Yahoo Lifestyle Rascal Flatts Is Back—And You’re Going to Want Jay DeMarcus’s Cool Shirt
"Hearst Magazines and Yahoo may earn commission or revenue on some items through these links."
Rascal Flatts is back! Five years after their 2020 farewell, the country band has reunited “to take care of unfinished business” on their Life Is a Highway tour in 2025. After all, the 25th anniversary of a band that’s had 17 number-one hits, sold 23.4 million albums, and racked up billions upon billions of streams is reason to celebrate.
If you’re one of the lucky fans to see them on tour this year, you’ll notice a new signature style on band member Jay DeMarcus—pearl snap shirts, that Western classic. But these are not just any pearl snap shirts. They are custom-made ones by Snaps Clothing, designed especially for Jay’s personal style and comfort on stage.
His longtime friend Chris Harrison (yes, of The Bachelor) is the one who tipped him off to the shirts. Once Jay tried them, he was sold.
“I’m always looking for good products and comfortable clothes,” he says. “From the moment that I put the shirts on, they were such a wonderful fit. They fit like I want a shirt to fit. The materials were soft and easy to wear. They’ve got these wonderful collar stays. They keep the collar in place, especially if you want to throw a jacket over one of them.”
That solves one of Jay’s biggest pet peeves about collared shirts, which is “when you put them in your closet and they get smooshed up against other clothes and bent out of shape. You spend your entire day fooling with them and trying to put them back into place,” he explains. Not with these shirts!
Eventually, the idea emerged to create custom Snaps Clothing shirts for Jay to wear on stage, and a six-month collaboration process began. Jay’s personal stylist Renee Layher teamed up with Maegan Klipfel, director of product at Snaps Clothing, to create unique designs. At one point, the Snaps team even flew up to Nashville to talk fabric.
“I’m really, really picky about how a material feels. I know that sounds so snooty to say that, but when you’re going to wear it all night, you’re going to be sweating in it, and you’re going to be moving all over stage, it’s really important how it feels on you,” Jay says.
To meet those high standards, Ed Baronne, Snaps Clothing cofounder, says, “We had probably 50 to 75 fabric swatches that we compiled together, went out to Nashville and sat with Renee and Jay for several hours and worked through them. We eliminated some, we modified some, and then we whittled it down to the final go-ahead.”
That might sound like a lot of work, but the company is no stranger to being picky about fabrics. “We’re constantly sourcing new fabrics from groups all over the world to try to figure out what’s going to be the best for our customers,” says Patrick Lynn, Snaps Clothing’s other cofounder, who also clued us in on how the pearl snap shirt came to be associated with Western wear. Hint: It’s all about utility.
When you’re a cowboy or a ranch worker, you’re out on the ranch doing things like riding horses, baling hay, and mending fences, often with barbed wire on them. Chances are high your shirt will get stuck on a piece of metal on a fence or a nail or a hay bale, which will rip regular buttons right off—but not pearl snaps. Instead, the snaps just pop open.
“You can just snap it back on and keep working,” Patrick explains, and he knows this firsthand. His grandfather was a rancher and cowboy, and he grew up going out to his ranch, riding horses, roping cows—and wearing pearl snap shirts.
With Snaps Clothing, Patrick and Ed are on a mission to take this traditional Western shirt into mainstream wear. “I wanted now to be able to take this shirt, wear it into an office, wear it out, maybe for a nice happy hour or a date night, or potentially even out to something like a tailgate,” Ed says. That meant making the fit less boxy and more tapered, offering better colors and patterns, and using the aforementioned high-quality fabrics.
Landry EZ Care Short Sleeve
Landry EZ Care Long Sleeve
Tailgater Long Sleeve
Rambler EZ Care Short Sleeve
Heritage Collection
Traveler Long Sleeve
Heritage Collection
Although Jay was already a super fan of Snaps Clothing shirts, for the Rascal Flatts Life Is a Highway reunion tour, he wanted something a little different from what they sell every day. So what were the final results?
For colors and patterns, Jay says, “I'm more of a earth-tones, dark-colors kind of guy, so bright colors don’t really work well for me. They kind of wash me out—this is more information than you ever wanted to know about me—but I love a Western print on the darker side. I love denim as well, so we have a couple of blue denim shirts and a couple of black denim shirts that I’m excited about.”
And for the material: “I really love soft material, things that almost feel like you’re wearing your pajamas. These shirts are made out of such soft, easy, wearable material, that they don’t feel like you’re wearing a quote, unquote, casual dress shirt, even with the collar on.”
Now, Jay’s shirts, which he debuted on tour in February, are 100% unique to him. But there’s good news for fans who want to get his look (as well as those of us shopping for Father’s Day, birthdays, anniversaries, etc.). Snaps Clothing’s everyday lineup of stylish, comfortable pearl snaps shirts, which are what sold Jay on the brand in the first place, are available to everyone.
You Might Also Like
