#CoastalCowgirl Core Is In and We Are Rodeo Ready

Time to swap your coastal grandmother aesthetic for its edgy cousin, just in time for the summer festival season, says Penny McCormick

So far this summer, the hashtag #coastalcowgirl has amassed more than 7.4 billion views on TikTok. It’s a mix of Californian beachy vibes with some western elements. Early adopters, including Kendall Jenner, Emily Ratajkowski and Pamela Anderson, have shown the lowmaintenance aesthetic requires only a few items to be rodeo ready – a pair of denim cut-outs, a tank top, and a leather jacket or blazer for chilly evenings.

“We’ve seen this aesthetic crop up over the last few years,” says Irish trend analyst Kate Stapleton. “The difference this time is that it’s spanning haute couture fashion houses – such as Raf Simon’s tenure as creative director for Calvin Klein and Olivier Rousteing’s Balmain capsule inspired by Netflix’s western The Harder They Fall – to fast fashion versions on Lemon8. Paris Fashion Week attendees even mixed cowboy aesthetics into their street style, bringing a fresh look to staples like fringed shirts and jackets.”

If denim and dazzling details are the style takeaways for SS23 collections – special mention to Glenn Marten’s recent collection for Diesel – be forewarned, it looks as if these are set to extend to winter. At Copenhagen Fashion Week’s AW23 shows for Remain, Rotate and OpéraSport, cowboy prints, hats and boots prevailed. For devotees, such as Irish PR professional Rachel Farrell, this trend mirrors the resurgence of interest in country music. Farrell attends the popular Country 2 Country festival that tours Dublin every year (2023 marked its tenth anniversary with sell-out shows at the 3Arena Dublin in March) and will be tuning into the 58th Academy of Country Music Awards, on May 11, hosted by country legends Garth Brooks and Dolly Parton. She cites newer acts like Kacey Musgraves and Irish artist CMAT for bringing the genre to new fans and modernising it. She’s travelling to see The Dixie Chicks and supporting act Maren Morris in concert in June.

Irish country music singer CMAT in concert.

“Carlsbad, originally from Cowboy Country in Utah and now Dublin-based, blends pop and country – she has a really unique sound,” explains Molly Keane, a music photographer, who believes the modern Irish country, folk and trad scenes are thriving. “The band Moxie is an incredible contemporary amalgamation of trad and modern sounds. I’ve had CMAT’s song I Wanna be a Cowboy, Baby on repeat for so long too!”

Pop royalty is also embracing the trend: Harry Styles wore cowboy hats and feathers on his Love on Tour, while Beyoncé is saddled up on a silver steed wearing a disco ball cowboy hat (find one by Abbey Misbin on Etsy) on her Renaissance album cover. Beyoncé’s tour is expected to lean heavily on disco cowboy energy, while Taylor Swift’s ongoing Eras tour looks back at her country music history. Adapting the trend for city life, urban cowgirls wear easy breezy dresses and cowboy boots, emulating actress Riley Keogh in Daisy Jones and the Six. The 1970s drama series on Prime Video was adapted from Taylor Jenkins Reid’s bestselling novel of the same name and has de? nitely channelled the fashion zeitgeist. You can even shop a collaboration between bohemian clothing brand Free People and Daisy Jones and the Six.

One vital accessory for nailing the trend is a pair of cowboy boots. Isabel Marant’s Duerto leather cowboy boots with suede panels, €740, and Ganni’s green versions with embroidered detail, €575, are on my wishlist. Country music fans will travel far – often to Austin, Texas or Nashville, Tennessee – to source authentic versions. Take Irish stylist Irene O’Brien, who was impressed by the style in Nashville as much as its iconic bars (The Bluebird Café Store) and numerous museums dedicated to Johnny Cash. “To this day, the vintage clothes I bought remain some of my favourite pieces. I got myself the red cowboy boots I had coveted since first watching Footloose. They’ve danced at multiple festivals and gigs, and are my happy feet,” she says. They’re a wise investment given the growing number of festivals in Ireland and elsewhere. While the Coachella crowd will wear their boots with bikinis, civilians should style theirs with jeans tucked in.

Amanda Brook’s rhinestone cowboy outfit.

Should you need any further convincing that #coastalcowgirl is the way forward, tastemakers (and business titans!) are coming out and professing their love of all things country. It-girl Amanda Brooks, former buyer for Barneys New York, saw in the new year line dancing, proudly wearing a bespoke rhinestone cowboy ensemble. At her wedding to Tom Bernthal, former Meta COO Sheryl Sandberg included many western touches. “Dive bars, country music – this is all a new part of my life now, but I love it,” she told People magazine. Her groom wore Texan Lucchese boots under black jeans and a tuxedo jacket. I rest my case.

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