COWGIRL 'BLING BLING'

COWGIRL 'BLING BLING'

The West is a land of extremes - scenery, wealth and weather so it is not a surprise to learn that fashion is no exception! The lavish fringe-and-sequins style goes back to the early 1900's when champion rodeo star, Prairie Rose Henderson. decorated her costume with sequins, ostrich feathers and fur! Cowboys and cowgirls were not seen as fashion icons though until Buffalo Bill Cody took to the rails with his famous Wild West Show and thus began the era of 'high style' western wear.

Rodeo parades began to encourage participants to show up in fashionable gear - not only were the leather 'chaps' heavily embellished with brass spots but cowboys' spurs and horses' saddles began to glow with shiny silver. Bohlin, known as the 'Saddlemaker to the Stars' established the benchmark for parade and silver saddles that still stands to this day. During the 1920's and early 30's Tom Mix was Hollywood's number one cowboy star and is considered to be the 'Father of the Rhinestone Cowboy' - his fancy white western suits had contrasting embroidery, piping and lacing. Roy Rogers and Dale Evans were the next Hollywood stars to wear flashy outfits. According to Roy Rogers it was important to have a sequined costume and a silver parade saddle because once the spotlights hit Trigger and Roy, the pair pranced across the arena in a bejeweled display of Hollywood showmanship and that's exactly what the crowd wanted to see!

The rodeo queens and princesses were the first western fashionistas to dazzle rodeo crowds with sparkling tiaras of rhinestones attached to their cowboy hats. Barrel racers (mainly cowgirls) always dressed in co-ordinating western outfits and it wasn't long before their 'good luck charm' cross that they attached to their saddle before a race was embellished with coloured crystals (each colour of crystal has a significant meaning). Flashy platter sized silver and gold western belt buckles have often been awarded to event winners - some were even encrusted with real jewels! So, it wasn't long before western fashion designers realized that 'rhinestone' or crystal buckles would certainly accent those crystal crosses and 'cowgirl bling bling' was created. Today western leather belts come in any colour of the rainbow and are studded with matching or contrasting crystals!

In the past, when a barrel racer accessorized her horse she bought a sturdy, comfortable barrel racing saddle (with very little silver as it is too heavy for the horse to carry - speed is critical in this event),  a functional leather bridle, saddle blanket and a breastcollar! Today she still has that same sturdy saddle but the bridle and breastcollar are often encrusted with crystals to co-ordinate with her belt, buckle and outfit. In fact, you can now order bling, bling horse breastcollars with blinking lights - now that's a real 'stand up and get noticed' feature for those late-night rodeos.

Pleasure riders are even starting to dress up their horses in strands of turquoise or coloured crystal beads. Riders are able to concentrate on the empowering symbolism of the colour or semi-precious stone as part of their training - for example, turquoise has protective properties and blue has a calming quality. Word charms can also be literal reminders such as 'Centre' and are clipped into a horse's mane and forelock. Honestly, horse bling bling really does have a serious side! The cowgirls who dress-up their horses with bling bling believe that horses, just like cowgirls, love bling, bling..........................................