Crowning Glory: Rodger Chieffalo and the Making of a West Texas Icon

There’s an unspoken rule about cowboy hats in West Texas. If you ride horses all day or you’re out in the sun working livestock, you’re allowed to wear a wide eight-inch brim. If you own a ranch or have business in the city (a doctor, a lawyer, or some such), you’d better be in a tall crown with a four-inch brim, max. To step out otherwise is akin to wearing a costume.

No one knows this century-old adage better than Rodger Chieffalo, a Fort Worth-based real estate investor who helped bring the short-brim cowboy hat back into fashion through Chieffalo Americana, his Camp Bowie store, which opened in 2020. Together with his wife and co-owner, Jackie, Chieffalo has put a spotlight on modern Western urban clothing—the kind that’s heavily featured on shows from Paramount Network’s “Sheridanverse.” In fact, Chieffalo Americana has custom-produced countless costumes for Landman, including the pearl-snap dress shirts Billy Bob Thornton sports in scenes from Cattleman’s Steak House to the West Texas oil fields.

Chieffalo has an eye for what’s distinctly West Texan, on account of his roots in the region.

Originally from the suburbs of Philadelphia, Chieffalo studied at Texas Christian University (TCU) and remained in the state for 12 years before bouncing around the country as a real estate portfolio “fixer.” He’s stayed put since moving back to Texas in 2000 (with his first wife and two children), and if you ask him if he foresaw designing and selling Westernwear as a passion project turned side career, the answer would be an emphatic “No.”

“About 22 years ago, my ex-wife’s grandfather willed me a hat,” says Chieffalo. “He was a close personal friend of Amon Carter, an oilman and philanthropist who was probably the greatest citizen of Fort Worth during the 20th century.” 

According to Chieffalo, in 1920 Carter invented the short-brim cowboy hat, now commonly referred to as the Stetson “Open Road”—though the modern hat maker has made a few modifications. “It was an iconic Fort Worth fashion item, worn by wealthy professionals and ranch owners, that became a status symbol. Carter even gifted it to a number of American presidents.”

Chieffalo’s 1920s-era heirloom was made of 100-percent beaver felt, with the requisite short brim and five-inch crown and needed a bit of dusting up when he first inherited it. “I took the hat to its original finisher, Peter Brothers, which still exists in Fort Worth, and had it cleaned up and refurbished. Then I started wearing it to rodeos in town and the old timers would come up to me and ask about it. That’s when I realized there’s something to these hats.” 

As a hobby, Chieffalo began sourcing them at vintage stores and estate sales, “renovating” them to mint condition, and gifting them to clients. The niche style caught on: “One thing led to another and, suddenly, I’m making hats for high-profile musicians, actresses, and fashion photographers—it just blew up.”

Fast-forward a few years and Chieffalo has hat renovation down to a science. “I can pretty much look at a hat and tell you when it was originally made just by the height of the crown, the feeling of the felt, the look of the interior liner or sweatband, even the stitching,” he says. Every piece that’s sold by Chieffalo Americana is hand-produced and includes a card, tucked into the sweatband, explaining its provenance. “Whereas other hatmakers are selling some 25,000 hats a year, our goal is to make 500 in exactly the same way as 60 years ago. In another 60 years, it’ll be handed down to that person’s grandchild.” 

Passing on a piece of Texas history has become the ethos of the Cheiffalos’ store, which reopened in August following a tip-to-toe renovation to better reflect the breadth and depth of its ever-evolving offerings. Together, Rodger and Jackie have expanded into rebuilt vintage rodeo buckles, cufflinks, and silk scarves, alongside new-production belts, boots, women’s clothing, and menswear. “Everything we sell is distinctly Western American, whether it’s vintage, renovated, or new design,” Chieffalo explains. “We create items that are regional, but you don’t have to be a cowboy to wear them.” You might spy their worldly (read: wealthy) clientele sporting a custom-designed cotton khaki jacket while hosting 10 couples for a weekend of dove hunting and dinner parties at their private ranch. Or donning a pearl-snap West Major button-down for a cutting show at the Fort Worth Stockyards, a form of entertainment nationally popularized by Yellowstone.

“The way these shows have put a spotlight on the history of the western world and on modern-day cowboys and ranch life is incredible,” says Chieffalo. “But I was doing these hats long before anyone had ever heard of Taylor Sheridan.”