HOUSTON – The Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo has been a Texas tradition for decades dating back to the 1930s. It’s built on promoting agriculture, celebrating Western heritage, and supporting Texas youth through scholarships and educational programs.
And for a lot of people, rodeo season comes with a uniform: boots shined up, a big buckle, a hat shaped just right and sometimes an outfit planned down to the last detail.
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This year the conversation around rodeo attire became hard to ignore.
Across social media Facebook, Instagram, you name it, people chimed in with strong opinions about what they say was more revealing attire on the grounds.
Commenters called out what they described as an uptick in “short shorts,” “cleavage,” and outfits they felt crossed the line for a family-friendly event.
One person wrote, “The rodeo is a family event, people should not be walking around with their kids and husbands around women who are leaving little to nothing to the imagination.” Another added, “It’s a rodeo, not a strip club.”
Others put it more bluntly.
“It was a bit cheeky this year,” Corinna DeMyers wrote on Facebook. “The amount of a** and boobs out there was unreal,” said Instagram user jess_lif3.
All of that raises the question: Should the Houston Rodeo enforce a dress code?
KPRC 2 reached out to rodeo officials to ask whether there’s an official dress code for guests and if so, how it’s enforced. We’re still waiting to hear back.
In the meantime, we asked the same question online: Should the Houston Rodeo have a dress code? And the response was immediate. Hundreds of comments, likes, and shares, showing just how split people are.
Some said absolutely not.
“Why? As long as the crucial body parts are covered, the rest is their business. If you don’t like the way someone dresses, look the other way,” Peggy Pierce wrote.
Another commenter leaned into the fun of it: “Dress however… bigger hair, sparkle, bling the better. It’s so fun to people watch and see everyone in their best western attire! It’s a Texas HLSR tradition… have fun and enjoy. Quit worrying and stirring up drama,” wrote Traci Broome Evans.
But plenty of others said a dress code should be part of keeping the rodeo family-focused especially given the scholarships and youth programs tied to the event.
“YES! Dress code. Especially since this is a family-friendly event and the money goes to scholarships for young people,” Vicki Murdoch Judice wrote. “Say yes to the dress code,” added Angela Gonzalyez Rebuhn. Another commenter, Pamela Rogers Oborn, said, “Even Walmart has a dress code these days.”
One commenter pushed back on the idea that a dress code would be “body policing,” saying the issue is less about controlling people and more about setting basic expectations for a shared, family-friendly space:
“This is not about policing anyone’s body. It never was. The Houston Rodeo is a family event, and every family gathering, professional environment, and public institution has a standard of appropriateness. We accept that without debate at work, at school, and at church. The rodeo deserves the same. Decorum is not an attack on freedom. It is respect for a shared space. It is respect for oneself. Since people can’t seem to find the middle, I wouldn’t be surprised if the Houston Rodeo overcorrects this issue next year,” said Tamar Huggins.
At the end of the day, whether you’re a “mind your business” type or someone who thinks there should be clearer boundaries, one thing is consistent: the rodeo is, and always has been, a family event for a lot of Houstonians.
As one Instagram user, Athena Rodrigues, put it: “I’m all for dressing sexy, but there was just too much skin being shown in front of the kids. There should be a rodeo curfew for kids at least and a dress code for the daytime.”