I See by Your Outfit: Historic Cowboy Gear of the Northern Plains

Rating:
Summary: A remarkable reference book
Review: A friend shoved this book in front of me during research for a historical novel, and I found it fascinating! It is a comprehensive guide to the real garb and tack of real cowboys in a real frontier, not a Technicolored Hollywood wardrober's fantasy. I found it expertly written and illustrated, detailed and enormously helpful. This isn't the kind of amateur historical pap you see so often in this category, it's the Real McCoy. Anyone who wants or needs to know how cowboys and frontiersmen dressed needs to pick up "I See By Your Outfit."

Rating:
Summary: It aint Hollywood
Review: As an Old West Re-enactor for 5 years, I have taken a particular interest in costuming. There are few resources that accurately dispell the many questions and myths that come into play about the cowboy gear in the Old West. I refer to this book often when researching particular subjects such as hats and boots. As a seamstress, the diagrams and details are invaluable in recreating costumes for my husband and fellow actors.

Rating:
Summary: A must have for every Old West Re-enactor and enthusiast.
Review: As an Old West Re-enactor for 5 years, I have taken a particular interest in costuming. There are few resources that accurately dispell the many questions and myths that come into play about the cowboy gear in the Old West. I refer to this book often when researching particular subjects such as hats and boots. As a seamstress, the diagrams and details are invaluable in recreating costumes for my husband and fellow actors.

Rating:
Summary: Cowboy gear and clothes -- all of it
Review: I loved this book. A comprehensive guide to real working cowboys' -- not in the movies or on TV; on the open range of Wyoming, in the old days -- clothing and equipment. Hundreds of black and white photos and drawings; illustrations from historic catalogs; schematics of tack; diary entries and contemporary descriptions; history and the reasons behind the specific gear of the cowboys (and girls) of the Northern Plains from 1870 to just until the Great Depression. The authors are historians and give us the names of, and the stories behind, the people and the great stuff; Levi's of course, but how about 'Rodeo Booger Reds'? -- a would-be competitor. Underwear -- you can imagine how important Union Suits were before central heating. (They could be ordered in white, grey, ecru, light blue, and, finally, in 1909: pink.) Shirts, jackets, leather goods and fabrics. Horse gear. There's even a chapter on Camp Equipment; now you can build a chuck wagon. Loads of well-captioned photos, many portraits; you're 'there.' Best of all, the tone is enthusiatically academic rather than 'nostalgic.' This is the real thing -- a scholarly, well-organized and well-written book about a vanished world.

Rating:
Summary: Cowboy gear and clothes -- all of it
Review: I loved this book. A comprehensive guide to real working cowboys' -- not in the movies or on TV; on the open range of Wyoming, in the old days -- clothing and equipment. Hundreds of black and white photos and drawings; illustrations from historic catalogs; schematics of tack; diary entries and contemporary descriptions; history and the reasons behind the specific gear of the cowboys (and girls) of the Northern Plains from 1870 to just until the Great Depression. The authors are historians and give us the names of, and the stories behind, the people and the great stuff; Levi's of course, but how about 'Rodeo Booger Reds'? -- a would-be competitor. Underwear -- you can imagine how important Union Suits were before central heating. (They could be ordered in white, grey, ecru, light blue, and, finally, in 1909: pink.) Shirts, jackets, leather goods and fabrics. Horse gear. There's even a chapter on Camp Equipment; now you can build a chuck wagon. Loads of well-captioned photos, many portraits; you're 'there.' Best of all, the tone is enthusiatically academic rather than 'nostalgic.' This is the real thing -- a scholarly, well-organized and well-written book about a vanished world.

Rating:
Summary: Good cowboy stuff.
Review: I thought this book would be about what you can tell about people from what kind of truck they drive. But it turned out to be a very good reference on historic Western garb.

Rating:
Summary: It aint Hollywood
Review: This is the real MCoy. The authors appear to know their subect well and have done their homework. I thank you for that because this is my first read on the subject of real cowboy clothing and I wanted facts. The detail was very good and in some cases too good as in the section on horse bits. What cowboys acually wore and why is fascinating. Don't get me wrong I enjoy the Hollywood costumes but it's nice to know the real story and this is it.