American National Clothing?

[macwilkin]

I hate to add disagreement to a thread, but the idea that 'dressing like a cowboy' is United States dress is not correct (I did not mean to single you out MacMillan, a lot of other people said it as well. Sorry) The cowboy originated from Spain and came over here with the conquistadors like Cortez and Pizarro. It would be more accurate to trace cowboy dress (atleast what we know as cowboy dress) to Mexico and the VAQUERO, and beyond that to Spain. Just look at some of the most common words used by cowboys:

Rodeo - From Spanish 'El Rodeo' which means to encircle
Lariat - From Spanish 'La Riata' which means the rope.

I am not sure if America (referring to the U.S.) has as singilar piece of clothing that would be 'american'. Although I have seen a lot of good ideas on this thread so far.

Brice

(Wikipedia gives a brief description. Although I would not use it as an authoritative source.)

Brice:

Cowboy culture doesn't just come from Spain or Latin America, though:

www.cowboyceltic.com

The first American "cowboys" were in reality Ulster-Scots "pigboys" who drove herds of swine in the backcountry of the Carolinas.

There is a strong Scottish & Irish influence in the American cowboy; David Wilkie & Cowboy Celtic perform a cowboy song written in Scots Gaelic from Alberta, Canada, for example.

Some also believe that the Prarie Cajuns of Western Louisiana contributed to cowboy culture.

T.