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What do Bob Dylan, Heath Ledger and Elvis have in common? Their fashion sense: They’ve all worn Western shirts from Rockmount Ranch Wear, founded in 1946 by the late Jack A. Weil. Although its claim to fame is being the first company to add snaps to Western shirts, Rockmount is better known today for clothing rock stars from Jack White to David Bowie, as well as actors, politicians and athletes. The iconic clothes are also featured in museums around the country, and today the Foothills Art Center will open Cowboys and Rock Stars, an entire show dedicated to the business’s rich legacy.
The show will feature a chronological look at Rockmount shirts over the years (including the one White wore on the cover of the White Stripes album Elephant), celebrity photos and hand-painted advertisements from the ’50s. “They weren’t just marketing things to cowboys; it was marketing things to people who wanted to feel like a cowboy or have that Western state of mind,” notes Foothills curator Michael Chavez.
See Cowboys and Rock Stars through September 4 at Foothills, 809 Fifteenth Street in Golden; admission is $5 for adults, $3 for seniors, and free for members and students. For more information, visit www.foothillsartcenter.org.
July 8-Sept. 4, 2011
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