CUSTOM TAILORS
Clothes made for a name, a body and a public life.
Rodeo Ben, Nudie’s Rodeo Tailors, Nathan Turk, Fay Ward, Manuel Cuevas, Viola Grae, Rose Clements, Marge Riley and regional makers.
Explore the makers →THE RECORD
A history held
in clothes.
Garments, labels, advertisements, catalogues, photographs, shop records and the people connected to them tell the larger story of Western wear.
Western Wear History is an independent research archive edited by the Western Wear History research desk. The editor is not publicly named; corrections, credits and concerns receive the same careful review as new material.
COMMERCIAL BRANDS
Western wear beyond the custom shop.
Manufacturers, retailers, catalogue houses, dance-floor suppliers and labels that carried Western clothing into stores across the country.
Open Commercial Western Wear →THE COLLECTION
Objects, people and the printed page.
Garments, labels, advertising, catalogues, portraits and shop photographs sit together in a browsable collection.
Browse the collection →THE THREADS OF THE STORY
Details that make a history whole.
The workroom meets the showroom here: designers and embroiderers, makers and sellers, performer wardrobes, mail-order pages, factory records, regional labels, and the material evidence inside a shirt or a suit.
Each story rests on the documents and records that support it. A label, address, advertised garment or photograph can each carry its own part of a larger history.
Share a piece from your collection →