Fashion Advice, Lone Star Style
Category: Society & Culture...
Posted Tuesday, November 11, 2003 at 04:31 PM [GMT-6]

I've been meaning to blog about this for a while, and keep getting distracted. I'm still distracted, and I've decided that it's a permanent situation that I'll just have to get used to.

Anyway, a few weeks ago, Scott over at The Fat Guy provided us with some valuable Texas Fashion Tips. There was almost nothing I would take exception to, primarily because I'm the last guy you'd ever want to consult in matters sartorial. (As I've written before, I keep my clothes organized thusly: the casual t-shirts here, and the dressy t-shirts there).

But he did write one thing that perhaps reflects the invisible-but-real line separating West Texas from the rest of the civilized world (that being non-West Texas, of course), and that is the rules for the donning of el sombrero negro, or the Black Hat.

Scott scribes thusly:

Well, that rule may work for the good folk up around Big D, and perhaps even for the denizens of Foat Wuth, but no such rule exists in the dustier, more deserty parts of the state. In fact, black hats are de rigeur year 'round round these parts, and a fella won't be judged by the shade of his Stetson.

For proof, I give you my brother, a honest-to-gosh cowboy who also happens to be a darn fine western artist, when he sets aside the time for it. The well-worn manly headwear that you see in the first photo is the only way you'll ever see him in public. (I would say that he showers in it, but that's obviously not true, as the photo will attest.) To his credit, he does have a formal version, reserved for weddings, funerals, and livestock auctions.

So, the next time you get some fashion advice from a Texan (and you really oughta be seeking it out regularly), you might want to know which side of Tarrant County he's referring to. It could make all the difference in the world.