Jim Gillette, 1875
A lot of clues can be gotten from this photograph. Do note that this one has been "corrected" because the original was reversed. Gillett was right handed. He is wearing a long barreled Colt 1873. Only the long 7.5" barrel was available then, and it was only available in .45 Colt caliber. He's wearing it butt to the rear. In front of it is a short Bowie knife. He appears to be wearing tan "duckins" pants. Duplicating these with Wah-Maker Frontier pants is easy. He's wearing tall flat topped boots and no chaps. He has a Winchester '73 Saddle Ring Carbine in its saddle, butt forward. He's wearing a dark, possibly black 4 pocket vest, a light colored shirt with a collar, and he's wearing a tie.
It's hard to tell for sure about the hat, but it looks slightly rolled up on the sides of the brim, and it appears to have a crease in the top, something like a Gus crease.
This is my version of the outfit above.
In this painting of Gillett, he's wearing
the same sort of outfit, but with grey pants and tan 4 pocket vest, striped
shirt, and a tie. The hat is definitely a Gus crease, white or tan.
This is fairly easily duplicable if you're a mind to. The SASS member who has James Gillette for an alias dresses close to this, whether by design or intentionally.
Here's a version of that except with a black vest.
This Stetson, the Gus model, available from SASS with a special liner and the member's alias and badge number on the hatband, in 10X or 20X (this is a 20X), would fit this costume pretty well.
This would fit the persona, too. It's an American Hat Company 5X "Vaquero" model with a Gus crease and a relatively unrolled brim with a stampede string. Both of these hats look brand new. That would only be accurate if you were portraying a Texas Ranger who had just replaced his clothing and equipment. Ageing, weathering, and distressing a hat is an important part of costume realism (if you care about such things. Remember, there are no costume nazis.)
This 1887 Texas Ranger is wearing a striped boiled shirt,
with a collar, and with a tie of probably some bright color, probably red.
A shirt much like this exists at the Cowboy Hall of Fame Museum in Oklahoma
City.
This rather trim fellow isn't wearing any suspenders. His ivory or pearl handled Colt is carried butt to the rear on the left side in a strong side straight drop holster. He has a knife with a matching handle in front of the pistol. He, too, has a Winchester in the scabbard. By 1887 it could be one of the big bores, but it looks like a '73.
His hat is a wide brimmed sombrero or Stetson Boss of the Plains. It has no roll at all. It's worn so far back on his head it could have any sort of crown, even like the acorn Gus crease above.
He's wearing high heeled POLISHED high topped boots and big spurs. His pants are some dark color.
The red and white striped "boiled"
shirt on display at The Cowboy Hall of Fame in Oklahoma City.
This painting of Capt. Leander McNelly continues the trend
of 4 pocket vest, dark pants, tall boots, these with a military top but
high heels and big spurs. The knife is in front of the ivory handled 7.5"
barrelled Colt 1873. He has a Winchester '73 Saddle Ring Carbine in his
right hand. He's wearing a big blue bandana, and he has on a hat with little
roll to the brim and a bit of creasing on the crown. It appears to have
military style tassles on the hatband. The badge is pure fantasy. They weren't
used until 1887. For all I know the whole costume might be pure fantasy.
We know that Capt. McNelly didn't have a white shirt on one operation because
he borrowed one from a ranger to make arm bands for recognition. The rest
is just typical for the era.
This is my version of that one, a little leeway as the
brown vest and pants have faded, and the blue bandana is lost somewhere.
This is my version of same hat, cavalry hatband, weathered, "distressed" American Hat Co. 5X beaver in silverbelly. The weathering process continues.
After a couple of years it's getting appropriately
crinkled and aged.
Getting Started in Cowboy Action Shooting
Getting Started In Cowboy Action Shooting Page 2a