It's never been cooler to be a Horse Girl.
A reformed Horse Girl myself, I was delighted to find an e-mail with the subject line "Horse Girl Autumn" at the top of my inbox last week.
The declaration that Hot Girl Summer is giving way to Equine Equinox (sorry) led me to ponder the current state of equestrian-inspired fashion.
The term Horse Girl has long been used as a pejorative to describe a certain type of pre-teen who is, simply put, obsessed with horses. A Horse Girl need not own a horse or even know how to ride a horse — the only thing a Horse Girl must demonstrate is a love of all things equine.
One definition of Horse Girl on Urban Dictionary reads: "A girl who wears t-shirts with horses on them and tapered denim pants, has really long hair in which they braid and fasten with a scrunchie in the back of their head, will 'gallop' on the track during gym class."
Even if they do occasionally imitate horse-like behavior, Horse Girls are tragically misunderstood. Finally, they're getting the justice they so richly deserve.
Last month, Kim Petras attended the Met Gala in a gown finished with three-dimensional horse head bodice, designed by Hillary Taymour of Collina Strada.
Taymour, who grew up around horses, described the look as an ode to "all horse girls and horse humans here today."
Kacey Musgraves also channeled her inner Horse Girl at the Gala, where she donned an more classically equestrian-inspired ensemble by Ralph Lauren, complete with knee-high riding boots.
Another famous Horse Girl, Bella Hadid, didn't make an appearance at the Met — but over the past month, she's posted several horse-y photos on Instagram, including one declaring her two "passions" as "Fashion and horses."
Elsewhere in fashion, Alessandro Michele of Gucci tapped into horse riding's kinkier connotations.
For the luxury house's 100th anniversary show, wherein it was "hacked" by Balenciaga, the designer also showed a slew of fetish-tinged pieces that riffed on Gucci's roots in saddle-making and other equestrian equipment.
The collection's campaign, released last month, features several of these freakier pieces, including a studded whip and buckled harness.
Even Loewe's Spring/Summer 2022 collection included a subtle salute to stallions by way of a knit dress stitched with a prancing pony.
With fashion's recent embrace of our equine friends, Horse Girls everywhere are vindicated. I'll refrain from playing into the ivermectin and ketamine jokes just begging to be made but I will take a gander that riding boots, stirrup leggings, and maybe even chaps will soon show up in street style shots.
I'm not complaining. Frankly, horseback riding is the chicest sport (hello, Hermès), but that's a conversation for another day.
Between Horse Girl Autumn, fashion's Y2K revival, and the Roaring 2020s, we're in for an eclectic fall season.
