Hey!
Love the old photos showing real authentic and genuine cowboys of the Wild West period.
I am intrigued by the use of collared shirts by so many cowboys. I have been told by numerous people "in the know" that collards did not come in on shirts till late that century. These images tend to suffuse otherwise.
I am a keen serious amateur photographer and filmmaker from the UK and love to film westerns in Arizona. WE tend to aim for the 1880s as that gives us options to use older Civil War weapons as well as the 1873 Colt and Winchester. Plus it gives us more latitude when it comes to gearing the cowboys up in genuine wardrobe, boots and weapons.
Can anyone give us some honest and authoritative advice on the wardrobe of that period. Our next film will be set in southern AZ in or around 1880s and we will have a Doctor, Sheriff, lawmen and 5 outlaws. The outlaws will be mainly 20s - 30s with one older outlaw in his 50s.
What about facial hair? I see moustaches were popular. But what about beards, full beards, short beards, stubble, 5 o'clock shadows?
Any advice would be great appreciated and any more photographs to help us "style our cowboys would be great.
My email address is paulv@paulv.co.uk
And if you would like to see the trailer to my last 60 minute western just let me know.
Thanks
Paul
Paul,
I think it’s great that you’re taking the time and making the effort to research this. I know from experience that it can be difficult to find good sources on a lot of this information, and that many of the sources (even primary ones) seem to disagree. It’s hard to trust a lot of online sites that promise to sell “authentic” costumes and then carry things like “brothel inspector” badges.
Since you’re researching a specific time period, things get quite a bit easier since we have lots of photography from the era. Cabinet cards from that period (around 1880) had some very specific characteristics: they usually had square corners, and were mounted on heavy card stock. The faces and backs of the cards were often different colors, and the faces were often dark colors as opposed to white. The photographer’s name on the back was often large and very ornate, as opposed to the earlier ones which were usually rather small and plain (although use of gold and full back designs tended to be found later).
Using these identifiers, do a google image search for “cabinet card” and you’ll find hundreds of photos that will show clothing, facial hair, and other accoutrements.
No matter what you do, you’ll end up with someone telling you you’re wrong. If it was all figured out, we wouldn’t need historians.
Good luck, and let us know how your project goes!