Denim and the Cowboy: The Making of an American Uniform

No figure did more for denim's mythology than the cowboy. But the working cowboy's jean was never about looks — it was engineered, detail by detail, for a life spent on horseback.

A jean designed for the saddle

The classic "cowboy cut" was designed in 1947 by a Philadelphia rodeo tailor known as Rodeo Ben, who worked hand-in-glove with rodeo riders to solve their real problems. (A fun bit of truth: the cowboy-cut jean arrived nearly a century after the last great cattle drives — the look we picture is post-war, born on the rodeo circuit, not the open range.) Every feature answered a need in the saddle:

• A higher rise, so the shirt stayed tucked and the waistband didn't bite when a rider bent forward.

• Higher, reinforced back pockets, so a rider wasn't sitting on his wallet and the pockets survived the work.

• Flat rivets and heavy tack instead of raised metal, so nothing scratched the saddle or the horse.

• Wide belt loops spaced for a heavy western belt and a trophy buckle.

• A straight leg cut long and wide enough to clear the boot.

The "stack"

Working cowboys buy their jeans several inches longer than their true inseam so the denim stacks and breaks over the boot while riding — never riding up into a "high-water." That deliberate extra length is exactly where those beautiful ankle ripples and fades come from.

Why denim

It took abuse, aged well, and told the story of the work in its creases and fades. The cowboy took an ordinary work pant and made it an icon that the whole world would eventually want to wear.

The Black Bear Brand take

When Josh Sirlin designed the Black Bear Brand cowboy jeans, he built them the way a working cowboy would want them: a true cowboy cut with a 40-inch inseam made to stack over boots, a front pocket shaped to hold a big buckle, teardrop back pockets, and our original donut button — all woven in heavyweight selvedge denim in Okayama, Japan. The West's engineering, on the world's best looms.

Shop the Indigo Cowboy Jeans and the full Jeans and Pants collection.