Bling, big hair, funky boots rock rodeo fashion scene
Callie Rey Lowe, of West Haven, poses for a portrait showing off her sister's fringe vest she borrowed to wear at the Ogden Pioneer Days Rodeo in Ogden on Tuesday, July 21, 2015.
Preslee Peterson, 11, of Syracuse, posed for a portrait showing off the hat that her dad decorated for her at the Ogden Pioneer Days Rodeo in Ogden on Tuesday, July 21, 2015.
Former Miss Rodeo Utah Chris Wade Price, of Midway, posed for a portrait showing off her boots specially painted by Coalville artist Camille Vernon at the Ogden Pioneer Days Rodeo in Ogden on Tuesday, July 21, 2015.
Kathy Cutrubus, of Ogden, holds the parasol she bought for her seven year-old daughter during the Ogden Pioneer Days Rodeo in Ogden on Tuesday, July 21, 2015.
Participants and viewers of the Ogden Pioneer Days Rodeo posed for portrait showing off their rodeo fashion at the Ogden Pioneer Days Rodeo Stadium in Ogden on Tuesday, July 21, 2015.
Participants and viewers of the Ogden Pioneer Days Rodeo posed for portrait showing off their rodeo fashion at the Ogden Pioneer Days Rodeo Stadium in Ogden on Tuesday, July 21, 2015.
Participants and viewers of the Ogden Pioneer Days Rodeo posed for portrait showing off their rodeo fashion at the Ogden Pioneer Days Rodeo Stadium in Ogden on Tuesday, July 21, 2015.
Participants and viewers of the Ogden Pioneer Days Rodeo posed for portrait showing off their rodeo fashion at the Ogden Pioneer Days Rodeo Stadium in Ogden on Tuesday, July 21, 2015.
Participants and viewers of the Ogden Pioneer Days Rodeo posed for portrait showing off their rodeo fashion at the Ogden Pioneer Days Rodeo Stadium in Ogden on Tuesday, July 21, 2015.
Audie K., of Magna, posed for a portrait showing off the cowboy hat he bought when he was in Kentucky in 1972 at the Ogden Pioneer Days Rodeoin Ogden on Tuesday, July 21, 2015.
John Yellow Hawk posed for a portrait showing off the belt buckle he won for his horse at the Indian National Finals Rodeo at the Ogden Pioneer Days Rodeo in Ogden on Tuesday, July 21, 2015.
OGDEN — Rodeo “season” in Ogden is more than five nights of wily steer wrangling and rollicking bull riding.
It’s also a five-night parade of the finest in rodeo fashions, sported by authentic and wannabe cowboys and cowgirls alike, walking the dirt carpet of Ogden Pioneer Stadium.
You’ve got your snazzy shirt snaps, your classy cowboy hats of felt and straw, your bona fide jeans and burnished belt buckles.
And don’t forget — poofy hair.
“The bigger the hair, the closer to heaven,” said Bailey Gehrlein, her blond locks cascading beneath her sparkly white cowboy hat.
“It takes me about an hour to curl it and probably about 20 minutes to fluff it,” the 18-year-old Miss Rodeo Weber County said.
Constant fluffing will continue throughout the evening, she said, noting, “My dad is my official hair fluffer.”
What else did our Standard-Examiner fashion police spot on a stroll through the Ogden Pioneer Days Rodeo crowd?
• Crazy-colorful chaps
Five-year-old Blaze Abplanalp, getting ready to ride in the mutton-busting event, was outfitted with tan, red and turquoise chaps.
“He likes being a cowboy and that’s part of it,” father R.D. Abplanalp of Warren said of his son’s fringed leg wear.
The chaps are great, Blaze said, because, “You don’t have to get your nice clothes dirty.” Also, he said, “You win all the points, ’cause they’re flashy.”
It’s all about, “Look good, feel tough, ride good,” mother Jetta Abplanalp explained.
• Utah-esque boots
Here’s a Midway rodeo fan with sego lilies on her toes, beehives on her heels and a host of other state symbols, from Delicate Arch to covered wagons, painted on her boots.
Chris Wade Price is wearing footwear created by a Coalville artist when Price competed as Miss Rodeo Utah at the 2009 Miss Rodeo America pageant.
“I just like that they’re unique; nobody else in the world has anything like them,” the chaperone for this year’s Miss Rodeo Utah contestants said.
• Feathered chapeau
It may look a tad weathered and worn, but this hat’s been in Audie K.’s wardrobe since 1972, when he picked it up at his first rodeo back in Kentucky.
“When there’s a cowboy event, I wear it,” said Audie, of Magna, who didn’t want to give his last name. The feathers in the band were given to him by a Native American at the Kentucky rodeo.
There’s a raccoon tail that sometimes goes on the tan hat, but Audie said he leaves that home for rodeos. “People pull on it,” he said. “I’m afraid they’re going to take the whole hat.”
• Garden flowers shirt
Giant orange, pink and blue blossoms are splattered across Gehrlein’s purple rodeo shirt and linked together with “vines” of rhinestones.
“It’s got bling, lots of bling,” the Weber High School graduate said. “The more bling, the better.”
Bright colors stand out in the rodeo arena, Gehrlein, of Eden, said, so it isn’t just her shirt that’s purple.
“My pants match, my boots match — everything’s matching,” she said.
• Wild spotted umbrella
An umbrella providing some welcome shade for Kathy Cutrubus was covered with attention-getting pink, blue and black leopard spots.
The rainy-day accessory actually belongs to her 7-year-old granddaughter but Cutrubus said she always carries it in her car, just in case.
Today, however, the Ogden resident decided, “I’m just going to grab it, take it and use it as a parasol on this hot sunny afternoon.”
• Champion belt buckle
John Yellow Hawk, an employee for stock contractor Korkow Rodeos of Pierre, South Dakota, sports a decorative gold and silver buckle from last year’s Indian National Finals Rodeo in Las Vegas.
When one of the company’s horses wins an event, Yellow Hawk said employees get to share in the commemorative belt buckles, so he has acquired a bit of a collection.
“They’re all won by every different horse; they’re like your kids — you can’t pick your favorite,” he said. “Every buckle means something; every horse does too.”
• Cherry-red lipstick
Bailee Davidson’s bright red lips match her red hat, her red earrings and necklace, and her red and black vest.
“That’s my color; everything I do is red and black,” said the queen of the Plain City Junior Posse.
The 18-year-old Fremont High graduate added, “I tell people I’m a spitfire. I’m a go-getter. I think red really expresses that — it’s bold and it stands out.”
Not to mention that her favorite color combo also meshes nicely with the white, gray and black coat of her horse, Spirit.
In case you didn’t know, Davidson said, “We always try to match colors to the horses.”
• Rhinestone cowgirl
Eleven-year-old Preslee Peterson of the Syracuse Pony Express was waiting to ride in the grand entry with a twinkly straw hat atop her head.
“My dad made it,” she said, explaining the rows of rhinestones were glued on and the glittery crown in the center was a big sticker.
Peterson said she saw a hat like this one at the National Finals Rodeo but it was too expensive to buy, “so we just thought we could make it.”
“It’s shiny and noticeable,” she said.
• On-the-fringe vest
Her tan suede vest with the long fringe completes Callie Rey Lowe’s plaid shorts outfit. It also goes nicely with her fringed leather sandals, she said, pointing to her feet.
Lowe was at the Ogden Pioneer Days Rodeo to support her sister, Miss Rodeo Oakley.
Although the vest is cool, it’s actually belongs to her pageant-entering sister, she said.
“I stole it; she’s in Miss Rodeo Utah competing so I get to wear all her clothes without her ever knowing,” the West Haven resident said.
• Bejeweled bridle
Even Fly the paint horse is getting in on the fashion action with a bridle browband studded with pink and green rhinestones.
“I like it cause it’s blingy — everyone can see it from the grandstands,” said Shawni Campbell, one of the rodeo’s Whoopie Girls, who had borrowed both Fly and her fancy bridle for this night.
Campbell had some serious shimmer going on herself, with her silver sequined shirt. And this Plain City rider contended Fly and the other horses like getting dressed up — just like people do — in their rodeo finery.
“She’s just like us — we wear makeup and this is her makeup,” she said.
Contact reporter Becky Cairns at 801-625-4276 or bcairns@standard.net. Follow her on Twitter at @bccairns or like her on Facebook at www.facebook.com/SEbeckycairns.
