show clothes for guys . . . .

[maestoso]

Any male exhibitors out there (or ladies) who have suggestions and/or preferences on what to wear in the show ring at the bigger shows?? I have been looking through my MHW magazines and colored coats seem t be fashionable.....Where do you find these? How much does the color of the horse you are showing matter? I want to look good but also stand out, but stand out without looking like a goof. I also plan on competing in showmanship which I can't seem to find many pictures of attire, do those colored jackets fly in the showmanship classes at the bigger shows??

 

[Fred]

Matt look at what several top male trainers wear. Nice slacks shirt tie and jacket. Mens Wearhouse has some nice reasonably priced clothes that would be suitable. Too gaudy is a big no no. Conservative is much better.

 

[The Simple Life Farm]

My husband (age 47) will generally wear a shirt, tie and dress pants at local shows. When we go to Nationals, he will add a sports coat. Many people think he is a trainer by the way he dresses (he is worse than a girl) LOL

A brighter jacket is acceptable depending on your age. The bighter colors are generally reserved for the younger. Although some adults wear bright colors. Last year at Nationals, one adult male wore the brighest yellow jacket I have ever seen, caught my attention.

Sorry, can't help you with showmanship.

 

[River1018]

My husband shows quite a bit.....typically wears a black suite, (matches anything) and then will match the shirt with the horse (example silver dapple horse) grey shirt, etc.. Obviously this horse is buckskin, but you get the idea...

A bit more casual for a local show.

 

[shalamara minis]

At any show, when showing halter I wear a shirt, tie and sport coat, as for pants I sometimes wear slacks and sometime wear grey or brown or black Wranglers. I always wear a hat, And I WEAR BOOTS NOT LOAFERS!! I was taught way back when, when showing HORSES you wear boots!! And the last time I looked at that animal at the end of my lead it looked like a Horse not a dog. Although if I was showing hunter or jumper you had better bet I would be wearing my running shoes. LOL

 

[Leeana]

One of my faverite male trailers normally wears tan or black slacks with a white shirt and black sports jacket

.

I also know a few who can pull off black slacks and white shirt and white sports coat or creme colored

. I have seen allot of men do colored jackets or sports coats too however

.

I think us ladies are the more colorful ones in the ring lol.

 

[Jill]

Ooooh IF I could get H to do much showing (but man he does come in handy as my "groom"!!!), I would like him to wear khaki pants and a blue sports jacket at the qualifying type of shows, and then a black suit at the bigger shows.

 

[gatorbait4sure]

OOOHHH! MY favorite driving attire is what Mike McCabe wears at the big shows......Just so cool with those tails flowing out behind him........and usually a colored vest under. Really SHARP!

Am I allowed to say this?

 

[kaykay]

Heres Kyle at Ashland. He took his jacket off as hardly any of the men were wearing jacking at this one but he does have a tie on. He got so many compliments on this red shirt

shoot cant get the red shirt to post

here he is at congress

Here he is jumping Lightning I think the blue and bay go well together

 

[Al B]

I have a blue blazer that I wear with either khaki or gray slacks that I wear for local shows.

For bigger shows I have a black suit.

For the World Show classes after 6 I wear a black tux.

I also wear a gray fedora or sometimes a black western hat with the black suit or tux.

 

[MiLo Minis]

Kaykay, Kyle looks really sharp in that outfit. The only thing I would criticize are the boots. The rule is that your boots, gloves and hat should match. In this case he would look much more polished if he was wearing a black leather boot with a shine. Suede boots can't be polished and I would not recommend them. For showmanship just before you go in the ring that last thing you should do is give your boots and your horses hooves a wipe.

Here is a photo of my wee showman this year, Mackenzie. I would like to see him with polished leather boots too

:

While I like the look of Mike McCabe's outfit, very dashing, it is slightly dangerous. For one thing any loose trailing clothes can get caught up in your cart and they can also bother the other horses in the ring. He gets away with it at breed shows but would be frowned on in a Pleasure ring. He would be better off to sit on his tails and keep them tucked in.

 

[The Dynamic Duo]

Ah, one I can answer

Depending on what your horse looks like, Id probably stick with classic black.All black with a fancy band on your cowboy hat is what seems popular when I actually pay attention.

For showmanship, black shows respect to the judges so dark colors give you more of a chance

 

[kaykay]

HI Milo

I agree black boots would look way better but he outgrew them so he had to wear this pair lol. I could barely keep up with Kyles growth spurts this year. The jacket we got him at the beginning of show season didnt fit by Congress

He was the ONLY boy showing showmanship at congress. It was really cute to see him out there with so many girls. He did say hes never showing in showmanship again so that was probably his last hurrah

 

[angel_cowgirl]

One of my faverite male [SIZE=12pt]trailers[/SIZE] normally wears ...

hahaha I'm sorry Leeana but that was funny!

I'm not a guy so can't say for sure but I think it looks nice for the guys to wear some colored jackets in halter classes and such. They don't HAVE to be bright neon colors like some of the trainers like to wear but ya know like a nice navy, burgendy, pale yellow, hunter green, or something might be nice, but give the overall appearance a little flare. And yes, personally, I try to determine to an extent if the color goes with the horse or horses I may be showing that day. Example: I do NOT wear a red coat with sorrel or chestnut horses. Instead I would prefer blue or purple, and even sometimes I'll wear my pink coat witha chestnut but its not my top choice.

As for showmanship, I really think men should stick with a simple black suit. Maybe a colored shirt. But showmanship is all about looking polished and you don't want to draw too much attention to yourself in showmanship like you do in halter, instead you just want to look very professional. Alot of girls/women wear colored outfits in showmanship but if ya notice most of the time their pretty simple or even if they have some sparkle its a simple pattern. I had a royal blue jacket I wore in showmanship this year but it didn't have anything on it other than just a few silver decorations around the collar.

As to wear to find them, well I personally like to shop at thift stores and the goodwill because of the prices. I'm sure you can find some stuff at western stores though. Sometimes, I think, the best clothes come from the little quaint shops that ya don't really know about.

I agree about the black polished boots. It really pulls the whole 'polished' image together.

Speaking of showmanship, can anyone tell me where they get their gloves from? I've looked at some types, most recently out at the trade shows of the AQHA World Show and the Morgan World Show but I can't find any like the ones I had that got a hole in them but I really like. I think their like a spandex material. My problem seems to be the ones I see at shows and such are short and I'd like some that go right past my wrist instead of just to my wrists. Also, I can only find like leather or suede and I don't like that because when your hands sweat it doesn't breathe. And I'm not crazy about the gripping material on most of the ones I've looked at. Anyway, would appreciate any tips anyone has on that. Thanks!

 

[Filipowicz Farm]

I found many of my husbands show clothes at resale shops and garage sales. The sport or suit jackets are about $5.00 . Also look for dress shirts and ties at these places or on sale.

 

[Leeana]

angel_cowgirl Posted Today, 01:15 PM QUOTE

One of my faverite male trailers normally wears ...

hahaha I'm sorry Leeana but that was funny!

I ment traiNers lol. It was a 4am post, give me a break lol

 

[heart k ranch]

Matt, I think if you wore HOT PINK you would get you noticed! The won't be able to keep their eyes off you!

Sorry I had to!

 

[maestoso]

Thanks for the replies. My horse is a rich chestnut. But I will also be showing a minimal black pinto, a bay, and a 50/50 black pinto.....Any chance there's a "non-boring" but "non offensive" color that would go with all of those colors? I have dark brown hair if that matters, and get pretty tanned in the summer. I feel like I am 5 asking these questions but I am a guy and I am not good with this stuff. At the local shows I just wear black and white, no jacket or sports coat, but I want to look a little nicer and maybe stand out a bit without looking stupid or like a parrot or something.

Thank's for any more suggestions you can give!

 

[Mocha]

Hey Matt -- Not to worry! If you stay with blues or greens, you are good to go with all those horses. Keep it as subdued or bright as you wish (or the wise people who are looking at you advise!) Some folks change jackets between classes for each horse, but unless you have someone in your entourage with clean hands to help you change - and providing you HAVE an entourage - I would stick with a basic color for your local shows.

The next question is what do YOU look good in. If you have no clue, ask yourself what color sweaters your relatives buy you. They usually put you in what they feel looks good on you.

And just remember - classic is never wrong. All black, or khaki or gray slacks with black or navy sportcoats.

Keep it clean and crisp and tucked and polished. Then let your horse be the star. Specially that rich chestnut one.

Cindy

 

[angel_cowgirl]

I think Mocha made a great suggestion in saying blues and greens for those horses. Just keep in mind that Navy blue would be too dark for the blacks and bays. But something more of a royal blue or lighter blue would look good with all those colors, especially the chestnut. Same with green, I personally think, hunter green would be too dark for the dark colored horses.

Clothes come in so many shades I think you're just going to have to go look at something and think about the color of your horse(s) when its clipped.

Like they said, you can switch jackets too. I think between the blacks and bays you can wear the same colors with all, its the chestnut you'll have to watch with some colors.

Now, the only problem with blue and green would be if you were color blind...I know a few guys that cant tell the difference in blue and green, since they say more males are color blind than females...