Words by Faran Krentcil
Photos by Getty Images
Sarah Miller was confused. The thoroughbred horse trainer was on a European vacation—a far cry from her working farm in rural Virginia—and couldn’t wait to visit the equestrian fashion mecca Hermès. Miller watched as a woman grabbed a $1,800 blanket, whipped out her credit card, and announced to the Berlin boutique that it was for her mare.
“Of course, I was intrigued!” Miller says. “It’s a small industry. Maybe I knew the horse! But when I asked the woman what kind she had, she totally froze up. She was like, ‘Um, a brown one.’ A brown one?! Come on.”When Miller introduced herself as an actual horse pro, the woman admitted the purchase wasn’t for her animal—it was for her couch. “I guess that’s a good thing,” Miller says. “A horse would not enjoy an Hermès blanket. It would be a real waste of money.”
Miller had stumbled into the middle of fashion’s current rodeo obsession, where function rides sidesaddle to form, and everyone wants to be part of the mane event—but sometimes only on Instagram. “It started with Yellowstone, of course,” explains ranch owner Abby Hirschi, who runs near-daily corrals at the Rock Branch Horse and Cattle Company near the Shenandoah Valley. “We’d never had a show like Mad Men that made our lives into must-see TV. It really started a stampede for the clothes.”
To be fair, fashion has long been lassoed by the allure of the American West. (See also: the Midwest, South, Southwest, Northwest… basically, any wide-open space you can say you’re “from” without ever having to go back there once you grow up.) And many luxury labels have a legit claim to riding vibes. Hermès began as a harness maker in 1837; Stetson began making riding hats 28 years later. By the time Ralph Lauren reined in his take on cowboy chic in the 1980s, the mythical freedom of heritage on horseback had firmly branded itself on fashion’s flanks, with Dior launching its famous saddle bag in 1999 and Stella McCartney making Chloe’s famous horse print dress in 2001.
Around the same time, former farm girl Luella Bartley named her buzzy debut fashion collection, “Daddy, I Want a Pony.” Her opening model was a former Brazilian teen trail rider named Gisele Bündchen. Besides the Rio bombshell, many other fashion muses have been hot to trot. Goddess Edie Sedgwick was a California horse girl at her father’s ranch before hoofing it to Max’s Kansas City; supermodel Christy Turlington was scouted by a modeling agent while competing at a horse show in Miami. Ali Michael was a Texas showjumper before becoming a face of Calvin Klein, and even Bella Hadid was on the junior Olympic track for horseback riding before mounting a catwalk instead.
But lately, the rodeo-to-runway pipeline is getting very crowded. Cowboy boots are becoming so ubiquitous on runways that even decidedly un-horsey brands like Prada and Givenchy make them; they’ve also given rise to a “coastal cowgirl” trend that combines the beachy netted dresses and ocean-bleached cutoffs of the Outer Banks cast with the weathered hats and carved leather belts of the Brokeback Mountain costume trailer. (The trend has nearly 200 million views on TikTok; by contrast, “only” 115 million people watched the 2023 Super Bowl.) Sales spiked so much at the cheeky Western footwear brand Paris Texas that this March, the label got acquired by the Brazilian megafirm Arezzo & Co. for a whopping $27 million. Meanwhile, Chanel’s couture show ended with Princess Charlotte Casiraghi of Monaco galloping past front row guests like Margot Robbie and Pharrell on her own Andalusian steed. (His name is Kuskus, and actually, random-woman-in-Hermès, he is a brown one!).
Currently, hair dye searches for “cowgirl copper”—a maple red shade made popular by model Emily Ratajkowski—are up 50 percent in Google’s trend database. And of course, perennial horse girl Stella McCartney had seven ponies at her Fall 2023 catwalk show; models walked through barn muck past them. Now Kendall Jenner rides bareback through McCartney’s fall fashion campaign. She is naked except for faux-pony skin boots and a matching purse.
“I actually love seeing models on horseback, as long as they can actually ride,” says Rose Brown, whose family ranch breaks colts and wild mustangs that come from across the American Southwest. “Kendall Jenner is a very accomplished horseback rider. She’s part of our community. She grew up doing it and it’s clear she would never put the horse or anyone else in danger. She loves the horse and the horse loves her. That’s fine!”
“I actually love seeing models on horseback, as long as they can actually ride … Kendall Jenner is a very accomplished horseback rider. She’s part of our community.”
“Honestly, I think posing on a horse like that looks like a blast,” echoes Miller. “I wouldn’t change a thing. Kendall Jenner and Stella McCartney are real riders. It’s more the girls in Nashville who wear barn gear to brunch, but it’s spotless. You can tell they’ve never been to a barn in their lives. My friends and I always have a giggle when we see them.” Adds Hirschi, “In the beginning, everyone wanted to wear cowboy boots, and that was fine. It was fun! But then I started seeing influencers from Austin and Miami sponsored by [rodeo] gear companies even though it’s clear they’ve never raced or even rigged their own tack. And I was like, ‘Wait. How is this happening?’”
The answer, in part, is Beyoncé. When the queen of basically everything began her sold-out Renaissance tour, stylist Shiona Turini created a series of show-stopping “disco cowboy” looks by Gucci, Alexander McQueen, and PatBo, which the pop icon wears while dancing on a mirror encrusted horse sculpture. The effect paid homage to the ‘80s ballroom scene created by LGBTQ+ community leaders, along with Black rodeo riders and ranchers whose contributions to the American West and cowboy culture have long gone unacknowledged.
The effect was cool as hell, and it was also deep with meaning. By fusing gay iconography and Black history into the notoriously white, conservative, Bible Belt mindset that often anchors ranching communities (and certainly drives their political votes), Beyoncé and her image builders are saying the quiet part out loud: Riding culture and rodeo events may not have always welcomed those outside the mainstream, but they’re part of the community patchwork that makes Western-wear look so good… sometimes literally.
For instance, when Hailey Frederiksen became Miss Rodeo America in 2022, the Colorado roping queen chose to spotlight Fenty Beauty, the inclusive shade brand created by Rihanna and a team of Black beauty moguls, as she reigned across the Rocky Mountain rodeo circuit. “I swear by this stuff,” she vowed in her first official beauty video after winning the crown.
“It’s been my go-to since I started competing [as a rodeo queen] three and a half years ago. It lasts through any weather. It is my number one.” As the Southern rodeo circuit picks up this fall, barrel-racing women can sport a pair of daisy-embroidered boots from Genia Lee, a 40-year-old Mississippi native whose small business is the only cowboy cobbler owned by a Black woman in America. There’s also been a push on social media to make the horse girl aesthetic more inclusive—a mission that’s dear to Canadian rider Jen Spencer. On her popular Instagram channel @BlackEquestrians, she champions the rise of cowgirl style (“fashion and horses—what more do you need?!”) as long as it includes all the cowgirls.
“Everyone wants to be part of the mane event — but sometimes only on Instagram.”
According to Hirschi, true “cowgirl chic” should also reflect the reality of working with horses. “If you want to wear a cowboy boot, it shouldn’t have a zipper,” she says. “That’s going to damage your tack.” Hirschi doesn’t mind the bedazzled and floral embroidered boots by cool-girl labels like Ganni and its untouchable older sister The Row. “Rodeo queens wear embellished cowboy boots all the time. It’s part of the culture and it’s wonderful.” But if you’re going to buy them, try to opt for American-made footwear that’s already supporting the small family farms and ranches that uphold key slabs of the country’s economy. Some to try: The female founded label Miron Crosby, the Montana-based Babione Wilson, and the Dallas brand Kat Mendenhall—the cobbler makes entirely vegan versions of her grandpa’s favorite rodeo boots. There’s also Lucchese, the heritage boot brand that’s been a cowboy sole mate since 1883. Experienced riders and ranchers favor them; so do Texas-bred designers like Brandon Maxwell, who collaborated with the label for his 2018 collection and made custom pairs for Karlie Kloss and Gigi Hadid.
As for “cowgirl” denim, American Eagle is a popular pick, thanks to its bootleg cut that actually accommodates a proper cowboy boot and spurs. Rodeo riders like Rookie Cowgirl of the Year Kortnee Solomon favor Wrangler’s Riding Jean, which features a higher waist and wider leg, when training and competing, though the brand’s Cowboy Cut jeans is preferred while doing stable duty because it can be tucked into a Blundstone boot when mucking stalls or hauling feed. To merge the spirit of the rodeo with her homeland of Rodeo Drive, Hollywood princess Sarah Staudinger of Staud recently collaborated with Wrangler, too, on a line of blue jean basics that “are timeless but feel fresh.” They are modeled by a woman with—yes— “cowgirl copper” hair.
Speaking of hair, the longtime beauty myth that Mane ‘n’ Tail horse shampoo—a formula created at the Straight Arrow ranch in rural New Jersey circa 1970—still holds sway. Celebrities like Kim Kardashian and Sarah Jessica Parker are reportedly fans of the strengthening spray and conditioner…as are ranchers, cowgirls, and horse trainers around the country. “It really does work,” says Miller. “I also use some skin cream that’s meant for the horses when I need a cut or blemish to heal quickly,” she says, “but you can only get it from a horse vet.”
So the stable gates can still gatekeep some things in Horse Girl World… but some barns are taking the reins back from the fashion scene, and making their own merch to ride the trend. At Diamond Cross Ranch in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, designer Kirby Lindley—a former Miss Teen Texas who’s now married to 4th generation rancher Luke Long— creates graphic tees, knitwear, and work shirts based on her own daily stable gear. Pieces cost $48—$98, and Lindley is fine if you wear her pullovers without pulling your quivering body onto an actual horse. “But you should sometime,” she says. “It’s so fun.”
