A fresh Western shirt, a new 95-gallon hat, custom Levi’s and Texas-designed boots give the State Fair’s best-known greeter a 2026 wardrobe with a story stitched into it.
When the gates open at Fair Park today, the first familiar face fairgoers look for will be wearing something new. Big Tex is back in his customary place, but the 55-foot cowboy has a full wardrobe refresh for the 2026 State Fair of Texas: a new Western shirt, hat, jeans and a pair of boots whose design came from a Texan who grew up going to the Fair.
It is more than a change of shirt. For generations of Dallas families, Big Tex is a landmark, a meeting point and a yearly photograph. A new outfit gives that familiar figure a fresh detail to discover, while the pieces behind it connect the Fair to Texas makers and to this year’s national anniversary.
A new chapter in Big Tex’s closet
Cavender’s Boot City, the Tyler-based Western wear retailer, designed Big Tex’s new red pearl-snap shirt with navy and white accents. Its signature Rafter C angled pocket brings a recognizable detail of the brand into the giant’s custom-made garment. The blue panels are intended to become a canvas for new artwork each year, replacing the previous approach of reworking the whole shirt every few years. The inaugural design honors America’s 250th anniversary, Texas-style.
That means this year’s look is both a debut and a template. The shirt keeps Big Tex’s classic cowboy silhouette, but creates room for the Fair to mark future milestones through changing panel art. The result is designed to feel unmistakably like Big Tex while letting his clothes keep time with the Fair.
From hat to boots, the details are all Texas
Resistol, headquartered in Garland, made the new 95-gallon cowboy hat. Big Tex’s custom jeans are Levi’s 501s, part of Levi’s new role as his official jeans partner. And his size-96 Lucchese boots feature a design by Aaliyah McNeal, selected from nearly 450 entries in the Fair’s boot design contest. The motifs include Texas icons such as longhorns, bluebonnets and pecan trees.
There is a pleasing local thread running through the outfit: a Tyler-born Western retailer, a Garland hatmaker and Dallas as the stage where they meet. The boots add a more personal note, bringing a Fairgoer’s design into the visual language of the event itself.
A familiar giant, seen a little differently
Big Tex first greeted the public at the 1952 Fair, after the State Fair acquired a giant figure that had previously served as a Santa Claus in Kerens. The original stood 52 feet tall; the present Big Tex, rebuilt after the 2012 fire, rises 55 feet. His wardrobe has changed over the decades, but the role has stayed simple: a cheerful “Howdy, folks” and a place to gather beneath the wide brim.
This year, that tradition arrives with new names on the labels and a new promise for the panels. The State Fair runs September 25 through October 18 at Fair Park. If you are heading in, look up at Big Tex, take in the new red shirt and hat, and give the boots a closer look. For a figure this tall, the little details are part of the show.
Editor’s note: Big Tex’s 2026 outfit details and event dates were checked against State Fair of Texas announcements and reporting by CBS Texas and NBC 5 DFW.
