business Insider asked some crazy questions about states and Texas rates #1 as the state American's would like to see kicked out of the union. Texas pops up in practically every question and it's not all bad, but for some reason(s) American's have strong feelings about a few states and you live in one of them.http://www.businessinsider.com/poll-how-americans-feel-about-the-states-2013-8
I on the the other hand live in one of the most beloved and beautiful states.
I await your next insult.
Opps...The poll about CA being the most disliked was 2012.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/02/23/california-most-hated-state_n_1297843.html
Paladin
(28,707 posts)And it's funny how those calls for Texas's secession tend to die away when people need jobs, end up moving to Texas because of it, and discover---wonder of wonders---that it's not the Third World hellhole that uninformed people say it is.
Fantastic Anarchist
(7,309 posts)I know we have our weirdos, but so does every state.
Dreamer Tatum
(10,926 posts)People who insist that Texans identify en masse with
the Confederate mindset have no idea what they're
blathering about.
The only bastions of Southern identity in Texas are parts of Dallas and even smaller parts of Houston. And those bastions are usually populated by people who are from other Southern states.
Texans think of themselves as Texans. Not necessarily of the South, not necessarily of the West.
tiredtoo
(2,949 posts)about 10 15 years ago i was in California and overheard two ladies talking. I said you ladies must be from the south. to which one responded "We're not from the south, we're from Dallas."
Fantastic Anarchist
(7,309 posts)... and I definitely don't think of myself as a southerner.
Go Vols
(5,902 posts)I have lived in Texas and all over the South.Texas is Texas.Tenn,Ala,Miss,Ga,ect are the South.
Gothmog
(153,721 posts)Deep east Texas is closes to the south than the rest of Texas. That is the part of the state that the rest of Texas does its best to ignore
Dreamer Tatum
(10,926 posts)and that part of LA is HIGHLY Southern.
Still, Texas <> The South.
Gothmog
(153,721 posts)Under Chairman Hinojosa, we are concentrating in areas where Democrats can win and will turn the state blue by ignoring east Texas
Nye Bevan
(25,406 posts)Or would you prefer people to wear baseball caps? But what if they are not really baseball players?
True Blue Door
(2,969 posts)And if someone works outdoors, that would totally make sense and I wouldn't mock such a person - they would be wearing it the same way actual cowboys wore it, as a hat, not as a statement of cultural insecurity.
I'm not saying there's no other way to be a douchebag. People wearing Yankee caps who never even watch baseball litter the country, and in fact the entire world. And don't get me started on fedoras. But none of that is a cultural shibboleth - just consumer junk.
NYC_SKP
(68,644 posts)Associating some of the clothing common in the Southwest with some of the attitudes found there, and elsewhere is just broadbrushing of the worst form.
Hell, I got married in western boots wearing a bolo tie.
Also, the examples for other places if bigoted, as if Chicago residents were all gangsters and Californians were all goldminers.
The member needs to get out more.
True Blue Door
(2,969 posts)I'm not saying Texas is all one thing or all another, only that this phenomenon only exists there. I.e., that Californians don't dress like gold miners the way that Texans dress like cowboys.
And what's more, this is a relatively recent thing. Texans in the 1920s did not by and large wallow in cowboy myths. It's only since the state became radically, militantly conservative (rather than just parochial, as it had been) starting in the 1950s onward under the growing influence of the oil barons that it started rewriting its own cultural history in these bombastic terms and integrating these silly shibboleths into everyday life.
Now, I'm not claiming that everyone does it, merely that it's a normal feature of life that no one looks twice at.
Lurker Deluxe
(1,047 posts)I remember back in the '20s, why hell ... we was all walkin' arounds town with our boots an stuff on.
Hell, we whittled a bit too.
ChisolmTrailDem
(9,463 posts)Colorado, and even more in Wyoming, though there's only about 250,000 people in the entire state.
Neoma
(10,039 posts)LTX
(1,020 posts)Or Austin. Or San Antonio. Or Brownsville, Corpus Christie, Matagorda, Beaumont, Port Arthur, Fredericksburg, Laredo, El Paso, Nacogdoches, Amarillo, McAllen, Del Rio, San Marcos, New Braunfels, etc.
Think Vietnamese, Nigerian, Hipster, Mexican, Argentine, German, Jewish, African-American, Swedish, Beach Bum, Fisherman, Cajun, Indian, Polish, Alabama-Coushatta, Czech "cowboy."
DamnYankeeInHouston
(1,365 posts)Houston beat New York as the most diverse city in the country. I taught students from 35 countries in my second grade classroom.
KamaAina
(78,249 posts)Over 200 languages are spoken in L.A. County.
DamnYankeeInHouston
(1,365 posts)Of course, the study was done by Rice University here in Houston. I'm sure a California University could come up with different results.
FlaGranny
(8,361 posts)I have seen people dressed in some type of cowboy gear. I have lived in New Jersey and Florida. Been to NY many, many times, PA, etc. I have worn big buckles. Love them - with lots of turquoise and silver. They are beautiful. As a person who used to ride, I had cowboy boots and jeans (no shirts or hats though). When I rode English I had the riding pants and high boots and wore them into a store or two on my way home. I have made hand tooled "cowboy" leather belts and worn them and given them as gifts. I bought my husband a cowboy hat for Christmas a few years ago. Whenever he wears it someone complements him and he looks great in it. No inferiority complexes here. Out west I've seen people wearing this gear everywhere - Montana, Colorado, Arizona, New Mexico, etc. I have seen it in Tennessee, the Carolinas, almost everywhere. Texas has no dibs on Western gear. If you like it you wear it.
Paladin
(28,707 posts)Your moderate back-tracking doesn't help. You're still trashing an entire state, and if you're going to spew terms like "parochial" and "shibboleths" to make the Common People think you're a whiz-bang, I think it would be nice for you to back up all the bullshit you're ladling out. Have you lived in Texas? Spent any time here? Did you do a doctoral thesis on what a way-fucked place Texas is? Sounds to me like you saw a few of Rick Perry's press conferences, watched some old episodes of "Dallas," and then rendered a nasty opinion about all Texans. Prove me wrong.
S_B_Jackson
(906 posts)I'm not saying Texas is all one thing or all another, only that this phenomenon only exists there. I.e., that Californians don't dress like gold miners the way that Texans dress like cowboys.
Because if you get into the eastern counties in California? I've seen plenty of folks wearing boots, jeans, and even the dreaded cowboy hats.
Exultant Democracy
(6,595 posts)My first thought. It still has a use.
NYC_SKP
(68,644 posts)Then I say screw that.
I preferred it when cities and towns all looked different and they didn't all have the same goddam chain stores and fast food places.
Maybe it's because I'm well traveled and seen a lot of variety in regional clothing and architecture and food creations, etc., in different countries as well as the states, that I find the differences enriching.
How the hell is wearing western boots and a bolo tie a perversion?
Or is it the attitudes of "some" Texans that bothers you and you want to associate that with what "some" of them wear?
What a weird post.
Erich Bloodaxe BSN
(14,733 posts)It's not that 'people dress differently', but rather a sort of anachronistic classist cultural appropriation that tries to give a facade of nobility to the descendants mostly of people whose ancestors would have considered those who actually wore such outfits 'the help' at best.
NYC_SKP
(68,644 posts)I see nothing wrong with it.
I see the point that is trying to be made, I just think that it's a failed attempt and kind of bigoted, in a regional way.
MindPilot
(12,693 posts)That statement being "I'm from Texas (or am at least attempting to appear as if I am) therefore I'm better than you because I'm COUNTRY; a REAL American and not a commie like you, longhair. Now me and a couple truckloads of my friends are going to kick your hippie ass."
--spit--
NYC_SKP
(68,644 posts)How you conclude that is beyond me.
I know, for example, a cowboy poet dude who dresses in Western gear and doesn't seem to have a hateful bone in your body.
Please rethink the presumptions you're making about what you think is in their minds.
In fairness, maybe you've just met the wrong cowboys.
I think you're really missing out. We're inclusive. You, on the other hand, sound like you might be mistaken and "exclusive"-- not particularly progressive. Please revisit your perceptions and conclusions.
http://www.westernfolklife.org/General-Information-on-the-Gathering/national-cowboy-poetry-gathering-home-page.html
MindPilot
(12,693 posts)Not much poetic about it. As I said in another post, the uniform sends roughly the same message as the Confederate flag.
And I don't think a few decades has made them any less loathe-worthy.
NYC_SKP
(68,644 posts)Best to set it down and check with others.
Maybe your unfortunate experience is the exception and not the rule.
MindPilot
(12,693 posts)too much of a trigger.
Paladin
(28,707 posts)Fantastic Anarchist
(7,309 posts)Fantastic Anarchist
(7,309 posts)True Blue Door
(2,969 posts)While demonizing and degrading the modern equivalents of cowboys - e.g., people like migrant farm workers - they appropriate the shallow symbols of the historical ones who were degraded by their own ancestors.
Texas specializes in adding insult to injury. That's pretty much all that the Bush years were about.
pnwmom
(109,445 posts)a facade of nobility to bankers and brokers?
Maybe everyone should be required to wear t-shirts and khakis.
Erich Bloodaxe BSN
(14,733 posts)Suits and ties are damned silly attire.
True Blue Door
(2,969 posts)People don't dress the same in New York and LA, in Minnesota and Florida, because weather is different and there are indeed differing regional styles. But there is no "California costume" or "New York costume." There is no "Minnesota costume." And to the extent any article of clothing can be identifying - e.g., a Yankee cap, or a Raiders shirt - it's so diluted by pop culture co-option that the person you're seeing is far more likely to be some douchebag from anywhere in the country (or on Earth, really) copying a rapper they saw on TV than a New Yorker or Californian representing. I.e., there's no pompous ideology behind any of it.
NYC_SKP
(68,644 posts)A good pair of western boots is durable, lightweight, I like my Lucchese and Tony Lama boots, got married in a bolo tie, but have never owned a western hat.
Where I was raised, these were not uncommon even though cattle isn't a big deal in the central valley of California.
I still don't get your rant. Whatever it is that's bothering you about Texans would be better addressed directly.
I mean tying the Confederate flag into this is just silly, as one member did in their reply.
True Blue Door
(2,969 posts)Let's survey the first page (before you reach the "show more results" button) of Google Image results for Mexico, Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, and Texas, and count the number of cowboy-related images.
Mexico: 1
Arizona: 4
New Mexico: 2
Colorado: 1
***Texas: 21***
Granted, Wyoming has more, but the fact that it has a population of like 11 kind of undermines the significance of that.
Anyway, my standard of "cowboy-related" is subjective but I applied the same standard to all of the searches. But feel free to make your own count.
It's worth noting that Texans only dispute the association when it's stated negatively. Praise them for their "awesome cowboy culture," and somehow they never deny that Texas is the epicenter of the entire thing.
NYC_SKP
(68,644 posts)It's called that for a reason, the were once their own independent and sovereign nation (ten years).
To this day, they have their own electrical transmission and distribution grid, significant infrastructural evidence of their independent spirit. No other state can make this claim.
The largest US state, by far, for more than 100 years until just 55 years ago, there are plenty of reasons that Texas, or Tejas, is as it is.
It Cowboy garb has increasingly become associated with Texas more exclusively than other places, it's not a surprise.
Google results are, obviously, reflective of very modern sensibilities and not, per se, reflective of realities, current or historic.
I'm not going to defend the state of Texas, or Texans, any more than any other state.
But I won't sit quietly when I see what I think is an unfair attack on them.
If nothing else, your use of goldminers as somehow representative of Californians is, to be kind, misplaced. Just for starters, our fisheries and our agriculture have, historically, represented a much larger share of the economic picture.
It's interesting how your OP and the way your represent places with stereotypes reflects your perception more than reality or the perceptions of the people, IMHO.
Chicago = gangsters with Thompson sub-machine guns? Really?
Chicago would be more accurately represented by stockyards and slaughterhouses.
http://image.shutterstock.com/display_pic_with_logo/348076/348076,1327937856,1/stock-photo-central-slaughterhouse-in-chicago-engraving-by-maynar-from-picture-by-painter-taylor-published-in-93910894.jpg
A Little Weird
(1,754 posts)Texas is not the largest state. Alaska (at 665,384.04 sq mi) is more than twice the size of Texas (at 268,596.46 sq mi). But Texas is by far the largest of the lower 48. Anyway, I see this stated all the time and I just want to set the record straight.
ON EDIT: I see that you wrote it was the largest state until 55 years ago. Reading comprehension fail on my part.
roguevalley
(40,656 posts)rickyhall
(4,889 posts)Texas was the largest for a century, like the guy said.
And after having been born in Ft. Worth, growing up there, Colorado and Arkansas and working in Oklahoma I've seen just about as many cowboys in those places as well as many others I've been to like New Mexico, Arizona, Nevada and, yes, California. Nowadays I see most of the western garb on Mexican Americans.
And just because Texas is now a red state doesn't mean we're all rednecks.
Paladin
(28,707 posts)Are you programmed for abject personal humiliation? If so, get busy.
yeoman6987
(14,449 posts)Did you just decide that you wanted to insult the most populous cowboy state the search could find? You must have a large chunk of free time to even think of such a thing. And then to think you were going to get support for your inequality of a certain part of the country was absurd for you to hope for.
Paladin
(28,707 posts)argyl
(3,064 posts)Have you ever even driven through Texas?
Scootaloo
(25,699 posts)Jenoch
(7,720 posts)to see people wearing jeans, boots, cowboy hats, and large belt buckles, especially by those involved with agriculture.
By the way, Minnesota has more residents of German descent than those of Scandinavian descent.
Thor_MN
(11,843 posts)his Facebook picture was wearing a cowboy hat.
Schema Thing
(10,283 posts)Thor_MN
(11,843 posts)and he was always a bit into costumes
Mariana
(14,951 posts)or did he just put it on and post the picture for fun?
Thor_MN
(11,843 posts)It shows that he is from Texas. Even though he lives in a suburb, works for a corporation and often travels worldwide for work. I doubt he has been near a horse in decades and the most amount of time spent outdoors is maintaining his pool.
Seems that people are more than a little sensitive over this, noting that there are people that wear cowboy gear for practical reasons and wear it in other states, totally missing the point of those that wear it for NO reason, other than to declare you are "Texas." For some, yes, it is practical for what they do. For many, it is a costume.
Orsino
(37,428 posts)Delusions of grandeur. Dressing up as...rebels? Swaggering symbols of independence?
True Blue Door
(2,969 posts)Only people with massive insecurities are that bombastic. No one who is sincerely confident invests that much energy into loudly telling you how big and tough they are - Texas "protests too much" to the 10th power.
It has a pretty contemptuous attitude toward the rest of the country, and that attitude has never really been reciprocated. Few people in New York or California spare a single thought to Texas, but my God you'll hear some epic rants about New York and California in Texas. Those states are routinely used as derogatory epithets in describing something they don't like for being too "librul." "Damn New York libruls." "California hippie soshullists."
My own inclinations aside (sorry, Texas Democrats, but you've got decades of work ahead of you before I'll forgive your state for Bush), you don't hear a lot about "Texas conservatives" in Blue States. And bizarrely, that fact seems to make Texas conservatives actually more angry, like indifference to their buffoonery is some kind of "elitist" insult.
A Little Weird
(1,754 posts)It has a pretty contemptuous attitude toward the rest of the country, and that attitude has never really been reciprocated. Few people in New York or California spare a single thought to Texas, but my God you'll hear some epic rants about New York and California in Texas. Those states are routinely used as derogatory epithets in describing something they don't like for being too "librul." "Damn New York libruls." "California hippie soshullists."
It's ironic that you are saying this in a contemptuous rant about Texas. You may have missed it, but people in New York and California (among other places) routinely bash Texas, "the south", and other places they deem to be inferior.
I think if you ever get the chance to travel around the country, you will find that people are more similar than different no matter where you go. Every state has its fair share of assholes and every state has good people as well. Dividing people against one another serves no useful purpose.
roguevalley
(40,656 posts)With real Americans. Everyone else wasn't. I think the offense Texans feel here having to see the outcome in others of the asshole element of Texas are getting a taste of what decent religious people are feeling about the idiots here who slam all religious people good or bad. It burns, it stings. Feel it and remember next time you decide to generalize about a group. I am typing this on a device. I hope it is clear in my intent. I await to be flamed with prejudice.
MrBig
(640 posts)We still haven't forgiven you for Nixon and Reagan.
MineralMan
(147,299 posts)in Texas, why would this concern you? Take that miner in your first photo. Looks to me like he's wearing an early pair of blue jeans from Levi Strauss. I wear jeans almost all the time. The shirt? Not really my style, but the jeans and boots for sure.
Some people in Texas wear some cowboy gear, sometimes. So?
I'm not getting this, frankly. Do you have some sort of other problem with Texas and Texans? I figure they can wear whatever they want there. Just as I can here in Minnesota.
snappyturtle
(14,656 posts)But, guess what? There are ranches here! I don't see this dress outside of those ranching unless it's along with celebrations, rodeos, dances, parades, etc.
Who cares?
brewens
(15,359 posts)following the popularity of the Travolta movies, Saturday Night Fever and Urban Cowboy. Same freakin' guys just, dressed up for two different bars. We had one called "Disco Excetera" and "The Modern West". One went down and the other took off. They even had a mechanical bull at "The West". I rode it too but refused to dress up for it.
We are more of a rodeo town so at least they could buy the authentic boots and hats right here. I'd say it was a good $250 bucks to be decked out in that shit. That was a good chunk back then.
hobbit709
(41,694 posts)Octafish
(55,745 posts)Members of the older generations were raised in homes where they spoke German.
Their grandkids have several PhDs and master's degrees among them.
None of them are assholes, including the one who suffered from PTSD after Vietnam.
PS: Here's a famous asshole outta California:
Here's some of the harm he accomplished:
None of that is subjective.
Oakenshield
(626 posts)Reagan was born in Tampico, Illinois not California. More accurate to say he came to California than he came out of it. If his success in the State can be considered an indictment of the entire region, then a fellow could just as easily counter your point with George W Bush, Ted Cruz or Ron Paul.
upaloopa
(11,417 posts)It was open range territory. You had to fence cattle off your land rather than fence them in. All my neighbors and I had horses. We wore western style clothes. The boots had heels to keep your feet in the stirrups. We wore western style hats rather than baseball caps. Our shirts had a pocket on each side rather than one on the left breast,
We wore Wranglers or Levi's and thick leather belts. That's because we worked on mending fences and cleaning stalls ect.
But most importantly it was important to fit in. It was a small community and outsiders were not as accepted as everyone else. We drove pickup trucks to haul feed and to haul our trash to the dump. We assisted in rounding up cattle and driving them to the loading pens.
So we could have not dressed in western clothes but they were practical and for me fun to wear.
They are just a style like anything else.
To be put off because people chose to dress different than you is petty I think.
sawdust
(199 posts)Texas is a big state and there are still alot of farms and ranches here, the part that bugs me is people like george bush and rick perry who have never broke a sweat on a farm and the city kaboys who sport the get up.
True Blue Door
(2,969 posts)It's the way that arrogant douchebags turn it into a statement of authoritarian identity.
MindPilot
(12,693 posts)And it's sole purpose is to say "I"m ready to kick some hippie ass"!
S_B_Jackson
(906 posts)The "costume" of which you seem to take such offense - boots, jeans, shirts, and hats.
A good pair of boots will last, with minimal care,10 years or more, and once broken-in are very comfortable, they aren't intended to be disposable and can be re-soled which will extend their life to 20-30 years. They have a place somewhere between a pair of sandals and a pair of dress shoes to be work with a tuxedo.
Jeans? The most ubiquitous of clothes worn in this country. Urban or rural, makes no difference.
Shirts? Well, it's generally considered polite to wear them or an equivalent type of garb when outside ones home.
I think what really gets you is a western, "cowboy" hat. Why is it that a wide-brimmed hat makes you so upset? Do you likewise get upset at the sight of a Panama hat or a fedora? How about adults wearing baseball caps? When turned 45 degree, 90 degrees, or 180 degrees so that the bill of the cap does not serve it's purpose to shield one's eyes from the sun?
[Sgt. Hulka]Lighten up, Francis.[/Sgt. Hulka]
otohara
(24,135 posts)Last edited Sun Sep 7, 2014, 02:35 PM - Edit history (1)
Isn't it a pride thing down there?
Texas acts like it's not part of these United States, they've made it very clear they'd like to secede.
They elect politicians who hate the environment, immigrants.
When Texans visit my state they act like assholes and enjoy doing it.
Paladin
(28,707 posts)If you're going to vilify Texans, try making sense. Bonus points for the correct spelling of "secede," though......
tularetom
(23,664 posts)There are many reasons to be critical of Texas but people wearing big hats and cowboy boots isn't one of them.
Maybe some of the people dressing like cowboys actually do so for practical reasons. I wear jeans boots and a tee shirt every day. My boots don't have pointy toes and elevated heels, but they are waterproof and steel toed. And yes, in the summer, if I have a lot of outside work to do, I might sometimes wear a straw cowboy hat.
I live on 40 acres here and we have a few animals, a lot of fences and several outbuildings that seem to always need repair. WTF am I supposed to do, wear a suit.
I'll bet there are a lot of people in Texas like me. There sure as hell are here in CA.
To attack Texans for dressing like Roy Rogers seems sort of nitpicky.
justabob
(3,069 posts)This thread is nothing but Texas bashing bait. To go after cowboy boots as archaic or whatever.... Has this person writing and the person posting the op not looked around lately? People wear boots of all shapes and sizes with murderously high heels and every other useless thing.... none of those people have ever set foot at any barn, stable, or steel toe workplace..... and funny hats.... and bizarre belts and buckles and every other thing..... Why should "cowboy" boots be singled out? Or "cowboy" hats. As someone else pointed out, wide brim hats are also everywhere and provide excellent protection from the sun....
Do you bitch about all the folks wearing baseball caps but who have never run the bases? Or African americans incorporating patterns, textures and styles of their African cultures into their 21st century fashion? People who wear steel toed boots to dinner?
MadrasT
(7,237 posts)It's a regional thing. I like to get my cowboy on once in a while, too, and I live in the mid-Atlantic. It's a good look. To me, it just says "rugged Americana".
NightWatcher
(39,353 posts)Cowboy boots fall into two major categories
A Walking Heel and a horse Riding Heel
There are different styles of toe boxes also, a more pointed toe for slipping into a stirrup and the rounded or squared toe box for more room for your toes while walking.
That said, you can probably guess that I have some boots. In the past I worked in South Texas with the Rangers and Border Patrol in some rough terrain areas. Boots are beneficial in some environments, as are big brimmed straw hats for keeping the sun out of your face. Many regional or professional people still wear the "costume" as you call it from their past because it's practical.
The people who who appear to have a problem with are what are called "All Hat, No Cattle" cowboys. Like this Connecticut Cowboy who went to Yale and couldn't mount a Segway scooter, much less a horse, and who bought his "ranch" and sold it within months of entering and exiting the White House.
sawdust
(199 posts)What a phony thug!
Fortinbras Armstrong
(4,473 posts)I will say that when I went to a symposium at Cambridge University in England, I did see some people wearing traditional academic robes as part of their apparently normal dress. I was told that this was standard dress there as late as the 1930s.
TlalocW
(15,597 posts)Other than, yeah, it's a little weird to see grown adults who don't work as a cowboy wearing a cowboy costume, but if it stopped, I wouldn't be able to play my favorite Texas game...
TlalocW
LTX
(1,020 posts)Brownsville, Corpus Christie, Matagorda, Beaumont, Port Arthur, Fredericksburg, El Paso, Nacogdoches, McAllen, Del Rio, San Marcos, New Braunfels, Laredo, Harlingen, Kingsville, Mission, Rosenberg, San Juan, Socorro, Weslaco, Edinburg, Pharr, Freeport, Galveston, Port Lavaca, Seguin, La Feria, Los Fresnos, Los Ybanez, Marfa, Palacios, Port Isabell, Presidio, Roma, or San Elizario. Other than that, it's spot on.
True Blue Door
(2,969 posts)No possible motive of authoritarian cultural brown-nosing could have been behind that.
sendero
(28,552 posts).... than wearing a tie-dyed t-shirt?
I think you have too much time on your hands and that there are a lot more things people do that are worthy of criticism.
I live in north Tx and most of the men here who wear that stuff are, guess freaking what, working on a ranch.
MindPilot
(12,693 posts)alterfurz
(2,553 posts)...I would rent out Texas, and live in Hell." -- Phil Sheridan (also sometimes attributed to William Tecumseh Sherman, post-Civil War military governor of Texas)
True Blue Door
(2,969 posts)Paladin
(28,707 posts)alarimer
(16,474 posts)Probably, if I had to guess, it dates back to the various movies and TV shows, probably starting in the 50's or 60's.
What struck me after living in Texas a few years, is that people were cowboy shirts, boots, hats and the rest as dress-up wear. Like on dates or something. And it's considered okay. It wasn't, for most people, an every day thing. It crosses racial and cultural lines, as well and is by no means restricted to just white guys.
Vogon_Glory
(9,459 posts)You made a good point. I doubt the OP has ever seen Mexican-American males from Texans shopping in western-wear stores looking for something to wear for an evening at a Tejano club. For the most part, the only difference between Tejano-wear denims, boots, and hats and western-wear cowboy hats, boots, and denims is whose hands got put on the goodies first.
alarimer
(16,474 posts)I mean, I lived in Puerto Rico for a while and guayaberas are these shirts that men wear. Sort of lose and confortable (well, hell, it's very tropical there) and so, even my dad (about as white as you can get without Sherwin Williams) wore them to business functions, just to fit in. So I'm inclined to chalk it up as a local fashion thing as opposed to some symbol of evil or whatever. Is it as affectation? Sure, probably.
Vogon_Glory
(9,459 posts)I liked guayabera shirts myself. In Austin and San Antonio, many guys (at least the ones over 40) used to wear Guayabera shirts in the summertime. It didn't matter if the wearer was of impeccably Hispanic background or not. I would have argued that guayaberas were de-facto "old fart wear."
Guayaberas once had the sort of dressy position somewhere between a button-down shirt and a jacket and tie.
Styles have changed. The older styles have gone out of fashion and I don't like the new ones.
Paladin
(28,707 posts)You know, these trashings of the entire population of Texas (myself included) get really, really old. As to how we dress, you need to catch a clue. Hang out in the downtown sectors of any of the major cities---Austin, Dallas, Houston, San Antonio---and see how many buckaroo outfits you see on a weekday, as opposed to professionals, decked out in standard work attire. In the more rural areas of the state, jeans and boots have a lot more utility. And unless you're really fond of having skin cancers removed, you're crazy to go out in the summer sun without a brimmed hat of some sort. I'm partial to Sperry boat shoes around my house, but hell, I may be dragging my old boots out of the back of the closet for yard work, since learning yesterday that a neighbor killed a coral snake in his front yard. Sure, a lot a people have a few items of western clothing, which they may put on to attend a rodeo every year. But the number of cowboy poseurs you seem so obsessed with is only a small portion of the populace.
Honestly, though: where do you come by this skewed view of Texans as one big redneck group? Did you grow up here? Go to school here? Where do you come by such a full-blown amount of poorly-sourced hatred for an entire state? Do you really imagine that we're all Rick Perry clones? Do you think that there are no liberals in Texas, that we're all just a bunch of right-wing peckerwoods? Did Obama actually not receive over 3 million Texas votes, last time around? Trust me when I tell you this: brain-dead hate rants like yours make you look bad. Do us all a favor and ease off a little.
narnian60
(3,510 posts)Paladin
(28,707 posts)Good one.
Didn't you know it's your turn in the region bashing? All us Southerners are off today and I'm going shooting later.
RandiFan1290
(6,365 posts)linuxman
(2,337 posts)Replied to wrong person.
dem in texas
(2,681 posts)Have you ever worn a pair of well fitted cowboy boots? Best support for your feet and will last for years. Ever been out in the 100 degree Texas heat, you better have a big wide brimmed cowboy heat on or you are headed for heat stroke. Ever been out around San Angelo watching the men round up cattle, the leather chaps, boots and hats are what are needed for protection from the cactus and thorns, even if the cattle are loaded into the back of pick-up trucks.
Texas has a long colorful history and when I was in school, we had a year of Texas history in the fourth grade and a half year of Texas history in the 8th grade, so Texas students were well versed in their heritage. Most all children read the books of J. Frank Dobie about the famous cattle drives and the early Spanish Explorers. And don't forget the most precious place to a Texan, the Alamo. I was thrilled the last time I stay in San Antonio and my hotel room looked right down on the Alamo. You can still visit the military forts. My favorite, Ft. McKavett is not to be missed, you can almost image the buffalo soldiers in their daily formation there on the parade ground. And you will be sure to see deer, wild turkey, rattlesnakes and prairie dogs when you drive out there.
Yes, Texans have a strong identity of who they are and sometimes they just gotta break out and put on their boots and kick up their heels. So what?
MindPilot
(12,693 posts)The bloused shirt, tight jeans, chaps, and that stuff is very expensive. If a cowboy is poor, it is only because they spent their last three paychecks on a hat & a pair of boots. All those thing actually have some functionality in the real world of cattle ranching, but these morons would probably shit themselves if they ever actually got close to a horse.
They grew out of the late 60's and they were basically the original teaparty; they were trying to counter the counter-culture, and are just a bunch of right-wingnuts playing dress-up.
I had to grow up with some of these assholes; they have spread to infest the entire country; I went to HS with them in Colorado and I absolutely loathe cowboys. Ka-boys we used to call them. The worst thing about kaboys is the chewing tobacco and their disgusting habit of spitting absolutely anywhere. Then there is the "country" attitude that they are somehow better than city folk, and their "music"--well, that is a whole 'nother irritation.
Funny thing is a Mexican in a cowboy hat looks like a real man ready to do some real work on the ranch. A white guy in a cowboy hat just looks stupid.
Lurker Deluxe
(1,047 posts)Mexican in a cowboy hat looks like a real man ...
white guy in a cowboy hat just looks stupid ...
A judgemental asshole dressed anyway looks pitiful.
MindPilot
(12,693 posts)Just as a white guy looks dumb trying to sport the rapper look.
JackInGreen
(2,975 posts)and how does that pertain to race?
Put down the shovel, do not answer those questions, go back and rethink.
cwydro
(51,308 posts)you're wasting your time with that one.
True Blue Door
(2,969 posts)It's used as a shibboleth by authoritarian power.
Paladin
(28,707 posts)Honest to God, now---have you ever even been to Texas? I think you're phoning this stuff in. You're humiliating yourself, and it serves you right.
pnwmom
(109,445 posts)"Funny thing is a Mexican in a cowboy hat looks like a real man ready to do some real work on the ranch. A white guy in a cowboy hat just looks stupid."
There are non-Hispanic white men, Hispanic men, Asian men, and African American men who do "real work" on real ranches. And none of them look stupid in their work clothes.
If you live in a western state and see a man dressed like this, he might actually work on a ranch. Or he might be a poseur. You can't tell by his skin color or even by how clean the outfit is.
(Most of the "real workers" have a dress-up version of their ordinary daily clothes. What would horrify them is if someone told them they had to wear men's evening clothes -- a monkey suit -- for a special event. )
Response to pnwmom (Reply #174)
Post removed
pnwmom
(109,445 posts)simply because they are a practical kind of uniform, and it's what they and their families before them have always worn.
They don't wear them because they're trying to send a message. I know these people. They're in my husband's extended family -- real ranchers in a western state.
NYC_SKP
(68,644 posts)...you'll find that the member had very bad experience with some bullies in cowboy gear in Colorado at the time the member was more of a long hair hippie type (their words).
Thus, they have been traumatized and there's a lot of emotion to be expected in their replies. I quit arguing.
You and I and most others realize that a few bullies in cowboy gear doesn't make all people in cowboy gear bullies.
It seems to be a trigger in this case for that member.
As to the OP, more bigotry and broadbrushing. Chicago is, to them, associated with gangsters, and I'm fairly sure they've neither studied history nor been to Texas.
"They were basically hobos with a few skills, drifting from one area to the next and one greedy, sociopathic employer to the next."
Good grief.
yeoman6987
(14,449 posts)MindPilot
(12,693 posts)But thank you for that harassment.
pnwmom
(109,445 posts)The direct observation would be that both Mexican-Americans and non-hispanic Americans sometimes wear cowboy attire.
The rest of the drivel you had to say was pure opinion.
TransitJohn
(6,933 posts)Wyoming, Arizona.....
Premise fail.
Arkansas Granny
(31,783 posts)For many who work agricultural jobs or other primarily outdoor jobs, jeans and button or snap front shirts are quite practical. The clothing is rugged and low maintenance. The shirt sleeved can be rolled up or down, depending on the weather. The boots hold up to hard wear and many find them very comfortable.
For others, this manner of dress is popular just because they like the look. When a large segment of the population wears this style everyday, it just becomes part of the regional style. For that matter, "cowboy" fashion can be seen all across the country, not just Texas.
pkdu
(3,977 posts)..perhaps because it hits close to home?
Paladin
(28,707 posts)Go ahead, enlighten us. What was the point, other than brain-dead, uninformed, region-trashing psychobabble?
Vogon_Glory
(9,459 posts)On the other hand, if we white Texans wished to invoke the worst aspects of Anglo-American behavior in Texas, wouldn't we go to much greater pains to look and dress like the cowboys and frontiersmen from 19th century photographs?
With the exception of those folks who wear dusters, derby hats (Stetson hats weren't all that common until the final decades of the 19th century), gun-belts with working six-shooters and regular riding boots (Check 19th century postcards and photos and see how many of those working cowboys and cowhands wore anything much like today's Tony Lamas), I think western wear is a statement that not only says that 'we are proud of the positive aspects of our past,' but also 'that was then, this is now.'
Again, I point out that many Mexican-American males ALSO wear what some would consider "western wear."
Tejano, you know.
pnwmom
(109,445 posts)Lurker Deluxe
(1,047 posts)All us Texans is just backward ass. We're all bigots. We hates everyone who are not like ... well, us. Whoever the fuck "us" are.
We look down on all 'dem minor-A-ties and stuff.
Hell, just look at a normal day in Houston.
I woke up early this morning because I had to run into the office to get a truck out of the yard for a guy heading over to Mobile Bay. I went over to the office by the airport around fiveish. I work for a multi-national service company which has thirty, yea you read that right 30 ... THIRTY, different nationalities represented in our company.
On the way back I stopped at a road side truck and sat with a few guys at had some breakfast ... got back to the condo and decided to go sit in the hot tub and soak for an hour or so. Took a shower and sat by the pool and dried off. Talked to the guy who is working on the unit next to me, the owner is in the hospital after having heart surgery ... the neighbors stopped by and the older woman across from us brought out a picture of lemonade. It was almost 9am and the sun was starting to pop through the clouds, going to be a nice day ... only 90 but some rain.
I got teased because my car is filthy, I explained that yesterday I was up at my place in Cut-n-Shoot doing a little yard work and hadn't made it to the car wash, a priority this morning before the game. One of the younger guys wandered over and said he and some friends were headed down to the stadium and had an extra ticket would any of us like to tag along. I was tempted but already had plans to meet some friends at the local watering hole. We finished up the drinks, man fresh lemonade is the bomb, and went on about our business. I hit the real shower and put some shorts on and checked some e-mails and did a little reading here on DU.
What do I see but more of this crazy regional hate.
Well ... it is what it are. I am going to go find a clean shirt, and head over to the car wash and get that dirty ass Mustang all shined up to head over to the watering hole to watch a football game with some friends.
I've been all over the world, and damn sure all over this country, and I can tell you without a doubt that Houston Texas is one of the most diverse places in the world and as far as friendly goes, hell ... you'd have to work to find a better place.
Here's a picture of our city council, of coarse lead by an openly gay female mayor.
http://www.houstontx.gov/council/index.html
What's your community look like that you can throw stones so hard at mine.
PosterChild
(1,307 posts)... please.
I've been to Texas only a couple of times and for only short periods (business, with a mult-national service company) and it is very easy to tell that "you aren't in <where ever> anymore". Couldn't even find a radio station that didn't have a DJ spewing right wing bullshit between songs. At first I thought I had tuned into a "talk show", but no, just a normal run-of-the-mill music station - and I couldn't find one that didn't feature a blathering motor mouth right winger .
And then there is all the "come and get it" crap. Just like the all confederate flag crap in our other problem-child states.
"What's the matter with Kansas?" It's a legitimate question. So is "What's the matter with Texas?".
LTX
(1,020 posts)Translation: "I have a stereotypical view of the people in Texas, and it doesn't make a damn bit of difference if 22 million of the people who live there aren't remotely like my stereotype, I'm not changing my mind."
PosterChild
(1,307 posts)...... in Texas in order to emphasize that I'm giving an impressionistic and subjective opinion.
I don't think, however, that my experiences (limited though they were) are entirely invalid, or that the make up of the Huston City council is at all, in any way, representative of the 22 million people who live there.
Texas is not a multi-cultural paradise of human tolerance and social justice. We all know that.
LTX
(1,020 posts)You really don't know what you're talking about, do you? The "Houston City Council"?
Try the 6.4 million people who live in metropolitan Houston.
And then try San Antonio, Brownsville, Corpus Christie, Matagorda, Beaumont, Port Arthur, Fredericksburg, El Paso, Nacogdoches, McAllen, Del Rio, San Marcos, Dallas, Fort Worth, New Braunfels, Laredo, Harlingen, Kingsville, Mission, Rosenberg, San Juan, Socorro, Weslaco, Edinburg, Pharr, Freeport, Galveston, Port Lavaca, Seguin, La Feria, Los Fresnos, Los Ybanez, Marfa, Palacios, Port Isabell, Presidio, Roma, San Elizario, etc.
Then imagine, if you can, a Vietnamese, Nigerian, Hipster, Mexican, Argentine, German, Chinese, Jewish, African-American, Kickapoo, Swedish, Beach Bum, Cajun, Indian, Polish, Alabama-Coushatta, Czech, Ysleta Del Sur Pueblo, Italian, Lebanese, Greek "cowboy." It'll be fun.
Ishoutandscream2
(6,728 posts)More ignorance.
PosterChild
(1,307 posts)...... in Texas in order to emphasize that I'm giving an impressionistic and subjective opinion. I am not an expert, and I did not pretend to be.
I don't think, however, that my experiences (limited though they were) are entirely invalid. As a visitor from another part of the country (actually, several other parts of the country) it is quite striking how different Texas seems to be.
And the make up of the Huston City council is not at all, in any way, representative of the 22 million people who live there. Texas is not a multi-cultural paradise of human tolerance and social justice. We all know that.
LTX
(1,020 posts)PosterChild
(1,307 posts)Lurker Deluxe
(1,047 posts)As that link indicates, Houston is one of the most diverse cities in the US.
Fact.
PosterChild
(1,307 posts)... and so was the Wiki article. Thanks for sharing!
riverwalker
(8,694 posts)always seemed odd to me. The original cowboys always removed their hats indoors.
Now, people wear them in restaurants, shopping malls, even driving their cars.
justabob
(3,069 posts)not just cowboys. Etiquette isn't what it once was.
Schema Thing
(10,283 posts)in the OP most of my life. But I also on occasion wear a cowboy hat and boots for work. And then again, a little bit for fashion too, I suppose. After all, I could have chosen hiking boots and a fishermans hat just as well.
It was a funny rant that touches on a lot of ugly truths about redneck Texans. I didn't take it personally in the least.
I just want people to know that the truly recalcitrant pig-fuckers are in the minority in Texas, and when Texas goes blue, it's a new day in American politics.
And that is going to happen soon. 2014? maybe. probably not. 2016? much more likely, but still a lot of work. And money.
So joke about Texas all you want, but don't totally buy your own bullshit and decide there is no hope, because that's silly and ignores the reality on the ground - help us turn Texas Blue.
edhopper
(34,600 posts)I feel sorry for you, because if the polls are right, your next Governor will rain havoc on your State.
He really is a loathsome repug creep and will work hard to take every minority right away.
Mosaic
(1,451 posts)I don't know why you think what you do. Whites are the minority, so if you are right, and you're not, he'll take away white's rights!
And btw, way to root for the team, namely Democrats, on a Democratic forum! I just owned you.
edhopper
(34,600 posts)A 8 to 10 point lead.
I also hope none of the quotes I've seen from him or any of things he has done in office mean anything.
Perry has worked out so well after all.
Lurker Deluxe
(1,047 posts)You would know that the governor does not have the kind of power other governor is other states do.
edhopper
(34,600 posts)didn't do any harm?
panader0
(25,816 posts)Khakis? Loafers?
pinboy3niner
(53,339 posts)Didn't you learn your lesson the last time?
NYC_SKP
(68,644 posts)pinboy3niner
(53,339 posts)...I like to call and ask, "What are you wearing?" It never fails to start the conversation off on the right foot.
kentauros
(29,414 posts)"I'm wearing thin."
NYC_SKP
(68,644 posts)" And nothin' else. Just like you like it!"
kentauros
(29,414 posts)"Then you need to have on a belt with a big-ass belt buckle to help break up the monotony in between the boots and the hat."
NYC_SKP
(68,644 posts)You can just call him "Tony"....
I like the belt idea!
kentauros
(29,414 posts)Because "Tony" is both a name and an adjective
NYC_SKP
(68,644 posts)Tony's Randy tonight!
kentauros
(29,414 posts)The OP is exceptionally laugh out loud, too!
Fantastic Anarchist
(7,309 posts)kentauros
(29,414 posts)but I do seem to recall hearing it used in old movies on TCM
[font size="4"]tony[/font] adjective \ˈtō-nē\
: very expensive and fashionable
ton·i·er ton·i·est
Full Definition of TONY
: marked by an aristocratic or high-toned manner or style <tony private schools>
Fantastic Anarchist
(7,309 posts)Who would have thought?
kentauros
(29,414 posts)Fantastic Anarchist
(7,309 posts)There was actually an anarchist named Prince Peter Kropotkin who was part of the Russian nobility. He had a wicked beard that I'd die to be able to grow:
kentauros
(29,414 posts)Give it a try sometime. I just hope it's not too itchy. I've managed to get two weeks into beard growth before I shaved it all off because of the itching. Even my two-lip moustache gets rather itchy at times...
I'm sure there's a fair number of anarchists within the steampunk realm. Unless you want to go the mad scientist route?
Fantastic Anarchist
(7,309 posts)I'd rather go the revolutionary route, but, sigh - not in my lifetime.
NYC_SKP
(68,644 posts)I'll have to remember that...
Ishoutandscream2
(6,728 posts)Bigotry and ignorance all wrapped up in a nice package.
rpannier
(24,549 posts)dressed like Jesus Christ
Though the style would be quite practical on hot days.
Snow would be a bit frigid
CBGLuthier
(12,723 posts)Hats, boots the whole nine yards almost always from Mexico or further south.
I think the thinking here is simplistic.
albino65
(484 posts)said "there is no such thing as the good old days. They were just the old days."
linuxman
(2,337 posts)packman
(16,296 posts)New Orleans Jazz, Texas two-step, Chicago deep dish, New York being New York, Pittsburgh Polish food, Miami bling, Las Vegas overkill, Deep South BBQ and language twang ---- let Texans be Texans - ain't no shit.
lumberjack_jeff
(33,224 posts)Kilgore
(1,733 posts)Of the classic Monty Python lumberjack song.
https://m.
blackspade
(10,056 posts)tooeyeten
(1,074 posts)Of Privilege, aggression, entitlement, power, intolerance.
Arugula Latte
(50,566 posts)expensive suits -- and cowboy hats and boots. Truly retch-worthy.
I call this "The Full Douchebag"
tooeyeten
(1,074 posts)Exultant Democracy
(6,595 posts)Better yet try riding a horse without cowboy boots. You do understand that there is a ton of ranching in the southwest so we have cowboys all the way from Nevada to Texas still doing their thing.
cheapdate
(3,811 posts)This is a keeper. All these Texans weighing in are fooling no one. It's like people from Alabama (my old home) saying, "Racism? What racism?".
When Texans step out and want to "look sharp" they put on their duds -- full regalia, everything but spurs. They look absurd standing around an indoor social gathering in cowboy hat and cowboy boots.
They do the same thing here around Nashville. Show up at a wine tasting in cowboy hat and cowboy boots. Ridiculous.
LTX
(1,020 posts)what you're talking about, but still ... Yeah!
cheapdate
(3,811 posts)I like how you're not afraid to be completely wrong. You're probably a risk-taker and I like that.
You're wrong, though. I've spent too much time in Texas, I had a steak-dinner at the Moose Lodge in Texarkana just a few weeks ago. (A woman at our table claimed that not only was Elvis still alive, but he was actually a man from Texarkana. She was dead-serious, I'm pretty sure, but that's another story.)
LTX
(1,020 posts)And there you have it. You now know fer darn-sure that them there people in Texas is all the same, by golly.
Them Indian and Asian and African and Pacific Island and German and Brazilian and Argentine and Mexican and Puerto Rican and Australian doctor-people in Houston at the po-dunk Houston medical center, and those redneck dumb-asses at Rice University, and all them feriners in Houston and Austin and Del Rio and Beaumont and Port Arthur and Fort Worth and San Antonio and Fredericksberg and Rosenberg and McAllen and Corpus Whatever and Brownsville and College Station and Galveston and Port Lavaca and Matagorda (not to mention all them god-forsaken German and Swedish and Polish and Jewish and Italian and Greek immagrinters that founded they own towns and all them Messicans in them there border-towns) -- well, they just all pathologically dress like pretend cowboys and spit tabaccy to show they superiority, not once a-knowin' that in reality they is really showing they fundamental, bottom-rung, lack of "my progressive town" breeding and intelligence.
If they was ever exposed to some place truly enlightened and diverse like, say, Portland or Seattle or Minneapolis-St. Paul or Denver or Greenwich or Boulder or Mont Pillar Ver-mont or Amherst or Pittsburgh or Westchester or Grand Rapids or Providence or Worcester or Cincinnati or Akron or Albany or Syracuse, they would realize just how backward they truly was.
We just flat needs ya'. Please, please teach us your enlightened ways of getting away with flat-out segregationist racism while still sittin' on a high horse and preaching to the lesser folk.
Paladin
(28,707 posts)You DU Texas-haters are really losing your touch, given the laughable stereotyping and uninformed drooling on this thread.
NYC_SKP
(68,644 posts)For a stinking broad brushing diatribe. While I'd like to think that all DU members are, in their hearts, good people, sometimes something else sure shines through.
This post would have been locked when we had moderators as stinking of regional bias.
I can't write what I really think, a jury might hide it.
Paladin
(28,707 posts)kentauros
(29,414 posts)There's quite a few members in that list I expect to see in every such bash-thread. It's the ones I don't expect to see there that have me shaking my head and wondering about them...
cheapdate
(3,811 posts)Every Texan that you let loose on the world acting like a caricature of Dallas-meets-Urban-Cowboy sets your beloved state back years in esteem.
There's a reason why Texans are thought of like a plague in many places.
The incessant boasting -- from a state which won roughly half as many national football championships as Alabama, a state one-seventh its size. The compulsive need to "super-size" belongings for no practical reason. The boot fetish. Etc.
Texas leads the nation in poverty and pollution. Santa Anna killed every last man at the Alamo. George W. Bush. Rick Perry.
Step back and look at it, man. Humility and self-reflection aren't typical Texas traits, but hope springs eternal.
LTX
(1,020 posts)cheapdate
(3,811 posts)Lot's of super-cool people in Texas. Vietnamese fishermen. Pakistani computer programmers. A real beacon of diversity.
But you're ignoring a very real and serious problem. Texas is chock full of raging assholes. They're in the dualie pick-up trucks. They're loud and obnoxious. They're more plentiful than fleas.
Sure, I could say that Alabama is cool, man. Look at certain areas in Birmingham or Mobile. But that's not an accurate characterization of Alabama. Alabama is Judge Roy Moore defying the federal government to put a granite ten-commandments statue in the lobby of the Alabama Supreme Court building.
Tennessee has it's own unique strain of assholes. I could say, but look at East Nashville, it's so hip and diverse! That's not Tennessee. Tennesseans are fanatically proud of their lack of diversity, which is "multi-culturalism", which is the pathway to hell.
Dustlawyer
(10,515 posts)go to work. No one at my office wears the getup. If I was going to a bar playing country music I might put on the getup, the boots slide better. I consider myself American and a Texan, it's not mutually exclusive. Most Texans are proud Americans, though I don't see much to be proud of these days, either for America or Texas.
If Texas were to turn Blue, Democrats would have a lock on POTUS, yet other than Howard Dean's 50 state strategy, we get no help in making this change happen. We will make it happen regardless.
There are many reasons to be critical of Texas, but cowboy boots and hats are not one of them. Like my grandfather used to say, "If you don't have anything nice to say, then STFU!" This is just another variation of the game, "You are different from me so you are inferior!"
Schema Thing
(10,283 posts)Not in urban areas, and not even in mid-size towns, like say, Tyler. Are there *some* people out in full cowboy regalia in a place like Tyler? Sure. But not enough to accurately say "when Texans step out...".
It's a small percentage. More than other places? Sure, maybe.
Kali
(55,661 posts)just exactly what is the proper costume for a wine tasting?
cheapdate
(3,811 posts)Country music star "Kix" Brooks (one-half of the duo Brooks and Dunn) has a vineyard in Arrington. I drive past it everyday coming from work. Proper attire appears to be boots, jeans, and a black cowboy hat for men, and boots and skirt for women.
Fantastic Anarchist
(7,309 posts)... and depending on the day, I wore my skater clothes.
If I went out clubbing, then I could be mistaken for Morrissey.
But enjoy your generalization.
kcr
(15,511 posts)ChisolmTrailDem
(9,463 posts)cowboy attire in the rural areas where the ranches are. BUT, it is kind of ridiculous for people who live in the urban areas to look like they just came off the trail, sans the dust.
I've had many people in my life say at one time or another that I should conform to this cultural standard and I tell them this: "I am not a cowboy, I have never been a cowboy, and I will never be a cowboy and you'll never catch me alive wearing a cowboy hat." I do, however, wear boots when I go dancing because they have the soles for it.
madmom
(9,681 posts)I'm from NW Ohio and I see "cowboys" everywhere. It's not just boys either it's girls as well. The think I find the funniest is if these girls get anywhere near livestock they are scared shitless.
I feel the same way about all the camo attire I see in stores and on the street. What are they trying to hide from? Do they know it's not working? Most have not ever been in a situation (e.g. the military) where camo would be needed.
I think they are trying to do the "cowboy up" thing, where it's supposed to be macho or something that's not them, but is truly laughable.
Cowboys/girls are a tough breed and they want the world to see them as such.
This is not meant as a put down to the people who wear any of this attire for what it was meant for.. the hat for sun protection .. why wear it inside? This is aimed at the business type who are trying to pass themselves off. No offense meant to others.
justabob
(3,069 posts)and that is just bull shit, as you and others very rightly point out. Texans I see responding to this thread see the suits with boots and hats ala Perry and Bush as the posers they are and yes, some of the crap in the op may apply. I (and I think the other Texans taking offense) object to the broad brush smears of ALL Texans, and the blindness to the fact that cowboy boots and cowboys hats are found in every state and are in no way exclusive to Texas, cowboys, or even rural people.
There are a lot of conversations to be had about Texas, its people, its politics, its history and its future, but this thread is not where it is going to happen.
madmom
(9,681 posts)"Nowhere in America is free from ugly history, and nowhere is entirely free from self-gratifying illusions.."
I did not get the idea he was talking about all Texans.
pnwmom
(109,445 posts)Except on five year olds.
Rozlee
(2,529 posts)...when I was little. Males went to churches and dances in Stetsons or other types of formal hats, not cowboy hats. My parents were migrant workers and would wear cowboy hats, sombreros or other types of wide-brimmed hats, but these were not considered fashionable. And they didn't wear cowboy boots because they were field workers. They didn't work with large farm animals. I don't remember them wearing any kind of denim, ever. Today, cowboy wear here in Texas is more of a fashion statement. That is, if it's not worn, dusty and obviously worked in. I even see men wearing cowboy hats in church, which would have been shocking fifty years ago. The small Texas ranches have been swallowed up by the big agri-farms and we don't have that many legitimate cowboys in city limits. Just the ones that break in Ford Broncos.
Thinkingabout
(30,058 posts)Others can wear western wear or cowboy as you say, we will not complain about others taking this privilege, we are friendly and we know others strive to be like Texans, thank you for pointing out we do not have to conform to the dress codes of every other state.
edhopper
(34,600 posts)that only Texas had cowboys and the Cowboy somehow belongs to Texas?
That sounds a touch arrogant to me.
Thinkingabout
(30,058 posts)I stated
Others can wear western wear or cowboy as you say, we will not complain about others taking this privilege
The original post talked about Texans are the ones wearing western wear, I know others wear western wear, been there, saw that, I think the dress code of my fellow Texans is quiet okay, perhaps it is assumed Texans are the only one who wears western wear. Arrogant, never Texas is a friendly state.
Lithos
(26,444 posts)That cowboy boots (and boots in general) and cowboy hats are very common attire in more than just Texas. They are very, very common in Mexico, the Rocky Mountain states and the South West.
justabob
(3,069 posts)even in the big city.
I see a lot of grounds crews who wear straw cowboy hats and boots. Very practical for them.
I think people think of Cowboy hats and boots as being high dollar Stetsons and Ostrich booger pickers when in fact they are usually just simple work gear.
L-
whereisjustice
(2,941 posts)live in gated communities on some tiny lot with a McMansion on it. Once a year they might haul a bag of weed n feed in the back of it.
Strelnikov_
(7,786 posts)lunatica
(53,410 posts)If it had come across as humorous in a satirical way it could have been funny. I've lived in Connecticut, Massachusetts. North Carolina, Illinois, Wisconsin, Texas and California. By lived I mean I've been a resident for at least a few years in each. They all have their self propagated illusions and delusions and they're all the butt of jokes from other states. They all have things that outsiders like me love and hate.
It's all OK.
But I do like your writing abilty.
Chathamization
(1,638 posts)stage left
(3,010 posts)Hats, too. And nearly one out of two people you see is wearing blue jeans(Levi's). They could have all been Texans, but I don't think so. Now, if I saw somebody wearing chaps, and he wasn't in a rodeo or on a horse ranch, that would give me pause. Yeah, we have ranches in South Carolina.
DontTreadOnMe
(2,442 posts)sums up just about everything perfectly.
And from the replies here, them Texans ain't too fond of being criticized...
(I am an American... lived in many states. I don't ever get INSULTED by a regional observation)
From the Florida panhandle going west all the way to Houston... some of the worst redneck racism I have ever witnessed in the United States. It goes across many states.. and the people are generally all the same. It's the ugly part of our society.
Gore1FL
(21,743 posts)And why is that different?
TM99
(8,352 posts)but Texas wants you anyway.
Throd
(7,208 posts)You know, the place where the whole Gold Rush started?
NightWatcher
(39,353 posts)I love how much time and effort you gave to a pointless post.
Dreamer Tatum
(10,926 posts)And what a waste of effort when all you needed to say was "I hate Texas."
mahina
(18,802 posts)with the boots and hat. He was one of the Howard Hughes/ General Growth borg that are turning our little neighborhood by the beach into Singapore.
Orrex
(63,897 posts)when I got off a Greyhound bus in the heart of Dallas at about 06:30 in 1992, I was amazed at the sea of cowboy hats around me. It was like I'd fallen into a caricature of Texas.
I don't care if they want to wear hats and boots and big ol' belt buckles, but when Bush-types try to play the "swagger" card, they come off looking like assholes.
N_E_1 for Tennis
(10,615 posts)Come on visit horse and farm country here in the Great Mitten State. Lower peninsula. You'll see exactly what your talking about.
Matter of fact my BIL, who lives in Texas and btw runs the Texas Musicians Museum in Irvine,TX.
http://texasmusiciansmuseum.com
Came up here recently for my SIL's funeral. We stayed at her house in Hickory Corners, MI.
My niece owns a horse farm there. My BIL commented that my niece has more and better boots than he will ever have. Plus the buckles she wins from competitions, which she wears when dressing up for a night on the town are bigger and more elaborate than any he owns.
So what?
chrisstopher
(152 posts)Love it!
LeftyMom
(49,212 posts)Because jeans/sturdy boots/t shirt/hat is the official outfit of farm labor everywhere, but fancy cowboy bar outfits (expensive boots, shirts with pearl snaps, painted on jeans) are worn all over California for the date night mating rituals two groups:
1. Suburban white people
2. Rural Mexican-Americans
Who, incidentally, will go to different cowboy bars which are not infrequently within sight of each other.
As an aside, actual historical cowboys were overwhelmingly black and latino.
A Little Weird
(1,754 posts)And is not terribly uncommon in the south and midwest. I'm not sure why you are singling out Texas. The last time I visited I saw very few people dressed that way. It was much more common when I was in Wyoming. Hawaii seems to have a fairly distinctive type of attire. Do you feel the same level of scorn for them?
LeftyMom
(49,212 posts)sabbat hunter
(6,888 posts)that look like the ones in the second picture. But then again I have been at the NY Renaissance Festival for the past month and half every weekend.
hootinholler
(26,449 posts)You'll find me in DC wearing a kilt.
Maybe I'm just a Jacobite wannabe, or maybe not.
Rex
(65,616 posts)because they own horses and a ranch or work on a ranch. I know, what a shock!
Response to Rex (Reply #127)
ChisolmTrailDem This message was self-deleted by its author.
Dreamer Tatum
(10,926 posts)I get it: you hate Texas and you hate Texans. Ugly history? In what sense is a hat and boots emblematic of an ugly history?
I see surfwear shops all over the place, and people decked out in Billabong, RVCA, etc. Why didn't you write about those deluded posers? Are they surfers? No...they generally aren't anywhere near a beach. Why not take them down?
I see women prancing around in yoga wear all day, every day, spending top dollar on Lululemon and Lorna Jane. They aren't in yoga class or at the gym, so who are they kidding? When are you going to take them down?
I see hipsters with enormous beards and tight t-shirts all over, as well. When will they face your wrath?
I see people walking around SoCal with fedoras on ALL DAY EVERY DAY, and it's 90 degrees out. A fedora is meant to trap the heat leaving the top of the head so as to keep it warm. When will you destroy those assholes?
I suggest you learn about the things you hate before you humiliate yourself writing about them.
blogslut
(38,596 posts)You typed all those words and embedded all those photos and managed to construct a coherent, clickable post.
Bless your heart.
NYC_SKP
(68,644 posts)calimary
(83,901 posts)northoftheborder
(7,602 posts)I'm a born and bred Texan, city dweller. There are subtle differences in the wearing of so called "western wear". There is a carving by a well-respected wood carver, Gene Zesch, who is a Texas rancher, descended from several generations of ranchers, original immigrants to Texas from Germany. His carving depicts two guys, standing at a bar. One is dressed as a regular rancher, with a well-worn hat, well-worn cotton shirt, droopy jeans, scuffed boots. The other has on a similar outfit, brand new bright colored plaid shirt, a bandanna around his neck, slick jeans, polished boots, and a sparkling white western hat. The first guy says to the other, "I see by your outfit that you are a cowboy.!" We call that second guy a ''dude". There are "dude" ranches in Texas, where city folk go ride horses, and play at a generation's old way of life. It's all in the context, and I can see where a non-Texas would group everyone together and call them anachronistic.
George Bush, with his sparkling hat and cowboy riding boots, worn with his business suit is a "dude", in my humble opinion. He was a dude even on his own "ranchette". However, I would not disparage every person wearing such things as showing off, or trying to be something he's not. People like boots for their fashion and style; jeans are practical and last forever; teenage, and young women sometimes wear fancy western boots with a short skirt to parties. To me that looks like a costume, but they are just dressing up.
A member of my family, now deceased, wore riding style boots every day, all of his life, a lifetime rancher. That's the only kind of shoe he had. His newest pair were for Sunday, parties, the rodeo, going out of town. His middle pair were for every day, around the ranch, going into his local town. His oldest pair was for riding, doing rough ranch work. When those wore out, the second pair became his work boots, his Sunday boots for every day, and bought a new pair for "best". When he got too old and frail to wear boots, he had a hard time finding any shoes comfortable for his feet, and mainly wore slippers. NEVER had a pair of athletic shoes, even for walking. He also preferred those snap-fastened shirts, plaid or white. Now I would not call him a "dude" for wearing his boots, shirts and hat to church or anywhere else.
Sometimes people, not necessarily from rural backgrounds, have "western weddings" where the bride and groom both wear boots, the groom and other men in the wedding party wear jeans with their tuxedo jackets. To me, that borders on being anachronistic.
It's all in context.
Please try to not be judgemental of Texans' dress habits. We have a hard enough time living down our idiot elected officials.
Revanchist
(1,375 posts)Like this one?
?format=1000w
You want to start a thread putting down the south next to show how "tolerant and progressive" you are next or are you only intolerant of one region per day?
elzenmahn
(904 posts)...and perfectly descriptive of the mentality of those who wear this garb all the time, and doing so after seeing one too many Spaghetti Westerns or John Wayne flicks.
The image is the thing. So much for the meaning, especially when there are $$$ to be made.
Paladin
(28,707 posts)Gracious, why all the attention today, left-coasters? Are you just desperate to embarrass yourselves? You're doing a terrific job of it.
Dreamer Tatum
(10,926 posts)they'd be shocked.
And as you said, these are left-coasters who evidently never go East of I-5.
Bakersfield might have just a FEW people who wear hats and boots, for openers.
Go to any gathering place popular with Mexicans and you will see that the preferred manner of dress
is very often Western wear.
Arizona and New Mexico are loaded with ranchers who wear such clothing and don't own anything else.
In fact, many Arizonans attend weddings and funerals in their BEST Western gear because they
DON'T OWN ANYTHING ELSE.
Here is how the OP imagines Texans:
pnwmom
(109,445 posts)And why should they? When they dress up, they wear a clean shirt, newer boots, and maybe a bolo tie. They'd feel ridiculous in anything else.
You obviously know nothing about the lives of millions of people in the rural parts of the west.
tularetom
(23,664 posts)And another one:
TexasProgresive
(12,257 posts)As a child growing up we were all caught up it the cowboy mystic. Places like Texas, Wyoming, New Mexico, Colorado; pretty much anywhere in the southwest still have working cowboys. I see them often at the local store buying breakfast tacos as the wait for the sun to rise. It is near universal that they are driving a well used pickup truck with a 20' trailer containing 1 to 2 tacked up horses and several dogs. The cowboys are dressed in well worn jeans accessorized with scarred up chaps and boots all covered in dust, tarnished spurs, no big belt buckle and usually a gimmy hat with the logo of a favorite sports team or beer.
When they are out on the town they tend to were nice boots with starched and ironed jeans and a white button down shirt. This might be topped off with a fine felt or straw cowboy style hat. These guys come in all flavors.
All this doesn't shine a light on what your OP is about. Texan can be arrogant and they can be friendly same as New Yorkers. Clothes don't make the person. Those who judge people by their appearance are not taken seriously by me.
malaise
(277,303 posts)Rec
Dreamer Tatum
(10,926 posts)OPs are usually less shit-concentrated.
fishwax
(29,307 posts)Wearing a cowboy hat and/or boots isn't really dressing like a cowboy, any more than wearing a baseball cap is dressing like a baseball player or wearing a fedora and dress shoes is dressing like a gangster.
WinkyDink
(51,311 posts)JEB
(4,748 posts)pnwmom
(109,445 posts)they also work outdoors and ride horses.
JEB
(4,748 posts)so a sheepherder will wear boots with a walking heel if not lace boots. Cattle are traditionally worked from horseback, even the opening and closing of gates is properly done without dismounting, hence the high style boot with the undercut heel.
pnwmom
(109,445 posts)Somehow they manage.
JEB
(4,748 posts)snooty horse people. They sound more like actual working people.
pnwmom
(109,445 posts)used an outhouse their whole lives, till their nephew brought this east coast girl to visit. Then they hooked up the toilet for me in the tiny prefab house that adjoined the bathroom-less 800 sq. feet they preferred to live in.
So I'm kind of sensitive about the DUers who think they can judge these people by their clothing.
The real owners of real ranches aren't like the fancy guys on Dallas.
JEB
(4,748 posts)Plenty of tax shelter ranchers going high style cowboy these days.
pnwmom
(109,445 posts)Because the jeans are still sturdy, the hats still keep off the sun and the boots help them stay in the stirrups on the horses they still ride.
catnhatnh
(8,976 posts)and the effect is what you would expect if you gave a cruel and clever child an exacto knife and a magnifying glass...
X_Digger
(18,585 posts)Ever been to Montana? Wyoming? Colorado? New Mexico? Nevada? Hell, Idaho? Gosh, look at all those boots and hats! *gasp*
Free clue: people wear cowboy boots because they're comfortable and last forever. Hats are a style and utility choice. Do you get equally pissy over people wearing baseball caps who don't play baseball?
You should get out more.
pinboy3niner
(53,339 posts)Liberal_in_LA
(44,397 posts)derby378
(30,252 posts)I'm sorry that we haven't been pasteurized, homogenized, and marginalized to your satisfaction, but that's not my problem, is it?
Instead of trying to tear down our culture, why don't you try evolving your own?
LWolf
(46,179 posts)I don't live in Texas, and it's not a costume.
I live rurally. Many of my students live on ranches. They drive tractors, they cut and bale hay, they have horses and cattle.
They show up for school wearing their jeans. They aren't always wearing their boots, because they know they've got PE, but if they were out doing chores before they headed off on the bus, they'll have their boots on.
They don't always wear traditional cowboy hats; those are big and awkward to fit in their lockers, so they tend to wear baseball caps. So do their ranching dads. If they are going to be out working on fences and cows and hay all day, though, they'll put on the bigger hats with a bigger brim for shade and rain run-off.
They don't show up in spurs, because most don't ride with them anyway, and they wouldn't be allowed in school. Some do sometimes forget to empty their pockets of pocket knives and other sharp implements, though. If they forgot, they stop by my desk and give them to me to hold until the school day is done.
I see people dressed "like cowboys" because they are ranchers. It's not a costume. It's their work attire. Modern working versions of "cowboy" attire.
I will say that they find "urban cowboys" who adopt faux ranch wear as fashion to be amusing.
I can't speak for Texas. I've been there twice, for very short visits. I don't remember the people from 1965, when I was only 5. I wasn't paying attention to the people in 2001, but I remember that the mall attached to the hotel I stayed in was displaying local art: cow statues.
I don't know what Texans dress like. I know that "cowboys" weren't, and aren't, just in Texas, and that there are still ranching families and ranch hands, not just in Texas, in 2014.
MuseRider
(34,325 posts)all over this country. Some are only cowboys to rodeo or show but there lots of working cowboys. I know because I have ridden with a lot of them in my state, real cowboys not just the ones that show their stuff on weekends at the local roping contest.
Apparently you don't get out past the city much? Texas probably has more hats but I don't think they have anywhere near the most people who dress like that.
Wanna know who is real and who is not? Just look at them. If their hat has dust on it, their jeans are worn or faded with the dark part where their chinks ride, if their boots are worn and there are places where their spurs ride then chances are they are a real cowboy. If they have gloves shoved in their back pocket and yes a real bandana they are likely a real cowboy.
I have gathered cattle with them. I have eaten at the local cafe where whenever someone stood up their chair would tip being hooked onto their spurs.
Yes people who are not cowboys dress like cowboys. Who the fuck cares? THIS is what bothers and upsets you enough to write out this long post? THIS? Wow. I was worried about the post about police brutality for entire races of people.
Yes Virginia, there are still lots and lots of real cowboys even today.
EDIT because I can't seem to spell today
pnwmom
(109,445 posts)and yet the men keep wearing them.
It sure looks pretentious to the engineers and techies here in the Pacific Northwest. What everyone really should wear are flannel shirts and Goretex jackets.
I totally agree. Out with last century's garb!
BlueJazz
(25,348 posts)DFW
(56,316 posts)I wish someone had pointed this out to me earlier so I could have done something about it.
And I surely do wish someone would hand me back that plastic facsimile of what I imagine my former serfs wore. For that matter, where ARE those former serfs I used to have anyway? It's been so long, I don't even remember the last time I saw them.
As for my ass-backwards attitude toward every single thing in life, well, I guess I already pled guilty to that one in a post last July: http://www.democraticunderground.com/1018643822
But I'll tell you what, even though I now know I've been doing everything ass-backward in life (thanks to the OP for enlightening me!), somehow, I've learned to come to terms with my ugly reality. It's tough, though, let me tell ya.............
MerryBlooms
(11,885 posts)Tom Ripley
(4,945 posts)It appears that I'm in the minority, but I enjoyed your post. Particularly the illustrations for the purposes of comparison. Hilarious.
okasha
(11,573 posts)and I see a hell of a lot of Apache and Commanche and Kiowa guys wearing jeans, boots and broad-brimmed hats. They call them "work clothes,"
OP reminds me of a novel I read a couple years ago. HThe author had his hero driving west out of Houston and straight into a desert thickly populated with saguaro cactus. A bit later, his herione cleverly insults the bad guy with "Chinga Usted!" (For non-Spanish speakers, we do not use the formal, respectful pronoun when saying "Fuck you!"
kentauros
(29,414 posts)But, for over-the-top bizarre, this one takes the cake! And the cake is a lie!
Paladin
(28,707 posts)wheniwasincongress
(1,307 posts)The clothes the gold pannin' guy is (er, was) wearing look completely modern, save for maybe the pointed tip on his hat.
The idea behind the discussion is interesting, what we wear and why, people either overthink it or declare it unimportant and frivolous. I'm interested to know what you consider dressing like a cowboy.
Denim is what I would imagine a cowboy wearing, definitely pants and maybe a button-down denim shirt. It's a durable material that typically withstands rough cowboyin' business. Of course denim has become probably the most iconic piece of American clothing too. Quick history http://wonderopolis.org/wonder/who-invented-blue-jeans/
A cowboy hat offers protection from the sun but nothing else. I think that's what all wide brimmed hats offer, shade and nothing else (unless it has, like, little pockets on the sides.) I suppose people choose a cowboy hat because they like the look and the history and suggestion of hard work in on the hard land in the hard sun it connotes, as opposed to a boater or bowler hat which both have very different histories from cowboy hats.
blockhead
(1,081 posts)they wear the shit on the OUTSIDE of their boots!
Manifestor_of_Light
(21,046 posts)That said, I see people here in rural Texas driving in cowboy hats.
A lot of people wear those clothes and boots and if they don't work on a ranch they look stupid.
I've seen lawyers in court wearing an expensive suit and shiny cowboy boots. I think they look like idiots.
And a lot of them don't take their hats off when they are indoors.
That said, DALLAS SUCKS!!
bmbmd
(3,091 posts)used to get deleted.
AnalystInParadise
(1,832 posts)We shall see if a jury of our peers wants to shoot down regional bigotry.
FreakinDJ
(17,644 posts)BlueJazz
(25,348 posts)...of derogatory stuff all the time about "Floridah". I must admit though, it's hard to defend my state when the populace
voted a crook like Rick Scott into office.
One part of Texas I do love is Austin...but other than that, don't know all that much about the state.
But, your mileage may vary...
FreakinDJ
(17,644 posts)and no I don't live in Texas
BlueJazz
(25,348 posts)...types of threads so many times I have become rather numb to the whole thing.
I must admit though...perhaps that is a bad thing ?
NV Whino
(20,886 posts)I have three pairs of cowboy boots. One with a walking heel, one with a riding heel (yes, there is a reason for those high, tapered heels), and one pair of mauve (yes, mauve) dress boots.
I wear them because they are comfortable and they last forever.
Oh, did I mention I live in California and have never lived in Texas?
MicaelS
(8,747 posts)You bet your ass we have. Many Texans like being Texans, and don't mind telling outliers that, yes we ARE from Texas.
If I went overseas, and someone asked where I was from, I would say "Texas". I wouldn't have to say, the US, then be asked from what state. People would simply know where I was from.
Now, do I own any cowboy garb? Nope, not a bit of it.
And let me, as the saying goes in Texas.."cut the crap". A lot of Texas behavior is a great big FUCK YOU to people in the rest of this country, ESPECIALLY California, who make derogatory references to Texas, and Texans.
Ilsa
(62,173 posts)that dressed like that were up early in the morning. Lots of them were feeding farm animals or tending to 4H animals or FFA stuff so they could earn money for college. More than once I heard a teacher remind a student to go clean the cow turds off their boots so they wouldn't stink up the classroom. Many took welding and Shop so they could help their farmer/rancher dads with chores or tend to regular maintenance on the truck or tractor. Some of the male teachers had farmland or ranches to tend after school, so they wore cowboy boots too. Once broken in, a well-fitted pair of boots are nice.
There are real people who dress this way for comfort for the job they do every day. A well made straw hat keeps the sun from burning off your nose while letting in air to cool your head ("three holes" . There really are ranches with cactus and javelinas and fences to be mended, hay to baled, so tough denim jeans help protect the body. To me, it's surprising that more people don't dress this way if they have jobs outdoors.
Now, I have no use for dressing like a cowboy in the city of Houston or Dallas, etc. It's just imitation. Like other forms of imitation. But how is this any different from people wearing garments similar to rock stars, rappers, a super model, etc? Is it because it isn't money blown on something new? Why would I give a shit if the Amish want to dress like they are in another century? Is there a law against cultural identity, or should we all be uniformed and homogenous?
pnwmom
(109,445 posts)You describe well a way of life that many people have not just in Texas, but all over the west.
Ilsa
(62,173 posts)That develops from this lifestyle early on.
(Just avoid getting kicked in the head!)
pnwmom
(109,445 posts)and he was mostly just there in the summers. But if something has to be fixed, everyone has to learn how to do it -- and to make do with whatever is handy.
It was great training for a future engineer.
Atman
(31,464 posts)Warpy
(113,054 posts)and they do wear straw cowboy hats, they'd be nuts not to in this state. Formal dress when they come to the big city for the state fair, for instance, is the new pair of jeans they're trying to break in plus either a shirt and a turquoise clasped string tie or C&W band t-shirt, or whatever. If it's a hot day the straw hats will be on. They generally leave the cowboy boots at home, they get put to hard use on the ranch and nobody wants to put some extra wear on them on pavement in the city. Suckers are expensive.
What you don't see are pressed jeans, snakeskin or other fancy cowboy boots, felt cowboy hats, fringed shirts or jackets, and the silly ass "I jest got off mah hoss" swagger affected by urban cowboys from Texas.
Now I've walked around a few towns in Texas and the guys who are urban cowboys do stick out like sore thumbs and you can tell who the real cowboys are because they're giggling. It really is costume and it really is a Texas thang, usually among people who have more money than sense.
The whole cowboy thing actually started in Florida and exists there today. Florida cowboys look a lot like NM cowboys, minus the string ties.
Dont call me Shirley
(10,998 posts)Everything in society today is fake.
Fake replacements for real community.
Fake Clouds.
Fake food, aka Frankenfood.
Fake plants.
Fake hair, fake lips, fake faces.
It's like the ruling elite doesn't want us to truly know the difference, that way it's much easier to fake us out.
DisgustedTX
(1,199 posts)We know that to be true.
Perseus
(4,341 posts)Thank you
TygrBright
(20,979 posts)Response to True Blue Door (Original post)
TrollBuster9090 This message was self-deleted by its author.
Monk06
(7,675 posts)our school children with their right wing propaganda and then join the Conservative party and actually get elected as federal MPs.
In Thompson's case he demanded that he be able to where a cowboy hat in the house of commons because it was part of his heritage. Not his Canadian heritage, the other one.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Myron_Thompson
rusty fender
(3,428 posts)guess what? We still have many working cowboys here. They are Hispanic and Anglo. I doubt that any of them have thought about why they wear what they wear as much as you have thought about why they wear what they do.
You are so wrong in stating that Texas is the only state where people dress in cowboy gear. You could actually benefit from using the Google more.
JohnnyRingo
(19,246 posts)Though I'm sure it can be debated by residents of the Lone Star State, it's very well written.
I'm reminded of GW Bush, a man who was raised in New England, prancing about dressed like a veteran of The Alamo. Look at the indignations when Rick Perry ditched the cowboy boots.
MisterP
(23,730 posts)in NYC they have a Blacula Hunter style: to quote the Venture Bros.' Jackson Publick,
Middle aged African American guys with leather (sometimes snakeskin, sometimes suede) car coats, silky poet's shirts, snakeskin boots, cargo or leather pants, and either a scorpion belt buckle, or, in one case, a crucifix necklace with a little knife in the bottom of the cross. Beaded or bone necklaces are another option. Occasionally, they top these outfits off with a floppy leather hat. And no joke, we've seen at least three or four of these guys, like it's a subculture or a fashion trend. I can't explain it, but the first time I ever saw one, I came back to the Astrobase and gleefully exclaimed to Doc (Hammer) "I just saw a Blackula hunter!" To my surprise, having never discussed it before, he said "I know exactly what you mean."
longship
(40,416 posts)From the Smothers Brothers (sorry could not find the original, so you'll have to settle for a cover):
Get yerself an outfit and be a cowboy too.
Unknown Beatle
(2,685 posts)jealousy. Why would someone waste time and energy writing something negative on an innocuous US state if not for jealousy.
redruddyred
(1,615 posts)in my experience, the texans who dress like cowboys actually are cowboys. like, they live in the country and... raise cows.
then again, by the time I was born, it wasn't really a thing anymore. but I am told that, in the 80s, businessman used to walk down main street in those nice, big shiny leather boots, oversized belt buckles.
I remember a lot of immigrants trying to make a buck, and then a lot of people trying to disenfranchise said immigrants. but mostly a lot of immigrants.
we kids all liked each other, but the older folks were racist as fuck.
yuiyoshida
(42,540 posts)I don't come from Texas but I don't come from Asia either....
Android3.14
(5,402 posts)Fishing for bigots.
blkmusclmachine
(16,149 posts)enki23
(7,793 posts)Last edited Mon Sep 8, 2014, 08:38 AM - Edit history (3)
I've been around and through Texas a fair bit, and spent some time in part of New Mexico around some part-time cowboys who only wore little bits of the accoutrements. They made fun of the same people you're talking about. "Howdy, howdy, I'm a cowboy!" All hat, no cattle, etc. The nerves you're hitting aren't, for the most part, the actual cowboys. They, and you I imagine, were making fun of the bankers and bakers in "western wear," playing at something like your average German dude with lederhosen in the closet would be ashamed to play outside a bier hall in October.
As for the silly people who seem to think "equality for all" or whatever somehow means you can't ridicule some particular society's ridiculous affectations... Yeah. "Don't pick on the poor, poor put upon white texans who have no power or influence in our nation. Leave Texas aloooooone!
Fuck it. I'm from Iowa originally. And yet, I would be the first to tell you just how fucking stupid many Iowans are, especially in this shithole corner of the state. No small number even tend to sport western wear.
Android3.14
(5,402 posts)Because I hate my origins, it's okay to denigrate the origins of other folks?
Classy.
enki23
(7,793 posts)That's it, exactly. Just fucking stupid, exactly like that. Jesus, the things not-persecuted people will grasp at to feel persecuted can get really, really fucking absurd. And I don't just mean American Christians this time.
The idea that mostly-white Texans have some sort of "bigotry" angle here really is absurd. But hey, don't let me stand in the way of your proud cultural heritage, or you defense of the same, or whatever. That's fine. White Texans in western wear are definitely a persecuted fucking minority. Nobody anywhere can criticize the fucking stupid things that fucking stupid people do anywhere. Because *that's* what fucking bigotry is. If you want to cheapen what bigotry actually is so that the meaning gets lost in a haze of fucking tu quoque bullshittery.
another_liberal
(8,821 posts)Either all of the United States will be like Texas, or Texas will be an independent country itself.
The fact they persist in dressing like cowboys is one of the main reasons I don't much fear the former becoming our country's fate.
cvoogt
(949 posts)You probably wear jeans sometimes too, but you should consider avoiding them since it ties you to this nation's cowboy / miner past. Jeans were invented for the gold rush and for cowboys.
I wear a leather cowboy hat sometimes, when working out in the sun. It provides shade not just for my face but my neck. It helps keep me from becoming a redneck. The hat's actually from Madagascar (bought it there recently) and is meant for use by their local cowboys, but it was such a good, practical hat that I had to take it home with me. I wear it around town sometimes when running errands (like going to Home Depot) and if people think "look at that poser trying to look like a cowboy' that is their right. Little do they know it is a just perfectly practical choice and has nothing to do with this nation's cowboy history.
snooper2
(30,151 posts)not even pit bull or olive garden meme worthy
kiva
(4,373 posts)Fantastic Anarchist
(7,309 posts)... and never dressed like that, and made fun of the few that did.
Not all of us are weird. And the generalization, while maybe innocuous, annoys me just a little.
NYC_SKP
(68,644 posts)You appear to be remarkably well acquainted with the various forms of regional dress as it's related to the politics of a place.
Let's talk about clowns, we have plenty of 'em.
geardaddy
(25,317 posts)than in Louisiana, Missouri and Arkansas.
Just sayin'
Arugula Latte
(50,566 posts)something that always bothered me, but I didn't articulate it as well as this.
I despise the aggressive Redneckization of the United States, including the pushing of craptastic country music as the "normal" background music.
Paladin
(28,707 posts)You've chosen to trash people in Texas who wear Western clothing. Here's a big, extraordinarily obvious fact for you to gnaw on: the people who implement the policies in Texas which you hate so much aren't dressed up like Roy Rogers. They do their damage while wearing tailored suits, Rolex watches, and English-made business shoes. They might slip on a pair of boots while at their weekend places, but that's about it. You didn't aim your attack at the genuinely powerful class in Texas, you confined your snotty remarks to common people who choose to dress as their ancestors did. The only thing more reprehensible than your attack on working class people is the fact that this thread was allowed to get beyond the first hundred posts before being shut down.
TexasMommaWithAHat
(3,212 posts)Long time lurker, but decided to join!
NYC_SKP
(68,644 posts)Welcome to DU!
TexasMommaWithAHat
(3,212 posts)If I weren't a new poster, I would have plastered this thread with pictures of Ann Richards in her hat and boots!
But, maybe, someone else should make a thread about that.
I'm an urbanite, and I don't walk around in western gear, but our family loves to wear a bit of western wear when the Houston rodeo comes to town. It's a Texas thing, celebrated in our schools, and part of our culture.
Paladin
(28,707 posts)AgingAmerican
(12,958 posts)...in Wyoming than I saw in Texas.
But I have only been to the gulf coast of Texas, between Galveston and Louisiana.
I have, however, heard some pretty strong drawls down in Texas. Same in Oklahoma.
LanternWaste
(37,748 posts)Yup... almost as silly as sandals in the office, or t-shirts at a funeral.
(insert distinction without a difference here)
joeybee12
(56,177 posts)KNR, even though you'll find cowboys in Wyoming and Montana and other parts of the west...it's an amusing rant.
liberal N proud
(60,913 posts)This guy was all hat and no cattle with the boots and a belt buckle the size of a large plate. When he wore a tie, it was the braided little string that were clasped in the front. His hat was a 10 gallon variety.
Lived in suburban Cleveland! No horse in 40 miles.
VScott
(774 posts)has steer horns mounted on the hood/grill of their Lincolns and Cadillacs with a cow hide interior...
[URL=http://imgur.com/rh2sbiB][IMG][/IMG][/URL]
[URL=http://imgur.com/LY0QGCJ][IMG][/IMG][/URL]
[URL=http://imgur.com/upnLl2c][IMG][/IMG][/URL]
tazkcmo
(7,419 posts)I lived in Germany from 76-79 and they thought the same thing. They had an excuse. Since the advent of the internet, they no longer have one. I'm guessing you are one of those Germans I knew but haven't heard of the internet. It's the only reason I can think of for being so ignorant. Fortunately, there's a cure for that. It's called education.
I live in Amarillo, lived in El Paso, Dallas and San Antonio. Yes, some people wear cowboy hats or boots or even western style shirts. Few dress in all of them and fewer dress that way all the time. Now, go to rural Missouri and you'll see the exact same thing but more often.
Full disclosure: I hate Texas and can't wait to escape.
dilby
(2,273 posts)I am not a cowboy, live in Oregon and I do have an old pair of cowboy boots and a beat-up cowboy hat that I like to wear every now and then. If that bothers you that is your problem because I look good when I wear it.
ScreamingMeemie
(68,918 posts)around in full cowboy regalia. Sorry your essay really doesn't fit the Texas I've experienced. When do people dress up as cowboys? Kids in school on the Friday before the rodeo in March. It's called "Go Texan Day." Sorry to burst your little preconceived bubble.
A funny side note. Born in WI, raised mostly in MI. My husband? Never went to Texas and spent every day of his life in cowboy boots.
Nice little hit piece.
ladjf
(17,320 posts)Daemonaquila
(1,712 posts)Hi. Texan here. Texan with her jaw on the floor, actually. While most of the Texans you're talking about are white, so the racism aspect of this comparison isn't applicable, this post is like writing about "Why African-Americans Wear Those Horrible Sags And Do-Rags And Gold Chains - OMG!!!" Talk about stereotyping and ignorance.
Some "western" styles like bolos, buckles, and boots are found everywhere west and south of Missouri, except the most eastern of the southern states. Whatever. Hats are common? No, not hardly. Most Texans laugh at guys in "cowboy" hats as being all hat, no cattle. The hats you do see may hark back to a person's cultural heritage, such as the GERMAN or CZECH settlers in parts of the state. Some folks - who actually still DO ranch work on horseback - may wear work clothes that have some similarity... no surprise since "cowboy" clothes arose out of utility versus fashion. However, the vast majority of Texans wear nothing "cowboy," unless you want to claim that jeans, t-shirts, etc. are "cowboy" gear now. Boots? Sure some do (and they are very "in" right now in most parts of the country, including Manhattan). There are some cultural aspects to that, no different than other regional/cultural clothes choices across the country, just like you see some extra embroidery at times on my fellow Slavs, big hats on Amish or Hasidic guys, or a little traditional-styled jewelry worn be some Native-Americans. Cultural nods, or even social signaling, are part of all fashion.
Your statements about the Texan mind-set and similar stereotyping are offensive to say the least. Do we have pig-ignorant, racist Teabaggers here? Oh yeah. So do you, wherever you live, though we have more here than we'd like in certain areas. We also have fabulous activists, historians, scholars, intellectuals, artists... By trashing Texans the same way Teabaggers trash all left-wingers, you've brought yourself down to that same bigoted, ignorant, loudmouthed level.
kiawah
(64 posts)n/t
KamaAina
(78,249 posts)Observe the difference.
Texans:
Cowboys: