Western Movies RUINED by Anachronistic Costumes

Self | March 11, 2010 | PJ-Comix

[PJ-Comix]

I have a HUGE pet peeve. It is western movies in which the characters are wearing embarrassingly modern clothing. Most often it is the hats. If you look at photos or illustrations of the Old West at the time, the hats look very different from what we usually see in the movies. For example, yesterday I watched "September Dawn" about the Mountain Meadows Massacre but I couldn't get over the fact of the silly looking hats that folks back then did NOT wear. One IMDB commenter stated that those hats looked like something people wear on their way to a Garth Brooks concert.

One of the few movies that seemed to get authentic Western look was "Tombstone" which helped in appreciating that excellent movie. Unfortunately most of the Western movies are completely off-base in their costuming. Another thing that really bugs me about Western movies is when they have women dressed in jeans. Back then women ALWAYS wore dresses. NEVER pants. Any exposure of female legs or even outlines of their legs was considered as nudity back then. Oh, and when women rode horses...they only rode side-saddle.

Okay, sorry for the rant but way too many Western movies are RUINED by costume designers too lazy to research for authentic clothing.

[oyez]

Hey its Hollywood. They know by in large people are not going to pay money to see somebody ride on a lame horse dressed like a hobo. Then there is the marketing angle. All the kids want to have a Hopalong Cassidy outfit and a Roy Rodgers lunch box.

In all my years I still have not been able to find on of those pistols that shoots and shoots and never have be reloaded.

[STD]

I lived at the westward extreme of the frontier for 3 years,in N Central Montana. I would have to agree with your assessment.

My big pet peve has been limited to military uniforms and weaponry that have been rented out by the National Guard!

to follow up on your thesis, we must also consider the personal hygiene of Cowboy's and settler's? remember, satyrday Night Baths were not considered healthy by all!

[FrankR]

Like most folks, I watch westerns for the entertainment...not for a history lesson. They are not documentaries.

[AuntB]

“I also hate Civil War movies that show Confederate soldiers in the latter days of that war wearning immaculate and clean uniforms. By that time almost all Confederate uniforms worn by non-officers were shabby and worn down. “

I found this out researching the book I wrote. On a History Channel feature they showed Gen. Stand Watie & his confederate troops in what they thought was typical ‘Indian’ dress. Watie’s troops were very professional, with uniforms....until near the end of the war. Then they wore rags or Union uniforms they had captured from supply trains.

[stormer]

Oh, and here's a shot of Calamity Jane - she ain't riding side-saddle.

[muawiyah]

I suppose in town women never wore trousers. On the farm a woman pitching in to move the crops to the barn wore the same brogalis as the menfolk, those being the only proper dress for that sort of work.

I have memories of my grandmother and her younger sister, both women in their 50s at the time, working flatblade D-handle shovels to get the oats from the wagon to the silo.

They were doing the same work they'd seen their mother and her sisters do, and were wearing the same clothes ~ and heavy work gloves.

That was life in the Midwest.

[roamer_1]

That's not exactly true. A lot depends upon the region of the west.

Down in Texas/Oklahoma they wear them taco-hats, with the sides of the brim bent straight up and the front and back bent down... The desert/California likes flat-tops and flat brims... the South and the Bible-belt likes bent-down with the sides rolled, and here in the mountain states, it's big Gus style, with the sides laid flat, and the front and back pulled down (probably the same for fellars back in the Blue Ridge, too).

It has a lot to do with environment, as does the way scarves are worn. Just take color for an example - You'll see alot of while and light hats down south (Texas, deserts)... Up here the majority are black. Of course that has to do with sun. Up here a black hat will help warm you- where it would fry you dead in the deserts.

Wide, bent-down brims just happen up here, because rain and snow make shaping a hat a useless endeavor. Down in the deserts and out on the plains, a wide, floppy hat would be blown off more that kept on, hence the rolled or straight-up sides.

But the main hat styles go way back.

[calex59]

That really gets me. I used to like those silly comedies they did together before I found out he would only kiss women in a movie. One of my favorites was “Man’s Favorite Sport”. Bummer.

[Disambiguator]

This is the exact same reason why I can’t watch Star Wars movies any more.

/sarc

[Liberty Valance]

Mel Brooks will be crushed when he reads this.

[calex59]

Or how about donald sutherland in Kellys Heroes as a hippy from the 60s? Like that was believable.

Well, at least they used real M4s and Tigers.

[maddog55]

If the Western (or any movie for that matter) is about an actual event or trying to represent a story that requires historical accuracy I can see it.. i.e. Band of Brothers but if it’s entertainment only then it’s not much of an issue to me. Clint Eastwood spaghetti western types are just entertainment.

I watch a lot of the Sci-Fi movies which aren’t even “B” type movies.. more in “Z” category if there was one but their fun to watch because they are so bad.

[ßuddaßudd]

Geez, I wish I had your problems... ∞

[oyez]

When I was a kid I knew the man that made saddles for “The Cisco Kid”. They looked something like Liberace would have for his horse. I know that a couple of the saddles were for show, but even the ones for movie props looked somewhat gay.

[NCC-1701]

[Never on my watch]

My peeve, FWIW:

In modern military movies, I do not understand why the actors won’t even get a military haircut. A recent example was in ‘The Hulk’; that guy from ‘Lie to me’ had a three day growth of beard and hair hanging over his ears.

And don’t get me started on ‘Iron Eagle’.

[muawiyah]

I've got this picture somewhere that shows the "men of the town" circa 1880 somewhere near Seymour Indiana on a railroad siding ~ they're sitting on flat cars and piles of logs.

Some are dressed up. Some are dressed down. All had hats ~ all different kinds of hats ~ and most prominently EVERY SINGLE MAN HAD AT LEAST ONE FIREARM IN HIS HAND!

You just know they had more ~ pistols in their boots (they all wore boots), holsters strapped around their waists, knives hither and young ~ probably why they all wore suspenders.

Several of my great grandfathers are in that picture ~ which is why I have it.

Their wives were all out taking care of the horses that day, or maybe the babies, but some of these guys also have babies and young children with them, so maybe momma was toting goods or whatever.

[maddog55]

Rocket Science.. took me awhile but got it

[Joe 6-pack]

"I thought I heard somewhere that, for whatever reason, military uniforms in movies or TV have to be wrong even if it’s some little detail."

As far as I know that's incorrect. Even the "Stolen Valor Act" has an exemption for actors in movies or stage plays. I have a pretty critical eye for such things, and some movies have been better than others when it comes to uniforms, equipment, awards, etc. It also says a lot about the "technical advisors" the producers hire, and how competent they are.

[stuartcr]

I find it hard to believe that all women rode only side-saddle.