Cowboy Shirts

Most work shirts between 1870 and the 1890s were of the pull over style and had buttons or lacing running partly down the front of the shirt.  The lighter weight cotton shirts were usually white or off white in color or had some type of pin striping. Earlier versions of this shirt (pre 1910) almost always had no permanently attached collar. A gentleman could attach a linen or celluloid collar if the need arose.  Looking at circa 1880 pictures of working cowboys a person will note that the need for collars was, at most, seldom.   

Pin striping is a funny thing.  Some are printed and some are woven.  Woe be to the cowboy who wears a printed pin stripe.  A good representation of 1800s fabric is woven through and through.  Take a look a some articles of clothing made from ticking and you will see that some of them are made of fabric that looks like it came out of an inkjet printer.  A good period 1800s type fabric has a heavy hand to it and is woven--not printed. 

One of the cowboys favorite pass times after finishing a drive was to re-outfit and have a picture taken at a local studio.  In most cases you will see that the spit shined cowpokes are wearing a basic white shirt along with their other new duds.  Any money earned as wages for the trail drive was more likely to go into a new saddle, six gun, or recreation of some nature than into an expensive shirt.  If you are working toward an accurate portrayal of an 1800s cowboy, or pioneer for that matter, you can not go wrong with a basic, un-bleached, Osnaberg work shirt. 

Most shirts from the 1800s had one or no breast pockets. When a cowboy reached for his tally book and pencil he aimed for a vest pocket.  For that matter 1800s pants had no pockets either so vests were nothing but a big pocket for everything under the sun.  (vests will be the subject of a future article).  

Not all cowboy activity happened in the warm climes of the southwest.  The Colorado, Wyoming, Montana and Dakota cowboys had some pretty fierce winters they had to face in the course of their duties.  A wool shirt proved to be worth its weight in gold when those winter winds started to blow.  Wool shirts usually ran into darker colors and, contrary to their cotton counterparts, had a roll over collar.  When looking for period representation wool shirts try to stick to fabrics that have a loose weave.  There is nothing that looks better and is more accurate than a good homespun fabric shirt. 

 "There was not really any differentiation between a work shirt and a dress shirt in the 1800s other than the fact that the dress shirt was somewhat clean."