The western shirt has much history behind it. Most work shirts between 1870 and the 1890s were of the pull over style and had buttons or lacing running partly down the front of the shirt. The lighter weight cotton shirts were usually white or off white in colour or had some type of pin striping. Earlier versions of this shirt (pre 1910) almost always had no permanently attached collar. A gentleman could attach a linen or celluloid collar if the need arose. Not all cowboy activity happened in the warm climes of the southwest.

The Colorado, Wyoming, Montana and Dakota cowboys had some pretty fierce winters they had to face in the course of their duties. A wool shirt proved to be worth its weight in gold when those winter winds started to blow. Wool shirts usually ran into darker colours and, contrary to their cotton counterparts, had a roll over collar.