Go Texan Day
I'm a bad Houstonian and totally forgot about Go Texan Day until I got to work this morning and found one of the secretaries clad in all denim. Go Texan Day is always the Friday before the Rodeo kicks off, and everyone in the town is supposed to dress "western." You see a lot of people with bandanas tied around their necks, lots of cowboy boots, and some hats. Fringe, leather and denim seem to dominate wardrobe choices for the day. The Houston Press's Hair Balls didn't, though, and they have a handy list of observations about the day: Five things to remember about Go Texan Day:
1. There is a certain species of secretary, usually from Deer Park or Pasadena, who thinks the ultimate in flirtatious dress is a Western outfit. They therefore will produce slightly more swing to the hips as they trapise around, convinced that every male they pass is secretly harboring cowgirl fantasies. They are wrong.
2. The male executive who decides to "Go Texan" today will also assume he will need to speak in a booming voice and laugh louder than usual at the office repartee.
3. On the plus side, there's nothing cuter than little kids going Texan at school celebrations. Not high school, though.
4. The trail rides are a wondeful, defiant anachronism that celebrates the bestof hardy Texas pioneers and are to be cherished. Until you're sitting in a traffic jam because some group of idiots decides they want t o play cowboys-and-indians for a day.
5. Really, visitors -- WE DON'T DRESS LIKE THIS ALL THE TIME.
I have to wholeheartedly agree with number 3. There's an awesome family photo of me and my siblings all dressed up for Go Texan day. We all looked adorable. Barbeque cookoff this weekend, parade on Saturday, trail riders coming into town, Livestock Show and Rodeo for the next few weeks. Lots of fun and definitely worth visiting, even if Go Texan Day is a little hokey.
ETA: on number 3 again, teachers are NOT sympathetic to any arguments about how cowboys really dress, as opposed to how they think cowboys should dress. If you show up on Go Western Day in jeans, a tee shirt, tennis shoes and a gimmie cap, you will be sent home. Even if you spent more time on a working cattle ranch actually working cattle in that sort of attire than the teacher did watching western movies.
1. There is a certain species of secretary, usually from Deer Park or Pasadena, who thinks the ultimate in flirtatious dress is a Western outfit. They therefore will produce slightly more swing to the hips as they trapise around, convinced that every male they pass is secretly harboring cowgirl fantasies. They are wrong.
2. The male executive who decides to "Go Texan" today will also assume he will need to speak in a booming voice and laugh louder than usual at the office repartee.
3. On the plus side, there's nothing cuter than little kids going Texan at school celebrations. Not high school, though.
4. The trail rides are a wondeful, defiant anachronism that celebrates the bestof hardy Texas pioneers and are to be cherished. Until you're sitting in a traffic jam because some group of idiots decides they want t o play cowboys-and-indians for a day.
5. Really, visitors -- WE DON'T DRESS LIKE THIS ALL THE TIME.
I have to wholeheartedly agree with number 3. There's an awesome family photo of me and my siblings all dressed up for Go Texan day. We all looked adorable. Barbeque cookoff this weekend, parade on Saturday, trail riders coming into town, Livestock Show and Rodeo for the next few weeks. Lots of fun and definitely worth visiting, even if Go Texan Day is a little hokey.
ETA: on number 3 again, teachers are NOT sympathetic to any arguments about how cowboys really dress, as opposed to how they think cowboys should dress. If you show up on Go Western Day in jeans, a tee shirt, tennis shoes and a gimmie cap, you will be sent home. Even if you spent more time on a working cattle ranch actually working cattle in that sort of attire than the teacher did watching western movies.