On the final leg of last summer’s royal tour, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge stopped in Calgary to kick off the annual Calgary Stampede. As Kate stepped off the plane wearing a yellow Jenny Packham dress, she was gifted with a white cowboy hat, a symbol of the city’s western heritage. The Duchess accepted gracefully, but she didn’t don it right away—she waited to play sartorial cowgirl until she could pair the Smithbilt beaver-fur hat with boot-cut jeans, an Alice by Temperley blouse and cowboy boots. The Duchess was wise to tread lightly in the world of westernwear and careful not to cross the line into kitschy territory.

During the 13 years I’ve lived in Calgary, it’s a line I’ve seen crossed every July, when westernwear is regularly taken to the tacky extreme. When the rodeo rolls into town, extra-small plaid shirts fly off the shelves, trash bins fill with denim scraps from cut-off shorts, and bandanas are reinterpreted as tops. It’s a hoedown where the Marlboro Man becomes a shabby mess and Calamity Jane parties in cowgirl panties— enough to make me outlaw all traces of westernwear from my wardrobe. And yet, when I see western done right—like it was on many of the spring and fall runways—a blues-singing cowboy tugs at my heartstrings, pleading to let in just one plaid shirt (and perhaps a pair of suede cowboy boots to wear with skinny jeans à la Charlotte Gainsbourg).

“Cowboy style is about the romance of a lifestyle—something we perceive as carefree, rugged and classic,” says designer Thakoon Panichgul, who mixed bandana-inspired paisley dresses with two-toned cowboy hats for spring. “It’s something we all crave right now.” And he’s not the only designer to think so. Miuccia Prada created elaborate cowboy-meets-folk leather boots for Miu Miu’s Spring/Summer 2012 collection, while Michael Kors accessorized his pre-fall looks with cowboy hats and saddlebags.

Keep reading for more dos and don'ts of sporting this season's cowboy summer trends on the next page...