Picking an outfit for show day can be surprisingly difficult.
You want to look good. You want your outfit to work well with your animal. You want a little of your own personality to come through.
But you also have a job to do.
You're walking, bending, bracing, setting feet, watching the judge, watching your animal, dodging whatever the animal next to you has decided to do, and potentially spending most of the day on your feet.
That changes things.
Your show outfit has two jobs: help you do your job and help your animal look its best. Everything else is personal preference.
So before you buy the shirt that looked great on the kid who won in Texas last weekend, let's talk about what actually makes a good show-ring outfit.

Start With Your Own Style:
Personal flair is always going to be part of picking an outfit, and everyone's comfort level is different.
Some people like high-waisted jeans. Others prefer low-rise. Some like simple shirts and understated accessories. Others like a little more color, pattern, jewelry, or a good belt buckle.
That's part of the fun.
I don't think everybody needs to dress exactly alike to look professional in the show ring.
What I would remind everyone is to keep whatever you wear respectful, appropriate, and something you can comfortably perform in.
If you're constantly pulling your shirt down, pulling your pants up, fixing a sleeve, adjusting your jewelry, or worrying about whether something is revealing more than you intended, you're not completely focused on showing your animal.
Your outfit should work for you.
You shouldn't have to work for your outfit.

Try It Before Show Day:
Please don't let the first time you wear your complete outfit be five minutes before you walk into the ring.
Put it on at home.
And I don't mean stand in front of the mirror for thirty seconds.
Actually work your animal in it.
Walk.
Bend.
Reach.
Squat.
Brace if your species requires it.
Set feet.
Move quickly.
Do everything you're going to ask yourself to do on showday.
Something can look fantastic while you're standing still and become incredibly annoying the second you start moving.
I'd also recommend having someone you trust watch you work your animal in the outfit.
This is where a second set of eyes can be incredibly useful.
Does the shirt pull strangely when you reach?
Do the jeans fit differently when you're bending over?
Does your jewelry bounce around?
Does everything look good next to the animal?
Does anything distract from the overall picture?
You can't always see those things yourself while you're wearing it.
Taking a picture or video is useful too. Remember, most people watching you in the show ring aren't standing three feet away. Sometimes something that looks great up close completely disappears from across an arena.
And while you're planning, pick a backup outfit.
It doesn't have to be another masterpiece. It just needs to check the same basic boxes.
Clothes get dirty. Buttons break. Something suddenly doesn't fit the way you remembered. Coffee gets spilled.
Having Outfit B ready to go can save your bacon.

Tops: Button-Downs, Blouses & Everything Between:
Long-sleeved western button-downs are still probably the most common choice for men, with short sleeves becoming more practical at some hot-weather shows.
I think either is perfectly fine.
What matters more to me is whether the shirt fits well, looks good on you, and allows you to move.
This is also one of the easiest places to add some personality.
Don't go buy a shirt just because the kid who won in Texas was wearing one like it.
Find something that genuinely looks good on you.
I've always leaned toward lighter-colored plaids myself, but something I noticed over the years is that they can blend right into everybody else's shirt. Add bright show-ring lighting and suddenly the shirt you loved practically disappears into the crowd.
That isn't necessarily bad.
But if you want a little more presence, a darker color or stronger pattern can sometimes stand out without becoming obnoxious.
There's a balance.
You want to look sharp.
You don't necessarily want someone in the top row of the bleachers wondering whether your shirt can be seen from space.
Buttons are another personal preference. Pearl snaps, traditional buttons, contrasting buttons, whatever. If they fit the look you're going for, great. If one detail makes an otherwise good shirt look strange, move on.
For women, the options have become considerably broader.
Button-downs are still a classic, but blouses and other polished tops have become much more common, and I think that's a good thing.
There's more room to play with cuts, colors, patterns and styles.
The same rules still apply.
Can you show in it?
Is it respectful?
Does it stay where it's supposed to when you're moving?
Does it look clean and intentional?
Tucking a shirt in is personal preference too. I don't think everything automatically needs to be tucked in to look good. If untucked works with the outfit, that's fine.
Just make sure it looks intentional rather than like you forgot to finish getting dressed.

Dress for the Animal Too:
This is something I don't think people consider enough.
You're not picking an outfit to wear by yourself.
You're picking an outfit to wear next to your animal.
That matters.
Say you're showing a red hog.
A screaming bright-red shirt might look fantastic on you, but put the two together and suddenly the entire picture can become a wall of competing red.
On the other hand, if you're showing a black animal and dress extremely dark from head to toe, you may visually disappear into the animal.
Patterns can create the same problem.
A busy shirt next to a spotted or multicolored animal can turn the whole picture into visual chaos.
There isn't a magic chart that says:
Black animal = wear this.
Red animal = wear that.
There are too many variables.
Your coloring matters. The animal's color matters. The pattern matters. Arena lighting matters. Even the backdrop can change how everything looks.
That's why I go back to trying the outfit with the animal.
Stand together.
Better yet, take a picture or video and look at it afterward.
Ask yourself:
Do these colors complement each other?
Do I disappear into the animal?
Does anything clash?
Is the pattern too busy?
And maybe most importantly:
Where does your eye go first?
You and your animal should look like you belong together.
But remember which one of you is supposed to be the star.

Jeans:
Clean. Fit. Comfortable.
That's about it.
There are a million styles of jeans and I'm not going to tell you which one you need to wear.
What I will tell you is don't wear jeans you're going to trip over.
Show day isn't the time for a pair that's more fashion statement than functional clothing.
You need to be able to walk, turn, bend, brace, move quickly, and get around your animal without fighting your pants.
Once again:
Practice in them before show day.
If they work, great.

Shoes:
All right.
This will probably be my strongest—and potentially most controversial—statement in the article.
Try loafers.
Hear me out.
If you want to wear cowboy boots, especially showing cattle, that's perfectly fine. Plenty of people show very well in them.
But in my opinion, loafers are by far the superior showing shoe.
The number of kids I've watched struggle to brace until I put them in a pair of loafers is incredible.
You have more freedom through your leg. Your feet feel lighter. You can move faster. You're not fighting a heavy boot while trying to make tiny adjustments around an animal.
The second I discovered them during my own show days, I never looked back.
And they're comfortable.
That matters after you've been standing around a show all day.
Now, don't take this as permission to find the loudest patterned, giant-white-soled shoe known to mankind.
Keep it clean.
Keep it simple.
The shoe should help you perform without becoming the main attraction.
And if you're currently reading this thinking there's absolutely no chance you're showing in loafers?
Fine.
Don't knock it until you've tried it.
At least work an animal in a pair once.
You might be surprised.
More importantly, whatever shoe you choose, ask yourself whether you can actually show well in it.
Can you move quickly?
Can you brace?
Can you pivot?
Do you have good footing?
Can you wear them comfortably for the amount of time you'll be on your feet?
Shoes aren't just part of the outfit.
They're equipment.

Jewelry, Belts, Buckles & Other Shiny Things:
My golden rule here is pretty simple:
If I can't look at your animal because I might go blind from all the shininess, you've gone too far.
I have nothing against statement pieces.
A great belt buckle can look fantastic.
So can a necklace, earrings, bracelet, or another accessory that brings the outfit together.
The trick is realizing that not everything needs to be the statement piece at the same time.
If you have a big centerpiece belt buckle, let the rest of the outfit support it.
If you're wearing a large statement necklace, maybe you don't also need giant earrings competing with it.
Give and take.
You don't need to remove your personality from the outfit. You just want everything to look like it belongs together.
There's a difference between someone thinking:
That's a sharp outfit.
and:
GOOD LORD, LOOK AT THAT BELT BUCKLE.
You want your clothes to complement the picture, not become the entire picture.

What About Hats?:
This one is personal preference too.
In cattle, hats are obviously much more common and can fit naturally with the overall look.
Outside of cattle, I'm personally much more hesitant.
My biggest concern isn't whether they look good.
It's whether they're going to stay on your head.
If there's a realistic chance your hat is going to fall off while you're showing and suddenly become the most interesting thing happening in your part of the ring, I'd leave it at the stall.
That's an unnecessary distraction.
If you want to wear one, it fits the look, and you're confident you can show comfortably in it, try it beforehand.
That's really the answer to almost everything in this article.
Try it before show day.

Number Holders:
I know people love them.
I don't.
In my personal experience, number holders are uncomfortable, get in my way, and can take away from an outfit you've put a lot of thought into.
Give me safety pins any day.
That said, this is absolutely personal preference.
If you're comfortable in a number holder and like how it looks, use it.
But I think this is another good example of the bigger rule:
If you're constantly adjusting something, it probably isn't helping you show.
That applies to number holders.
It applies to jewelry.
It applies to hats.
It applies to shirts, belts, jeans and shoes.
Once you enter the ring, your clothes should basically disappear from your mind.
You've got other things to think about.

Dress to Do the Job:
At the end of the day, there isn't one perfect show-ring outfit.
And I don't think there should be.
Personal style is part of the fun.
Pick the shirt you love.
Wear the buckle.
Try the blouse.
Find the color that makes you and your animal look sharp together.
Develop a style people recognize as yours.
But start with function.
Can you move?
Are you comfortable?
Does everything stay where it's supposed to?
Does the outfit complement your animal?
Can you do your job without thinking about what you're wearing?
If the answer to all of those is yes, then have some fun with everything else.
Your outfit shouldn't have to win the class for you.
And it certainly shouldn't get in the way of you showing your best.
Make sure you can do your job first. Then add your own style.
Because when you walk into that ring, remember why you got dressed up in the first place.
You're there to show the animal.

Do you have a piece that you love to wear to every show? A lucky shirt, earrings, or a pair of shoes? Let us know in the comments below.