Monday, January 16, 2023

Is the TV show Yellowstone changing consumer's taste in clothing?

One of the shift factors for demand curves is tastes and preferences. If they increase, so does demand. I  used to say in class that economists don't have much to say about why tastes and preferences change, but this looks like a good example.

‘Yellowstone’ Show Has Suburbanites Dressing Like Cattle Ranchers: People who ride commuter trains, not horses, are wearing cowboy hats and snap-button shirts to imitate the characters on the Paramount Network hit. By Jacob Gallagher of The WSJ. Excerpts:

"Ryan Capalbo’s life is nothing like that of a rough and tumble cowboy.

The 34-year-old spends his days toiling over foster care cases, not tending to cattle. And he lives in Dobbs Ferry, N.Y., where people ride commuter trains, not horses.

Yet, on any given day, this suburbanite dresses like a hardened rancher in Tecovas cowboy boots and a snap-button shirt. “I’ve definitely adopted a very western style to my wardrobe,” said Mr. Capalbo."

"Each episode is an hour-long rodeo of western fashions. Characters gallop across the screen in prodigious cowboy hats, dust-coated bluejeans and belt buckles big enough to sit a teacup on.

The rustic look is compelling and has inspired fans far from the bucolic Montana pastures where “Yellowstone” is filmed to dress like John, his testy daughter Beth (Kelly Reilly) or his dark-hatted ranch foreman Rip Wheeler (Cole Hauser).

“People want to look and live like a Dutton,” said Jill Martin, the co-founder of Shop the Scenes, a website that allows people to buy authentic items worn on TV shows like “Yellowstone.” (The company was co-founded by “Yellowstone” executive producer David C. Glasser.) Ms. Martin noted that her site has several times sold out of the $995 faux lynx-fur coat Beth Dutton wears while getting married. “Cowboy couture is cool,” said Ms. Martin."

"“We’re in this massive western moment,” he said [Stetson vice president of marketing Tyler Thoreson]. Indeed, even before the Duttons galloped onto Paramount Network in 2018, a western twang was detectable in the fashion world, with high-fashion labels like Gucci showing pinched cowboy hats on the runway and musicians like Lil Nas X wearing brocade Nudie suits on the red carpet.

Still, “Yellowstone” gave some giddy up to the trend. The show, said Mr. Thoreson, “helped shine a light on something that’s been there all along.”

He likened the Dutton clan’s fashion influence to that of “Urban Cowboy,” which in 1980 had ambitious city slickers throwing on yoked shirts and tottering cowboy hats, in the style of “Bud,” John Travolta’s honky-tonking character from that film."

"The show’s fashion influence is broad. Wrangler has a line of 40 “Yellowstone” branded items—mostly subtle logo T-shirts and hats for fans who would rather not dress like they wandered off the O.K. Corral. And Stetson recently signed Luke Grimes, who plays Kayce Dutton on the show, to be the face of its fragrance line."

Related posts: 

Are TikTok influencers changing consumers' tastes? (2023)

James Buchanan, Frank Knight and John Stuart Mill on choice and utility functions (2022)

Has the pandemic changed tastes (which change demand)? (2020)

Boats, Pools and Home Furnishings: How the Lockdown Transformed Our Spending Habits (2020)

Are some blue jeans really Democratic and others Republican? (2019)

TV chefs showcase recipes using mutton, prices jump (2019)

Grocery stores try to alter the tastes and preferences of men (2018)

Are Your Friends Making You Fat? (2009)

What If You Discovered That You Liked Celine Dion? (How One Company Tried To Determine Buyers' Tastes And Preferences) (2009)

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