I've always found the whole pretending to be a cowboy thing weird. I know it's a whole "I want to appear to be a stoic tough guy." But why don't people imitate other vacations with favorable attributes.
"Are you a doctor?"
"No, I just want to look smart so I'm wearing a stethoscope, white coat, and comfortable shoes."
Cosplay.
Like when people see Sam Elliott:
They think of salt-of-the-earth Oklahoma/Texas/wherever cowboy. Meanwhile, he's from California and lets just say you'd never catch him at a Trump rally.