Wall Named 2017 Jerry Ann Taylor Best Dressed Award Winner at the Wrangler NFR

By Amy Wilson

Las Vegas is the place to shine, and it seems that anything goes when it comes to style and fashion. For the WPRA Jerry Ann Taylor Best Dressed Award though, the fans get the final say in deciding which Wrangler National Finals Rodeo barrel racer is the best dressed and gets the $5,000 first place prize. The prestigious award is given in honor of Jerry Ann Taylor, a daring trick rider who brought a style, glamour, and spirit to the rodeo arena.

Kimmie Wall, who finished second in 2016, really embraces the opportunity to dress up at all rodeos, including the NFR. “I receive so many messages throughout the entire year about people thanking me for dressing up rodeo. It separates me from a sea of denim I guess,” the Roosevelt, Utah cowgirl said. “I love the interaction with the fans. My autograph sessions were full – we had to cut the lines off every time, and that is such an inspiration to me, especially when I didn’t have the finals that I was hoping for. To see those fans come and give me inspiration, send messages – all uplifting and wishing me the best, and telling me that they voted for me, and that they’re going to keep voting for me, and to keep dressing…right down to rodeo secretaries that are thanking me for dressing up rodeo…that’s so much fun for me to hear those messages, inspirational quotes, and everything they send me.”

Wall’s fans showed their support by voting her to receive the 2017 Wrangler NFR Jerry Ann Taylor Best Dressed Award. “To win when it’s fan-based is super exciting. We had a blast dressing up every night. It was really a lot of fun,” Wall said while also thanking her sponsors. “Cactus Gear helped me a lot this year with the fans and getting the voting out there. I would send them a picture of my outfit every night and they would get it out on social media immediately as soon as voting opened. They were the ones who did all of that for me and I just want to thank them for being the most awesome sponsor ever. They really wanted to see me win this award this year so they helped me out a lot.” She also thanked Ranch Dress’n, Designs by Dian, and Charlie 1 Horse for her outfits. “Dian is actually Fallon’s [Taylor] mom so it’s special that she made all the shirts. It’s fun because when they come, it’s all a surprise – I don’t know what I’m getting – it’s kind of like Christmas. I know coming from Dian that they are all going to be stunningly beautiful – flashy, of course – which I’m not afraid of color or flash. Charlie 1 Horse did my hats – they were all shaped perfect and beautiful.” Wall had a couple of favorite outfits including the leopard pants, “I just loved the leopard pants. A lot of my pants were printed this year, sometimes you couldn’t see it in the arena, but the one pants were steer heads and that was my son’s favorite outfit.”

When it comes to Wall’s sense of style and fashion, she said laughing, “I don’t even know if you can say I have a sense of style. I think I spend so much time wearing a baseball cap and dirty boots and dusty clothes, that in the arena is about the only time I have to dress up. It seems like every time I even go to the store I’m wearing my spurs.” Growing up, Wall was a rodeo queen, and her niece Chenae Shiner Vest was Miss Rodeo America 2012, so she’s never shied away from wearing fringe, glitter, or color. “My daughter loves it. She thinks it’s the coolest thing ever that I’m not afraid to wear the tie-dye, the colors and the fringe so to me that’s a bond we can share together,” Wall said fondly about her daughter, Brylee.

Wall’s equine partner, TKW Bully’s Famous Fox “Foxy”, helped complete her Jerry Ann Taylor Best Dressed quest at the NFR. “All of Foxy’s tack was made by Cactus and it matched every outfit. And my polo wraps, saddle blankets, and everything matched every night.”

Wall and Foxy didn’t have the success at this year’s NFR that they did in 2016, but after tipping barrels in six rounds, a clean run in Round 8 proved to be special. “I was first out that night and I came out of the alleyway and of course I was super excited, but every girl in that alleyway cheered and yelled for me. They were just as excited as I was that the barrel stayed up. You can be down all you want at the NFR when things aren’t going your way, but when your fellow competitors do that for you when they’re waiting in line to make their own run, that is so special. That was the neatest experience I had at the NFR,” Wall said sincerely.

Thanks to the National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame and the Dallas Market Center, $2,000 was awarded to the Jerry Ann Taylor Best Dressed second place – Tiany Schuster, and $1,000 to third place – Kathy Grimes. Schuster, who set a regular season earning record, brought back some vintage shirts with a lot of history, including a red, white, and blue shirt Fallon Taylor wore at the NFR when she was 9 or 10 years old, and a gold top Martha Josey wore when she ran at the NFR. Grimes, who loves wearing her signature color of purple and won the Jerry Ann Taylor Best Dressed Award at the Fort Worth Stock Show Rodeo in February, wore sequin pants in a couple rounds and had her horses just as shiney with lots of purple glitter.

“I wish they would do it everywhere to bring the class back to rodeo,” Wall said about the best dressed award. “It was fun for all of us to see what everyone showed up wearing every night.”

Courtesy of WPRA