How to Wear Western Jeans

The Classic Cowboy: One of the many styles that is prevalent even in this day and age. Now, if you are a real cowboy, work out on the family farm or are from an area where western style is the norm, usually, you don't have to worry too much on how to wear western-style clothes and not look ridiculous.

Great. The rest of us though tend to fail at pulling it off. For us newcomers, we tend to fall on either end of the spectrum: either too flashy "country," like you're trying to be some new wave country singer or some form of country grunge look. Neither are appealing and frankly, just manage to show how un-western you are. You might as well have a stamp across your forehead that says, "I Know Nothing About Western Wear."

Now, now. It's not your fault. Chances are that you haven't grown up around western fashion, with your only knowledge of western wear is what you see on CMT. So of course your western clothing education is limited and probably not very accurate.

There are plenty of things to get wrong, and unless it's second nature to you, it's actually kind of hard to keep track of it, implement it and pull it off without looking like a complete fool. Plus, it doesn't really help when that one friend who does know what they're doing makes it look like it's easy.

How to Wear Western Jeans

There are plenty of western-style "transgressions," but one that happens a lot is simply wearing your jeans correctly. Sounds ridiculous, but there is a particular way to wear western jeans. Actually, that's your first step: wear western jeans. Don't try to make another jean look like western jeans, it's not going to work. Get yourself a pair of Wrangler jeans. Anything else that's not a western jean is just not going to work.

Wrangler Jeans: A History, curious? Learn more here.

Step two: Know how to wear your jeans. Now, there is a couple of ways to do this. As stated before, if you actually know how to do this, don't worry, you got this.

For the rest, pay attention. The simplest way is to merely wear them over your boot. This is playing it safe. A nice pair of Wrangler jeans over a simple roper-style boot with a flat heel and a round or square toe: Good, don't over work it. Just make sure that they are resting on the shoes' uppers: not draping over them. You want to keep the jeans short enough that they fall comfortably over the shoe and no more. If most of your shoe is hidden and the denim stacking up into folds around your ankles, the look is just baggy and oversized. So, don't do that.

Square Toe Cowboy Boots VS Round Toe Cowboy Boots. Check this out.

But do remember, you are going to be wearing them over your boots, so they need to be longer than what you would normally buy to wear with shoes. You need to "stack" them a little bit, as in where the cuffs are rested on the top of the shoes and the fabric above them bunches up into a "stack" of small, loose folds so that they still cover the tops of your boots when you are sitting down. So, whatever your inseam is, you might want to get the next size up.

If you're feeling ambitious, you can tuck them in your boot. But that is usually designated to those with the cowboy prowess to back it up. You walk into a rodeo with shiny new cowboy boots with your jeans tucked in, you're trying too hard and stick out like a sore thumb.

Need a great pair of western boots? Order online here. 

Step Three: Starch. This may sound weird, but if you're going for authentic, you may want to starch your jeans. This gives the sharp, crisp look of the cowboy jean that you'll see at rodeos and other western events. You can either go to the dry-cleaners or do it yourself, but a heavily starch jean does add to the cowboy look.

Step Four: The Belt: Possibly the greatest blunder when wearing western jeans. Never, I repeat never wear a trophy belt unless you have actually proved your worth in the arena, especially a nice custom-designed, silver three-piece buckle. Until then, go for simple: a nice, simple leather belt will do the trick. If you really want that shiny buckle, please; this is not a "go big or go home" situation. Keep it simple: no writing on it, no crazy designs: simple silver will do.

And there you go. You now know how to wear real western "cowboy" jeans: and now have no excuse to look like a complete fool. It isn't rocket science, but there is a bit of a code of conduct you must adhere by when you are trying to go western. So go forth with your new western-style knowledge to wear appropriately and to educate others from making the same mistakes when it comes to western wear.