Proper Show Attire?

I remember one of my first few Showmenship shows, and I placed lower in the class, but the girl who won, the judge mentioned she was wearing "proper show time attire"
I know of the basics to wear during the show, but what would be considered "proper" ?

Wear a nice clean western shirt, tucked in with NICE (no holes) clean jeans or slacks with a belt. Have a clean set of boots to put on after washing and fitting. Make sure your hair is neat and overall you look professional and proud of your animal.

there is one girl that always wins our jackpot classes that never bothers to change out of her stained t-shirt or brush her hair. She is a good showman but I wish she would take some pride in herself

well....back in the day...lol...we had to wear white polo shirts with the 4-h emblem over the heart...talk about hard keeping that thing clean...some of the parents finally convinced them to go with the green polo white emblem, it didnt show dirt quite as bad...anytime you stepped in the ring (show, showmanship, sale, pics) you had to have it on...for pants, most wore blue jeans, and of course boots...it was a county policy....of course the ffa kids had their attire that they were required to wear...

i still go to the same county fair every year...and they dont have any dress requirements anymore...but most kids still try to dress nice...usually dont see any tshirts...well...you do in the open shows...but not in the junior shows...

After attending several "youth shows" I would suggest anything that actually COVERS everything. Remember, it is the CALF you want to be showing off, not, well, anything else!!

I suggest nice jeans (no holes or stains) and a nice button shirt or polo type shirt. Again, makes sure it covers what needs to be covered!

At our fair they have a dress code for FFA in the fair book. It says FFA members have to wear a t-shirt with "FFA" on it or the official FFA overalls. They aren't followed though, a lot of the kids wear other clothing that have nothing to do with FFA.

You should be neat and clean. Fancy clothes are not necessary, but neatness and cleanliness are important. It is recommended that you wear appropriate clothing consisting of a tucked-in sleeved shirt,leather boots, jeans and a belt. Avoid faded blue jeans and T-shirts. Instead, a more professional look is better.Check the show regulations concerning dress code and always comply with the requirements, such as wearing specific clothing.

Went to a STIERWALT clinic a couple of years ago,and he actually suggests wearing colours that will offset you from the calf, ie black calf don't wear black clothes

The proper attire IMHO is: Clean starched jeans/slacks (that fit!), a belt,  pressed long sleeved buttoned up shirt (even if it is summer and HOT!), clean boots, groomed hair, and a wonderful attitude. Like ROMAX stated make sure that your shirt color works as an accent with the color of your animal, no matter what the species, and as Showheifer said, "make sure it covers everything".
    My children wear the tear away pants over the jeans/slacks and either a tank top or t-shirt so they can put the show shirt on after fitting, but before they enter the arena this way they are always clean and professional looking. If you wear a shirt under the show shirt when in the arena you can take the show shirt off between classes if there is a long time between classes.
    We have a couple of friends who are judges and they always tell the showmanship classes, if it is close between exhibitors the one who looks the part will always win and  long sleeves will win over short sleeves no matter how hot it is. Consider every class a showmanship class, remember a good showman can make a good animal look even better, but a poor showman can make a good animal look even worse.

at most jackpots here it is jeans,boots, and button up shirt but that is not always followed.

At fair FFA wears white pants, white shirt, FFA jacket and tie, 4-H wears white pants (some fairs allow black) white shirt, hat and tie/scarf



I tell the kids in my project if you wear nail polish it should be natural, and not to wear earings....

ROMAX said:

Went to a STIERWALT clinic a couple of years ago,and he actually suggests wearing colours that will offset you from the calf, ie black calf don't wear black clothes

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It's my understanding that one of the main reasons for this suggestion was to keep your kid from blending in with the calf's frontline in the profile setup.  I could be wrong, but I don't think so.  He even showed me a picture on his phone of a kid who had it wrong.  From the profile view, you couldn't tell where the calf ended and the kid began.  It made the calf look really heavy fronted.

The thing that Kirk Stierwalt said that stood out the most to me, was that your kid was supposed to dress and present himself/herself in a way that showed that they "were SUPPOSED to win the show."  In other words.... let's just say your calf looks phenomenal & the judge is gonna be in the picture with whoever wins the show, have your young person dressed and presented in a way that he/she looks like they're supposed to win that show & be in that picture with the judge.  That means new haircuts, new boots (or really nice ones), pressed jeans, and a longsleeve pressed shirt.  Look like a dadgum country kid, not a nutjob with pins in your ears , cheeks, and nose.  Leave that stuff in the trailer, and look the part of an agriculture showman presenting livestock.  Okay, that last part was a Lingle interpretation, but I think it gets the point across.  We take our kids to the local western store and let them go shopping before every big show.  I'm not gonna allow our family to put in that much time, money, and effort into our ag projects & not look our best when we hit the showring.  We don't always have a lot of money to spend so we SAVE UP for this trip to the western store, because our kids are  gonna look their best when they hit the ring. 

Does it really make a difference?  I think so.  I don't know for sure, but I'm not about to leave it to chance.

I always heard that it was "Skin to win".

This kind of reminds me of a team roper a friend told me about.  He went out and spent $20,000 on a hell of a horse.  Then he goes and buys the cheapest lowest quality hay to feed it.  Why would one go out and invest time, money, and pride and not be show presentable.  I like kids that look as sharp as the calf they are showing.  I like to see the kid and calf fit like they are both going to prom together.  I like to see the jeans, long sleave shirt, belt, and boots.  I do not like t shirts.  I call them undershirts.  They are underclothes.  Presentable jeans.  I do not like torn, stained, or baggy jeans.  Boots.  Nothing worst than a kid in tennis shoes.  Tennis shoes are for athelics not agriculture.  One does not wear boots to a track meet or I hope not.  Kids are to represent agriculture or the beef industry.  Dress like you want to be part of it.  Market show is to show the quality of the animal.  Showmanship is to show ones show ability and knowledge of the industry.  Dress the part.

Jeans need to FIT.  There is nothing worse than seeing a showman's crack when they bend over.    Shirts need to be buttoned up so nothing shows when you bend over.  It's a CATTLE show ring.. not a beach party.

Gotta hate crack (both top AND bottom) showing. Also gotta hate hit when the calf steps on the "way too long and torn" jeans. Although it has made for a good laugh or two!

At our state fair it can be in the triple digits... with high humidity... so I think short sleeve button down shirts are acceptable.  But yeah, I agree no t-shirts or low cut shirts on top, or high cut shirts down low!

I had a 4-H showmanship judge say once that he expected clean, well fitting pants/jeans with no holes--boots--and the shirt should have a collar and buttons--also no caps or hats.  When I showed in the National Junior Angus showmanship contest, they expected you to wear the suggested Angus show attire--dark pants or jeans, white long-sleeve, button-up shirt (sweater vest optional) and boots.

Ive always worn long sleeves because i was told that this is proper attire.

Funny story about colors though, i was a jr. in high school and took a really good steer to San Antonio, he was the talk of the barn going into the final drive, and i ended up reserve. Looking back on  my accomplishment, i was wishing that i had won grand and my buddy said, well what color of shirt were you wearing? I said it was red, he laughed and said that i got reserve because red is the color for second place. I told him he was crazy, that it didn't matter that much. He referred back to his show days and said he never won a show without a blue or purple shirt. So, i tested his theory, i had another barn burner my senior year and every time i wore a red shirt i got beat. Going into San Antonio i wasn't about to leave it up to chance, so i wore blue all week, sure enough we hit another lick and i won grand that year, i  have to say his superstition has been carried into my family and my kids will never walk into a showring with a red shirt on because its like what was said before... "You gotta dress to win"

I'll be sporting purple shirts from now on.  O0

Zach said:

I'll be sporting purple shirts from now on.  O0

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Haha, same here.

It's purple and gold from here on out for me too.....
But I have looked at "winning photos" and have yet to notice any real trend.

Our county fair requires FFA to wear white pants, white shirt, scarf or tie and their FFA Jacket. Boots are not required but you will not win showmanship in a pair of skater shoes.
4H: dark blue or black jeans or white pants, white collard shirt, tie or scarf hat is optional. (used to have to wear white pants, 4 years ago they started allowing jeans)

Hated buying the white pants, needed at least 2 pair and had to wash them several times when they were showing 2 species. By the time the fair was over they needed them at least 6 times. They never would wear them after the fair, at least with jeans they wear them again.
Market class =2
Showmanship =2
Auction=1
Awards=1
If you made chapion drive and round robin that = 2