GUEST: It belonged to my mother, and she purchased it probably when she was 16 or 17 years old. And she was born June of 1917, so it's about 80 years old.
APPRAISER: What did your mother do? What kind of life did she have?
GUEST: She lived on a ranch. She loved to sing and play the guitar. She got married when she was 19.
APPRAISER: Was she a professional, like, rodeo or...?
GUEST: No.
APPRAISER: A lot of the things we see like this are actually from rodeos and from professional rodeo people, and it's nice to see a piece that's real ranchwear. Most likely, it was made by a company but then custom fit for your mother. She was kind of fashion-forward for her time period, because in the early '30s, women were still riding side saddle. And if you look, this is actually a split skirt so she could ride astride. It's cut out of leather, a very soft suede.
GUEST: Cow or sheep or...?
APPRAISER: It's most likely cow.
GUEST: More likely cowhide, okay.
APPRAISER: It has hand-cut fringe, it's in wonderful condition for the period of time, and I love that you have the gloves and you have the hat, although this hat is not the hat from the photograph.
GUEST: No, it isn't.
APPRAISER: It's a little bit later. This outfit is early '30s, the hat is early '40s. So what part of the country did she come from?
GUEST: The northeastern part of Montana, and she lived on a cattle ranch with her parents.
APPRAISER: So she was a real ranch girl.
GUEST: Yeah, definitely a real cowgirl.
APPRAISER: Did she love to ride?
GUEST: Yes.
APPRAISER: Well, this is a great outfit from that time, a part of our history that you don't see often. It's considered, as well as ranchwear, sportswear, and in today's market, if you were in a fine vintage store or someone who specialized in this, you would expect to pay between $800 and $1,200 for this ensemble.
GUEST: Ooh, that sounds good.
