Dressy Western Fashions

Recently, Hunter surprised me with a trip (that deserves it's own post, so more about that another day) out of town.  While we were gone, he took me to a western-wear retail store so I could get something suitable to wear for our mysterious destination.  I needed a nice western shirt.  As you know, when you have a baby, your body shifts.  While I'm lucky to almost have my old body back, my upper half is still blessed with *ahem* extra body, so my old shirts still don't fit.  With Hunter's encouragement, it wasn't hard to convince me to shop a little. 

Show of hands for anyone who's been in a western retail store?  Anyone?

Ever wondered what on earth is going on with "dressy" western wear?

Bling.  Crystals.  Ruffles.  Lace.  Drippy, drapey, ruffly, blingy EVERYTHING.  EVERYWHERE.  On butts.  On boobs.  Across the back.  Down the leg.  EVERYWHERE.  Think for a moment about the average woman who's shopping here.  Typically, the "western woman" wears her jeans for most occasions, owns a few pairs of boots, and can hold her own, physically, to get some work done or keep up with a man.  She probably prefers carhart workwear, and owns work gloves that actually have to work. She may be able to jump from the back of a horse on the move (don't look at me!), throw a 60 pound haybale (me on a good day!)  or shoot a gun or a bow.  (me too!)  She is probably A-Ok with getting dirty, going camping or skinning a deer.  So why, pray tell, would this woman then morph into this crazy ruffle-wearing, look-at-my-butt rhinestone sporting, oh here's-a-whole-PILE-of-jewelry-to-wear-as-well person when she gets dressed up to go somewhere?  Will someone please pose this question to the buyers at these western stores?  (I'm looking at you, Boot Barn!)  Or, better yet, will someone please design some classy western wear that doesn't include dry cleaning bills or really unflattering hemlines?  Maybe some nice shirts long enough to tuck in? 

What'd I get, you ask?  Well, after much dithering, and several shirts that fit everywhere but my biceps- ain't no skinny arms on this baby-totin mama- I bought a beautiful brown plaid shirt with gorgeous embroidery.  And rhinestones.  Yep, you read that right.  You really can't avoid them, and I was on my way to somewhere cool.  Hunter thought it was an awesome shirt, and off we went to the checkout counter. 

A view of the back- beautiful embroidery!

The best part of this story is that I'll always keep this shirt and remember how we bought it on our way to seeing George Strait, live, in Salt Lake City.  Hunter surprised me in a big way, and it was a big, big show..... and he's husband of the year 2013.  Love that guy.