What is it with Western and Country Style lately? I don’t think I have ever been subjected to so many jean AD campaigns in my entire life. Not only does denim have the market in a chokehold, but Vogue just released its October issue, auspiciously set in the Wyoming mountain range and featuring horses, cowboy hats, saddles and every trademark Americana detail.
It is going beyond the fashion industry, too. Old Hollywood and East Coast darling Lana Del Rey has once again begun teasing her country album, now titled “Stove,” which she discussed with W magazine as having a country flair and produced by American country songwriter Luke Laird.
Not to mention Beyoncé’s Cowboy Carter tour decorating this summer in boots, flares and yet another jean campaign, this time with Levi’s. The state of the country today is shoving cowboy culture down consumers’ throats, and I am sick of it.
I am not a country music fan, and I do not plan on starting. Some of my closest friends are steadfast country listeners, and I cannot blame them. It is literally everywhere, practically inescapable. It takes a formal act of resistance not to buy into the cowboy/cowgirl aesthetic.
I do adopt small elements of the farm girl look from time to time, putting my hair in pigtail braids, adding a bolo tie or pairing my BDG Cowboy Jeans with a silver belt buckle. But I am not actively seeking country-style pieces to add to my wardrobe and build into my self-image.
Yet more and more I watch suburban teenagers who grew up in sidewalked neighborhoods, Targets and shopping malls, embrace the identities tied to farms, horses, country music and cowboys. This increase in growth is not a result of a growing American farm industry; in fact, U.S. farms have seen a continued decline in numbers. Instead, it is the loss of the middle-class identity in America.Â
There has been a rumbling discussion of what is happening to the middle class in the United States. From being priced out at Disney World to losing every amenity on every airline, the middle class is losing places to enjoy and express themselves.
Instead, they are more apt to define themselves through a Starbucks order or which jean campaign they preferred this year (American Eagle vs. Gap). When white America is set to become a minority by 2045, what do they do? We are seeing the answer now: ICE raids, a Department of War, tariffs on nearly all international goods and a championing of country music and style. Cowboys reigned in the late 1800s, but were popularized by Hollywood Westerns in the mid-1900s. As unfortunate as it is, the majority of Americans yearn for a time of white dominance and high patriotism, reflected by who we elected into office. My question to Americans today is, where do we go from here?
There is no revolutionary subculture emerging underground to disrupt this cowgirl epidemic. At least to my knowledge. Goths and punks of the past are too busy squabbling over labels and arguing which bands are what to make any impact. Internet feminists are concerned with the increased use of fillers and Botox rather than advocating for change. An industry that could make a true difference could be fashion.
Imagine a Vogue cover that featured discriminated groups finding power through fashion and their speech instead of the two thin, fair-skinned, nepo baby models on horseback. In a nation where the elimination of diversity, equity and inclusion is celebrated, fashion needs to get rebellious again.