Not suggesting it\u2019s a stroke of genius \u2014 not even close, mind you \u2014 but the lightbulb moment did hit me out of the blue during The American Performance Horseman this past July at Dickies Arena. The thought: Any event at Dickies Arena that features horses and livestock is the New York Fashion Week of the Western world.\u00a0<\/p>\n
In recent years, such events have become both the time and the place to dress to the nines, add a little bling or sauce to your duds, and take some Western fashion risks in the name of self-expression. Like Fashion Week, it\u2019s become a place to set the trends.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s no longer pull out your old pair of boots and buy a hat at a concession stand,\u201d says Rachel Patton, an amateur cutting world champion who\u2019s been attending Fort Worth Western events her entire life.\u00a0<\/p>\n
While the events have gotten bigger \u2014 The American Performance Horseman, which featured cutting and reining, filled the arena to the brim \u2014 and flashier, this doesn\u2019t mean a Fort Worth attendee should sacrifice authenticity for glitz and glam. This isn\u2019t Vegas, after all.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
According to Rachel, it\u2019s a balancing act.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s not the fake rodeo,\u201d she says. \u201cYou should ask yourself: Am I wearing the right-shaped cowboy hat? I think authenticity is one of the coolest things about Western fashion. It will never go out of style.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
That said, according to Eva Blanton, also an amateur cutting world champion, one shouldn\u2019t feel like they can\u2019t mix and match and get a little creative if they\u2019re not as steeped in Western culture.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cEven if you\u2019re from the city, you can come to Fort Worth and wear your city stuff and pair it with your Western flair,\u201d Eva says. \u201cYou can have a little bit of both. As long as you feel confident and are doing things to represent your authentic self instead of following trends.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
That said, they both agree that one item of clothing is an absolute must if one is to attend a Western event: boots.\u00a0<\/p>\n
We caught up with Rachel and Eva at The American Horseman at Dickies Arena, where they showed us how to dress for the modern West. \u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Eva Blanton\u00a0<\/p>\n
Jacket<\/strong>: Tulip Time in mahogany by Double D\u00a0<\/p>\n Skirt<\/strong>: Tiered ruffled skirt by Double D\u00a0<\/p>\n Eva partnered with Double D, who outfitted the cutting champ with items currently in stock and some that have yet to be released.<\/p>\n \u201cI saw the jacket and I had to wear it, and I was like, it\u2019s 100 degrees outside, and I don\u2019t even care because it\u2019s such a stunning jacket.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Rachel Patton\u00a0<\/p>\n Shirt<\/strong>: DL 1961\u00a0<\/p>\n Skirt<\/strong>: Western skirt in tobacco by Alemais\u00a0<\/p>\n Belt buckle<\/strong>: Amateur NCHA Futurity World Champion\u00a0<\/p>\n Boots<\/strong>: Tan suede custom cowboy boots from Cavender\u2019s\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m always going to lean toward classic and timeless, but not necessarily blending in. I want to feel good in what I\u2019m wearing, so comfort\u2019s always the most important thing.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n September 12, 2025<\/p>\n 11:29 AM<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Not suggesting it\u2019s a stroke of genius \u2014 not even close, mind you \u2014 but the lightbulb moment…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":221335,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5138],"tags":[5229,12043,29751,52457,10574,7371,7372,13813,5921,358,120433,7453,3187,67,586,132,5230,68,2969,120432,74338],"class_list":{"0":"post-221334","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-fort-worth","8":"tag-america","9":"tag-arts-and-culture","10":"tag-brian-kendall","11":"tag-dickies-arena","12":"tag-fashion","13":"tag-fort-worth","14":"tag-fortworth","15":"tag-people-of-influence","16":"tag-style","17":"tag-texas","18":"tag-the-american-performance-horseman","19":"tag-top-story","20":"tag-tx","21":"tag-united-states","22":"tag-united-states-of-america","23":"tag-unitedstates","24":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","25":"tag-us","26":"tag-usa","27":"tag-western-style","28":"tag-western-wear"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/221334","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=221334"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/221334\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/221335"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=221334"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=221334"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=221334"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}