FASHION : Glitz, Glamour Met Country Duds : Western shops have everything--from durable to flashy--for ranchers or dancers.

Stronger than a John Wayne handshake and faster than a mountain wildfire, country fever has spread through these parts, and it’s not movin’ on.

It’s a homespun happening, as much in recognition of Ventura County’s roots as it is a back-to-basics backlash. Any way you cut it, though, it’s a rejection of glitz.

Except for some of the clothing.

Glitz has a way of seducing all but the staunchest cowboys and cowgirls.

In Ventura County, land of barbecues and chili cook-offs, the current country wave took root in “country” clubs. And these clubs brought about The Look. As a result, Western stores say they’ve never had a stampede on dry goods like last year’s. This year looks like it’ll lag by a nose.

The folks who buy these duds are a mix. There’s a lot of ranchers and hired hands, there are town folks who just have it in their blood and want the boots or the hats--and there are cowboys-by-night, otherwise known as dancers.

The dancers, who flock to the clubs, buy the brighter shirts, the larger belt buckles, and, in the case of women, the shorter skirts, said Gary Weese, who manages Howard & Phil’s Western Wear in Ventura. The club-going dancers are outdone only by rodeo riders--who buy the flashiest shirts of all, Weese said.

Weese notes that people give themselves away while shopping.

Working cowboys always check the clothes for endurance, he said, and “most true Western people buy U.S.A. made. We’ve had people ask as they come through the front door if it’s made in America. It’s a patriotic bunch of people.”

Sometimes, though, the telling sign is “the watch or the jewelry they wear, or the way they ask about boots,” he said.

At Gordon’s Western Wear in Oxnard, two kinds of clothes are stocked--one “for the people who have wanted to look the same for 15 years, and (another for) the people who always want to look different,” Rose Herrera said.

Ranchers, she said, want Western-yoke shirts in solid colors or quiet plaids, often short-sleeved. But dancers are into so many things it’s hard for the store to keep up.

Right now, dancers especially want (Garth) Brooks & Dunn-endorsed “flame shirts” with hot red or blue flames splashed on a black background. They also want “bib” shirts with a snap-off front panel and “brush poppers,” a bright canvas-type shirt with an over-yoke or “cape” in a contrasting color.

Jeans are less and less reliable as a tell. Once, you could tell night- and day-time cowboys by the brand they wore. The former wore Levi’s; the rest Wranglers, because they have more room for sitting on a horse. But, everyone knows that now. So, Herrera said, “about 85% of (dance customers) wear Wranglers.”

Authenticity counts, despite a recent work-boot craze among club-goers, said Jason Williamson, boot manager at The Wharf in Ventura. (The distressed, oiled, flat-heel lacer with a broken-in image is “in.”)

Most dancers still prefer pointed-toe, high-heeled boots, Williamson said. Popular are two-tone boots, silver toes, and a Wharf edition of women’s boots featuring little red hearts.

For a club-level view, we talked to Rick Henderson of Ojai, a trendsetter in his own right. A country-Western entertainer and dance instructor, he’s in the clubs almost nightly.

“Neon shirts are the biggest thing right now,” he said. Also he named the flame shirts, “anything Garth Brooks has worn,” and shirts with “more of an Arizona type look . . . maybe with feather designs, the skull of a dead cow or something.”

So for good measure, we talked to the real thing: a daytime cowboy. Richard Atmore runs 150 head of Angus north of Ventura and serves on the board of the Ventura County Cattlemen’s Assn.

Most of his clothes he gets by mail order, but sometimes he shops Western stores in town, where he said of the clothing items, “They make you want to laugh, most of ‘em.”

Atmore told us another way to tell cowboys from dudes: “You wouldn’t catch a real cowboy doing a line dance,” he said. “We dance with girls--not by ourselves.”

Kathleen Williams writes the weekly fashion column for Ventura County Life. Write to her at 5200 Valentine Road, Suite 140, Ventura 93003, or send faxes to 658-5576.