I'm amazed at you people

**Peter Crowe** · 27th July 12, 02:33 PM

Originally Posted by Jock Scot

I am still chuckling about the pandas!

+2

**tundramanq** · 27th July 12, 04:59 PM

+3

**OC Richard** · 28th July 12, 05:14 AM

Originally Posted by David Thorpe

"western wear" has become firmly established with a well-defined demographic, but one with very few geographical bounds in North America. It is predominately rural and closely associated with animal husbandry, especially cattle and horses, but is no longer a "western" phenomenon at all.

Yes a good point that it was originally, and still is, an occupational dress wherever that occupation is done. But in the Southwest it has expanded to a regional dress and non-ranchers can wear Western Wear fulltime and not stand out as unusual. There are Western business suits etc. I wore cowboy boots every day and thought nothing of it, though I lived in Suburbia.

These guys wouldn't stand out from the crowd (if they removed their chaps) in Dallas but they would in New York

I used to dress like that fulltime and so did many people I knew, and I see people dressed like that fairly often around here (sans chaps).

**tundramanq** · 28th July 12, 05:22 AM

Western wear does run the gamut from utilitarian super durable to PRCA rodeo wear to "Urban Cowboy" glam. From head to foot. Just like kilt attire. We all fall somewhere in the range.
Both came about through a real functional need and evolved as the needs changed.

What is on the horses back normally costs more than the horse. And a good horse ain't cheap.

**Dale-of-Cedars** · 28th July 12, 07:11 AM

And to come back to the kilt/lederhosen/western-wear comparison from a slightly skewed perspective; we in Canada cannot legally wear the attire that the world sees as distinctively Canadian:

unless one is actually in the RCMP (and yes I do refer to the red serge and not the saddle and tack.)

Of course Canadians can legally dress as beavers, but that discussion is for a different kind of forum...

**opositive** · 28th July 12, 08:25 AM

pandas? hmm first i hit this:

then i remembered a thread last year about the panda tartan, which led me to look at the edinburgh zoo site:

so, i am amazed at all you pandas.

**ScotFree** · 28th July 12, 09:20 AM

Originally Posted by Dale-of-Cedars

unless one is actually in the RCMP (and yes I do refer to the red serge and not the saddle and tack.)

Of course Canadians can legally dress as beavers, but that discussion is for a different kind of forum...

I don't know about the rest of the world, but here in the US I think most people do recognize it as being uniquely RCMP and not the daily dress of Canadians in general. However, how often really does one see the even the RCMP dressed like this. I am given to understand that it has been relegated to being purely ceremonial these days.