What constitutes a costume, a uniform, or a way of dressing? Is it employment, cultural, ethnic, regional, sports, or special for an occasion? Is a way of dressing, only a costume if worn for an occasion, holiday, etc.? Is dressing for church, funeral, or a wedding a costume? This video is worth watching. Yvonne is a real deal working ranch woman and cowboy poet. I think she expresses how what one wears may be seen as a costume on certain occasions. She will tell you that around the ranch, the clothes she wears differs from her "cowboy" costume she wears to Cowboy Gathering. Here is what Carhartt's look like. Would you guess this lady is a real deal cowboy by her dress?
For me I have different levels of clothing, there is my "work clothes" for working on my home, my car, or gardening. Then there's clothes I would wear to my job, which occasionally would require suit and tie, then there's casual clothes for knocking around, shopping, visiting friends. Costumes were what I wore for Halloween party, or when I dress as Santa. I wore many uniform during my younger days, I played baseball for at least eight different teams each requiring me to wear a uniform. I also was required to wear a uniform to attend Catholic Elementary School. For me they are three separate categories of clothing because you may wear casual clothes during the day then a suit or fancy clothes to attend an affair it's still clothing to me just at a different level.
I have one exception to what I commented in the prior post. Stage plays, movies, etc. Whatever they wear in their production I would consider a costume.
I did some study on the definition of the word costume. The most agreed upon definition is, " A set of clothes in a style typical of a particular country, historical period, or lifestyle other than your own." I think intent has a great bearing on whether what one wears is a costume or just ones preference in clothes or a uniform. If the intent of the wearer is to portray a certain image other than what they are, then that makes it a costume. If a crook wears a police uniform, then the crook is wearing a costume, not a uniform. If a retired Fed Ex driver went shopping in their old Fed Ex uniform, then that uniform would become a costume. I think of one of my cousins, now in her 80s, a lifelong rancher, rodeo performer, RN, and permanent Grand Matron of well known PRCA rodeo and how she dressed different for each occasion. When she started nursing she wore the white dress and the white cap that originated with Florence Nightingale. On the ranch she wore and still wears a big flat brim hat, Levi's, and a button shirt with a bandana and rides a hinny. For leading the parade, before the rodeo, she wears a totally different set of western wear clothes, especially designed and fashionable for rodeo, and rides a fancy horse bred just for performing. The horse is even wearing fancy parade garb. She will tell you that the way she dresses for her Grand Matron duties, is a costume. She never wears it anywhere else. The way she dresses when around town doesn't really give anyone a clue about her lifestyle or former occupations. When I lived in the mountains and participated in black powder shoots and buckskin rendezvous, I always wore my best buckskin dress that I never wore anywhere else. That was a costume. I had another set of buckskins that I wore for my hikes and survival journeys in the mountains. Perhaps these were a uniform since I didn't wear them for appearance or to portray an image, but rather for the authentic experience. These days when I am out in public, I blend in and no one would have a clue about my past employment or lifestyle. Even on the rare occasion when I tuck in my tee and wear a belt, has anyone ever said, "Wow you must have been a professional rodeo cowgirl since you are wearing vintage bareback Wrangler riding jeans." I am glad they don't since I wear them for comfort and don't care to portray a diva horse girl rodeo image. They are superior to the ones with back pockets because of comfort. They are just as comfortable in the saddle singing "yippie tie yi yo," as they are sitting here in my recliner and causing discontent on the forum hahaha.
Well, Faye, what you, and perhaps other current/former ranch folks consider a "costume" appears to be different than what some on this forum think. In all of my years involved, and as a fan, starting in 1981, of PRCA rodeo, I've never once heard the word "costume" used to describe western wear. But, like I have stated, "ranch folks may/can talk differently than rodeo folks" (that I know of).
Well, Cody, I think if you got to know rodeo folks better and on a more personal level, then you would see the way they dress for rodeo may differ from the way they dress at home and around town shopping or eating out. They don't dress so others can identify them as "cowboys." That is the urban way and grew in popularity with the movie, "Urban Cowboy." I am glad many on the forum have a different idea of what constitutes a costume than I do, that is what leads to good discussions. I don't post seeking approval. It is nice to get likes indicating that a post has been read and appreciated and not necessarily a seal of agreement. If that was the case I wouldn't have many likes. I am proud to be an independent thinker and eccentric dresser.
By your definition if I wear a tux to a wedding i'm wearing a costume. I think that's incorrect I wear a Tux maybe once a year But it's still normal for my lifestyle. Doesn't matter how offen I wear it is still my lifestyle. If I Go To a Renaissance fair and I Dress In The garb Of the middle ages that's a costume.
You make a good point that adds to what I posted that whether a costume or not has a lot to do with intent. If you were a wedding crasher and always wore a tux to crash weddings, then that would make your tux a costume or maybe more correctly, a uniform. Dressing appropriate for a wedding, is a matter of respect for the bride and groom. The same with a funeral, dressing to show respect for the family of the deceased. I always inquire what the host of any occasion require for dress. I was a bridesmaid for a "cowboy" wedding years ago and the bridesmaids had to wear pink dresses with a western flair, white "cowboy" hats and white high heeled cowboy boots. The groomsmen had to wear blue western cut suits, black hats and black cowboy boots. The bride wore all white and the groom all blue and both were the stereotypical western styling. For me my "outfit" was a costume since it was worn to make the statement that I was a bridesmaid. My family referred to western dressing as a costume mostly in jest, since there have always been actors, rodeo performers, and others not needing the hat or boots as a tool of their trade, just to give the appearance of being a "cowboy." I always wore clothes suitable for the job or occasion and I still joke about getting my "costume" on if it is different than my normal daily wear. In the long scope of things, it doesn't matter just like most of what is discussed here on the forum.
I hate to say this but I've actually gone out of character when visiting because I had just seen a movie and the character in the movie was in the back of my mind, so I was kind of in a mental costume. I know I'm weird but it has happened. I think what you were can change you mentally, I know if i'm wearing gardening clothes my mind is a little different and if I was wearing dress up clothes go out. Do you feel the same if you're wearing working clothes for your farm or your working with your horse, then If you were wearing clothes for a rodeo?
There you go Cody. See you are liked by some here and they agree with you, so remember that the next time you feel picked on, misunderstood, unliked, and call your local woodshop to commission a hand hewn big old wooden cross with the intention of hanging yourself on it, hypothetically speaking of course.
No, because the clothes most ranchers wear out working, differ from the ones they wear to rodeo. Now days ball caps, on both male and female, are seen more than cowboy hats on ranches for working. You rarely see anyone in heeled pull on cowboy boots out working cattle, operating equipment, or gardening. Hollywood is what made stereotypical western dressing popular with folks other than ranch folks. Very few in Texas wear "ten gallon" hats except for special occasions. One of the biggest custom hatmakers, make expensive hats of all creases and styles, and I don't know anyone buying them for working cattle. They are sold as costumes for rodeo, western reenactments, movies, or just to make a statement. This company makes one that was designed and made famous by a working famous ranch and rodeo cowboy cousin back in the 1920s. Several of my cousins have bought them and strictly as a costume and as a conversation starter. The hat that Gus in Lonesome Dove wore was patterned and creased after my cousins. Check out all these different styles. I find the hat styles of yesteryear interesting. https://thelastbestwest.com/
When I think of "uniform" I think of military or police in uniform. They dress in distinctive clothing, so they all look uniform. Think of troops standing in formation. They look uniform (in distinctive clothing). "Costume" is clothes anyone would not usually wear, so they are in costume to appear as someone they're not.
Cody objects to the use of "costume" to describe Western Wear because the implication of the word is that he is pretending to be something other than what he is. That seems straightforward and reasonable. However, as pointed out, other people may use the word to describe a uniform. I would sometimes say that it was time for me to dress up like a paramedic when it was time for me to get into uniform, or that I was going to put on my paramedic costume. That was self-deprecating, in a sense, but also an acknowledgment that being a paramedic was my job and not something that described me. As co-owner of an ambulance company for six years, I wouldn't necessarily wear my uniform if I was going to be working in the office. But if someone didn't come in or if we got busy, my partner and I would operate an ambulance. At that time, I would have to get into my paramedic costume. With or without the uniform, I was a paramedic, but when I was going to be responding to someone's emergency, it was best to be in uniform; hence, a costume. When I was going to attend church on a Sunday, particularly when I was a deacon or interim pastor, I would dress up. Dressing up in a suit and tie has never been comfortable for me, although I have frequently had to do so for one reason or another, I would consider - and sometimes say - that I was getting into costume, which isn't a whole lot different than saying that I was putting on my Sunday suit. I have a bunch of EMS-themed sweatshirts and teeshirts that I wear sometimes, and I haven't been a paramedic for 23 years now. Am I in costume when I do that? Maybe, but that was a big part of what I was during an important part of my life. I see a lot of people around here wearing their labor union hats, yet the mill has been closed and they've been out of work for almost as long as I've lived here. I sometimes wear Champion Paper Company stuff and I haven't worked there since 1983, and it's been quite a few years since Champion was taken over by International Paper. Words are fluid, and people often use them in different ways. It's not anything to get upset over.
The bigger meaning of costume is a distinctive style of an individual or group that reflects class, gender, profession, ethnicity, nationality, or activity. In short costume is a cultural visual of a people. It may be representative of the way they actually dressed or a stereotype. If one bases their way of dressing on Hollywood, then it is more likely a stereotype. We also have to study the evolution of dressing and how it has changed. A costume may be a reenactment of ones glory days. While I understand that one might be offended by the idea that the way they dress is a pretending of something they are not, maybe that is because they know it is true. I have done so many things in my life and wear "outfits," from time to time, that reflect those disciplines, although I know I am no longer physically involved with them. Call them a costume or an outfit and I will take it as a compliment. Perhaps if one thought of what they wear, or their "costume", as a reenactment of their past, and although it doesn't accurately reflect their present, others referring to their dress as a costume might be a compliment rather than a bad thing. However, if their costume isn't reflective of their past or present, then maybe it would be an insult to one with an altered ego. If their way of dressing is reflective of their culture or heritage, but they wear it only for special events, then that is a costume. Example: My long time friends that are all American Indian blood, dress different in daily life than they do going to Pow Wow. They will tell you that what they wear to Pow Wow is a costume representative of their heritage. If a non Indian was to dress the same for Pow Wow, it would be a costume meant to try and represent that they were something they never were or ever can be and be offensive to the real Indians. At our older age, I think if we dress to reflect our past and someone calls it a costume, we should be pleased and see this as an opening to reminisce about our past. If we dress to try and be something we never were but dream of being, then that is when one would take offense because they can't reminisce about something they never were. No crime in dressing as someone you never were as long as it isn't cultural appropriation. Take it as a compliment if someone calls it a costume, not a personal insult. No harm in playing make believe as long as you own it.
Well, Faye, your last sentence sort of struck me.............."No harm in playing make believe, as long as you own it". IOW, myself and any other former rodeo cowboy that no longer competes, isn't "playing make believe". At one time, all former rodeo contestants actually done an event. All of the former ones I know/have known, never want to release those "good old days" of competition and still love wearing western attire and totally supporting PRCA, or any other rodeo association. The Pro Rodeo Hall of Fame in Colorado Springs is full of former rodeo contestants. Some have passed away, while others are still alive and well. The families of ones passed away, as well as those still alive, wear western attire and totally support the Hall and PRCA. That's what wife and I do. My Darth Vader Halloween Costume is just that............a costume. Just as my wife's Female Stormtrooper Costume is the same way. Only worn one time of year, while our western attire is worn much, much more. But, if you still want to call western attire a "costume", that's entirely up to you. Wife and I haven't met one former/current rodeo contestant that has referred to their clothing as a "costume".