Reporting on Fashion Week in Paris, German Vogue focuses on Isabel Marant’s 2012 Winter Collection, described as easy-going Western-Style. Marant combined western-inspired shirts and cowboy boots with a western version of Bavarian lederhosen with flowers—a personal favorite.
See the entire show at Vogue.
Credit: GoRunway.com and German Vogue
Credit: GoRunway.com and German Vogue
My-West’s fashion savvy friend, Diane, turned us on to the latest fashion to hit Paris this year. Japanese designer Issey Miyake, who was inspired as a youth by Japanese artist Isamu Inokuma’s paintings and sketches of Kachina Dolls, has created a new line of summer clothing based on those early sketches.
Credit: isseymiyake.co If you can’t quite afford the 60,900 yen for the ensemble, you can pick up a pin for a mere 6000 yen…go figure.
Credit: isseymiyake.coFor the Hopi, the hand carved Kachina has a number of meanings, the most important being the representation of the spirit life. Other spirits include: the corn maiden, the cunning wolf, souring eagle, the ceremonial dancer, the singer, the ogre, the buffalo, the badger, the crow, hawk, sun, clouds and rainbow. See HistoryKachinaDoll.com.
Credit: ewebtribeMade from the root of cottonwood trees, other tribes such as the Navajo, zuni, Pueblo and Apache also made Kachina dolls.
Clint Orms’ silversmith longhorn-filigree-trophy-buckle. At 3.7 in. wide by 2.85 high it comes in at just $13,300.00 and we’ve got just the skirt you can wear it with.
Credit: Clintorms.comNow all you need are the legs and the skirt to turn a few heads!
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Credit: Style.polo.com
Archaeologists say the original inhabitants of the desert southwest started using turquoise for jewelry as early as 200 BC. But it wasn’t until around the 1850s that their descendents, the Hopi, Pueblo and Navajo tribes, began using silver. In doing so, they took on Spanish influences and that’s why many designs feature Christian and even Moorish symbolism.
Credit: Art.com
To get the silver, they’d trade with Mexican merchants. And as Concho jewelry gained status, ranchers would bring silverware or candelabras to be melted down and turned into exquisite jewelry, for the Indians of the southwest proved to be extraordinary craftsmen.
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The Navaho especially had a penchant for personal adornment and in their quest for raw material the artisans would even melt down US coins which at the time yielded the best silver for smithing….(kind of makes you wonder what kind of sludge they’d come up with if they tried it these days!)
A Navajo woman and her daughter, wearing a First Phase concho belt, taken in New Mexico in 1900 by William C. Orchard. Credit: indiansummervintage
Credit: Navajo-arts
Initially used as decoration for bridles, saddles and the like, Concho jewelry seeped into fashion and soon it seemed some of the greatest entertainers of the 20th century just couldn’t get through the day without a good, stiff belt:
Johnny Cash. Credit: johnnycashonline.com
Jim Morrison. Credit: feelnumb
Ralph Lauren. Credit: lunch.com
Our friends at Waddel Trading Company carry some of the finest native American jewelry you will find. After all, it’s not just the joy it brings you today but it remains distinctive and timeless.
]]>In 2001, I defiantly predicted that Online shopping would go nowhere because people need the tactile senses…touching fabric, trying things on. 10 years later, shopping for me has been reduced pretty much to a couch and a credit card. But thankfully more imaginative minds prevailed because the following sites are a pleasure to browse through…come to think of it, that’s what browsers are for.
Credit: http://gypsyville.com/
One girl’s junk is another girl’s gemstone…Two Texas sisters and their mom turned their backs on the big city to cruise the countryside in search of yard sale treasures…in the meantime they’ve outfitted Miranda Lambert’s tour bus and will launch a design show on HGTV next year. The website is truly a quirky adventure, a reflection of the women who followed their bliss. Be careful though because the longer you spend there, the more you’ll be convinced that…indeed, anything IS possible.
Credit: CowgirlonCoffee
‘Are you gonna cowgirl up or just lie there bleedin?’ There’s definitely some attitude at work at ConC, a caffeine buzz that’s borderline dangerous, two young women with a penchant for firearms, fast horses and a special blend of coffee. Their barista business has parlayed into all kinds of spinoff paraphernalia and a wholesale business too. ‘Buckin’ good coffee,’ is what they promise. After a trip to their dormant myspace page, I’d wager these gals speak from experience.
#3 The Cabin
Credit: Whisperingpinescatalog
‘A cabin is a state of mind’. That’s so right…
The proprietor describes her site as ‘a way to recreate the wonderful feeling you get as you open the door to the cabin each spring.’ This Online store features all things for beautiful country living. Dreamers welcome.
#2 Hamley & Co. Cowboy Outfitters -
Credit: Hamleyco.
‘Quality craftsmanship and a commitment to working cowboys and buckaroos since 1883.’ Hamley is a western legend worthy of its own post, for it gave us the granddaddy of all rodeos, the Pendleton Roundup. The Online store has an amazing variety of goods and the least expensive item I found was a bottle of Hamley Cowboy Steak Rub at just $2.95. You can carry off a handmade Hamley saddle for just under $5,000. And if you venture into the art gallery, be sure you’re packin’ platinum.
#1 The Double RL & Co -
He may not know it but Ralph Lauren is an honorary member of the My-West family for the following eloquent quote: “I’m not a cowboy and don’t pretend to be one, but I love the West.” That sums up the spirit of this blog perfectly. The RRL Online shop takes western chic to a whole new level. But the western spirit is also there and that’s what counts for me.
Credit: ralphlauren.com
Credit: cayusewa
Nathan Turk known as the “cowboy tailor” created custom western couture for Tom Mix, Gene Autry, Roy Rogers, the Maddox Brothers, Patsy Cline, Elvis and many other country-western entertainers from the 1930s through the 70s. Like Bolin, his shop was near Hollywood and his flamboyant outfits were as loud as the customers who wore them. Turk exaggerated the cut and colors of western wear and made the western gabardine suit famous.
Credit: goldenwestclothing
Credit: thefedoralounge
Credit: buyvintageclothing
When Nathan Turk retired in 1978, he sold his business to Manuel, a famous western brand. Manuel is rumored to have paid Turk with a blank check, which he never cashed.
This vintage find to die for comes with a provenance—or at least with a good story to tell. It is believed this 1935 shirt may have been worn by one of the Maddox Brothers in the book “100 Years of Western Wear.”
Credit: cayusewa
It is in excellent condition with embroidered white roses and green stems creating an organic pattern across the front and back and down the sleeves of this shocking red gabardine shirt. The classic ‘smile pockets,’ shoulders and collar are lined with cream piping. Vintage snap buttons complete the look. Find it at Cayuse Western Americana.
Credit: cayusewa
Credit: abebooks
Admit it, there is not a girl in the West who doesn’t like the sound, feel and swagger of a swooshing dress. High fashion in the 1950s, the Squaw dress, also known as the Fiesta dress, Patio dress, Rick-Rack dress, and the Patsy Cline dress was breezy, comfortable and it swooshed when you walked.
Credit: Pettipond
And they are beautiful. My mother had a breathtaking two-piece rust-orange dress set with black velvet rick-rack braid ornamentation sewn around the top shoulders and skirt edges. It was all the rage. This video clip demonstrates just how popular these dresses were in the West:
The full skirt was often worn with a petticoat and a concho belt. It could be worn with cowboy boots, ballet slippers or stylishly worn with low heals as modeled in this image of young Anne Bancroft.
Anne Bancroft poses in a publicity shot in the Parry Lodge’s Pink Poodle clothing store. Credit: When Hollywood Came to Town: A History of Moviemaking in Utah by James V. D’Arc.
Credit: Photo and painting by Kate Starling ©
My friend Kate, who is a wonderful landscape artist, bought her first Arizona Patio dress a few months ago and painted this picture of it. Since then, she bought another dress!
You can still find dozens of Simplicity patterns online to sew your own dress and pick your own rick-rack or balled trim.
Credit: donnasvintagetreasures
By the time I was old enough to wear a dress like this, the fashions had been replaced by bell-bottom jeans and hippie dresses, but in case you are nostalgically hoping for their return, as I am, I found a few vintage finds to add to your closet until that day arrives—along with the return of the 18 in. waistline.
Credit: seemslikeonlyyesterday
Credit: seemslikeonlyyesterday
Credit: ebay
Credit: Etsy
Credit: Etsy
Credit: hopeseguin
Thanks to Kate Starling (see her painting above) for sending this photo - great vintage find:
Whether demure or daring, cowgirls who saddled up for the ranch or just rode out for a stroll were always in style with these hand tooled gloves. For women who had a passion for the outdoors, protecting their skin was a challenge. Besides the obvious protection from the weather, the right gloves allowed them to handle rawhide reins, ride through tall grasses, brush willows aside, pick up baby calves, or slap a man if they needed to...
Credit: Cayuse Western Americana
Vintage Cowgirl Gloves
Hand tooled leather guard with calf skin hands
Gussets at the wrist for sizing and snaps for the guard
Price: $750.00
Find them at Cayuse Western Americana
Credit: Old Man Gallery & Framing
Gail Davis as Annie Oakley. Credit: Inner Toob
Annie Oakley shooting over her shoulder using a hand mirror, c. 1885. Credit: Turn of the Century
Credit: Movieactors.com
Credit: Library of Congress
“Montana Girl”. Credit: Library of Congress
Elizabeth Taylor wore them in Giant, Stetson gloves from the 1950s. Visible stitching down the backhand gives these wrist-length gloves the “cowgirl” look that supports Miss Taylor’s role as a ranch wife in Texas. Nothing finishes an outfit like a pair of gloves for that ‘pulled together’ look that is so uncommon, but so attractive. You can wear these gloves to create your own style and look charming year around.
Scene from Giant. Credit: YouTube.com
Scene from Giant. Credit: YouTube.com
Credit: VivaVintageClothing.com
Credit: VivaVintageClothing.com
Measurements - Size: marked size 7 1/8 on the plastic sleeve, but 7 inside (3.5" across the palm, unstretched). Length: 9.25" from tip of middle finger to cuff. Label: Stetson Gloves
Find them at VivaVintageClothing.com
Two stunning vintage buckle sets available:
Credit: EBay.com
Credit: EBay.com
Not only are you buying a magnificent man’s buckle set, you are buying a legend with this grouping. Gals, this would look phenomenal looped around an Arizona skirt or jeans. Designed by master craftsman Edward H. Bohlin in 1930, the unusual art nouveau features are a prominent design element in the “Arizona” motif which features cacti, mountains and wild grasses. It measures 3 x 2-5/8 inches, and has a sterling silver base with an overlay of 14K yellow gold. There are two days of bidding left, but you can have it now for $3900.
Credit: EBay.com
The second vintage set, also created by Bohlin, is from his “Parade” series. A classic beauty, it has a floret motif made of 12K and 18K gold. Four days are left with a starting bid of $2000
If you don't know Edward H. Bohlin, you certainly know his tack and saddles. Owner and founder of Edward H. Bohlin, “Saddlemakers, Silversmiths, Hollywood, California,” he was the silversmith for the Stars. Gene Autry, Roy Rogers, Tom Mix, Buc Jones, The Lone Ranger, and John Wayne were among a few of his clients.
Credit: Stevesomething
Credit: EBay.com
Credit:Buckarooleather
Credit: Horseandman.com - Edward H. Bohlin is standing with his personal saddle, and horse…prepared to ride in the annual Tournament of Roses Parade.
