Wahoo! Santa Fe

Shouting the name of Diane Zamost’s Santa Fe vintage and vintagelike Western wear company makes most folks want to climb on a horse and head out on a cattle drive with John Wayne in Red River—or for the younger set, saddle up with Billy Crystal in City Slickers.

And if you get that inkling by merely saying “Wahoo!” just think how you’re going to feel when Diane gets done outfitting you.

Wahoo! grew out of Diane’s frustration at not being able to find the classic scarves, gloves, belts and Western accessories she loved to wear. So in the spirit of the Old West, she decided to make her own. Having never sewn a stitch in her life, she purchased a sewing machine, silk cloth and thread, asking herself “how difficult could this be?” Many wasted hours and yards of silk later, she consulted with “the right folks” and eventually learned the dos and don’ts.

Today, Diane sells 37-inch-square scarves (she’ll make ’em smaller or larger if you insist) patterned in paisley, jacquard or plain. Her line of Western gloves ranges from simple dress to the type Buffalo Bill wore, with fancy, fringed gauntlets. And her beaded belts are guaranteed to make you look good in a Gene Autry movie. Diane says Wahoo! sells items fit for the “Old West,” rather than the mass-produced, over-commercialized, characterless duds marketed for the “New West.” And be assured, her scarves are big enough to keep the dust out of your nose the next time you ride drag behind a herd of longhorns.

— R.G. Robertson