My Journey With Western Wear

When I was a little kid, I wanted to be a cowboy more than anything else in the whole wide world. That seemed like the absolute ultimate in things you could grow up to become. This theory was proven to me time and time again when I would watch westerns on TVs. There were good guys and bad guys, and the good guys almost always won. The men were manly and strong, and the women were pretty and well worth saving (from the bad guys who captured them, obviously). They too seemed to be able to handle more, do more, than anything that we were asked to do in suburbia.

Of course, the fact that this lifestyle came complete with western wear and cowboy boots was a big draw as well. I had been a cowboy for every single Halloween event I had ever been to, and liked to adopt as much western apparel as I could into my daily life as well. I convinced my parents to buy me a pair of cowboy boots every time I grew out of my old ones, and always tried to buy the most western-looking shirts I could find. When my mom was out of town and it was my dad taking us to school, I would even mix and match from some of my cowboy costumes. He never really gave it much thought, but all the kids at school always knew right away that I was really something different- being able to dress like a cowboy and come to school without being made to go back in and change.

Of course, the reality of actually being a cowboy is something very different. I spent a summer out west on a ranch when I was sixteen, and boy did my bubble burst. Cowboying was hard work, and I wasn't even getting to do anything cool. Sure, I could watch the guys breaking in horses or herding cattle, but I sure wasn't allowed to do any of that myself. Instead, I spent most of my time mucking out stalls, carrying heavy things (buckets of water, bales of hay) from one place to another and other chores of drudgery. It seemed that the things I thought were cool were actually too dangerous for me, and I didn't have the requisite skill set anyway. I tried to apply myself, thinking it would get better, but even getting up every day and putting on western wear wasn't enough for me anymore.

After that, I decided that being an urban cowboy would be much better. I'd had the ranch experience, so I wasn't losing face with any of my friends, and I could keep on dressing in the one style that always made me happy. In the end, I'm really glad that western apparel- cowboy boots especially- have become a style that anybody can wear, any time, anywhere.
Written by Melanie River. Brand name cowboy boots and western wear at The Boot Store online store for western apparel. Ariat boots, Justin boots more at western-wear-store.com