There ain't nothing Beyoncé can't do. Her latest highly-addictive hit "Texas Hold 'Em" not only signaled her foray into country music, she immediately skyrocketed to the number one spot on Billboard's Hot Country 100 list where it's been blowing up ever since. This was another history-making moment for Queen Bey, as she became the first black woman to take the top spot in country music (even Dolly Parton approved). Beyond the music, the megastar singer also blew up one of fashion's most enduring trends: Western Style.
If ever there was a case to get on board with Cowboy Core it was the sight of Bey at the Grammys wearing a Western-inspired Pharrell Williams for Louis Vuitton leather studded skirt suit accessorized with a Stetson cowboy hat.
Hot on Bey's boot scootin' heels came supermodel Bella Hadid who just went Instagram official with her Mexican/American equestrian boyfriend Adam Banuelos at an American rodeo event in Texas. Yep, Hadid, who has ridden horses since childhood, has also officially entered her cowgirl-style era. At the rodeo, Hadid wore a dark brown felt wide-brimmed cowboy hat, with a sexy sparkled open-back top, and a Western-inspired silver and turquoise necklace. The model's predilection for Western-style dressing has also seen her add fringed jackets, chaps and flared jeans, to her arsenal. Kim Kardashian has also jumped on the Western bandwagon, she was seen recently rocking a cowboy hat.
The Western trend, like all fashion trends, loves to roll around. And right now it's full-throttle giddy up. For further proof that Cowboy Core is one of fashion's most-of-the-moment trends, you only need to consider the 1920s Western Noir fashion fest served up in Martin Scorsese's Oscar-nominated Western Killers of The Flower Moon. The film may not have won the Best Costume Award (that honor went to Poor Things, all hail the OTT style eccentric Bella Baxter) but it certainly got our attention with its beautiful hommage to traditional Native American Osage dressing. Oh my, those beautiful tasseled poncho-style blankets.
On the runway, it was Pharrell Williams who thrust the Western trend back into the spotlight with his Fall/Winter 2024-2025 Louis Vuitton Menswear collection (which also featured women's looks), setting the stage for many womenswear designer brands to start playing with Western codes. The catwalks were awash with embellished collared shirts, fanciful fringing, tasseled leather jackets, prairie-esque paisley prints, and plenty of rodeo-worthy denim.
"I got really excited when I saw the Pharrell Williams' Louis Vuitton Men's Fall 2024 collection. I loved the denim-on-denim looks, western belt buckles, and oversized jeans. It's Elevated Western. And I have personally loved a cool cowboy boot since I was 16 and my daughters are now wearing them, so the trend always comes back, " says our Fashion Times Fashion Market Director Sarah Meikle.
And if the shoe fits, you only need to look at celebs like Katie Holmes and Emily Ratajowski who have been snapped stomping around the New York streets in cowboy boots to understand it's the front runner in footwear right now. A quick look at brands like Ferragamo and Ganni or a check of street style stars will also affirm this. On that very subject, there are of course those southern belles that have a long-held love affair with their dusty, trusty cowgirl boots. When I interviewed Reese Witherspoon for Harper's Bazaar, many moons ago, she fondly recalled dressing in prairie dresses and cowboy boots since she was little.
"Western is such a huge style in Nashville. It's so cool to see the look being recognized now as a global fashion trend. Maybe it's about returning to a time and place that people find comforting and when everything seemed simpler. But it's always been a part of my life, " the actress and founder of Southern-inspired fashion label Draper James told me in our interview for Harper's Bazaar. And lest we forget country music sensation Miranda Lambert who is currently lighting up the stage in Vegas with her Velvet Rodeo residency. Lambert who has her own country western-inspired fashion collection Idyllwild — which is packed with an endless assortment of cowboy boots, fringed suede, and leather jackets, and denim emblazoned with western motifs — has long championed western dressing on and off stage.
Yee-haw to that.
