Elon's Brother Does Cowboy Chic Worse Than Kristi Noem (But He's Still The Hotter Musk Sibling)
The wild west aesthetic has swept through Donald Trump's second administration, with several prominent MAGA women trying and failing to nail cowgirl chic. Chief among them is Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, who was roasted by the internet after she cosplayed as a cowboy for an interview in February 2025. While the former governor was indeed raised on a ranch in South Dakota, the cowboy hat and boots looked like just another of Noem's many confusing costumes. And yet, someone else who's tangentially related to the president has even worse taste when it comes to this particular aesthetic: Kimbal Musk, the younger brother of one of Donald Trump's billionaire BFFs, Elon Musk.
A Tesla and SpaceX board member, restaurateur, and entrepreneur more generally too, Kimbal doesn't appear to have any direct connection to the world of cowboys, but that hasn't prevented him from co-opting their style. Unlike Noem, a cowboy hat is part of Kimbal's signature look rather than an accessory he occasionally pulls out for photo-ops and interviews. Unfortunately, this also means he has plenty more cowboy look fails floating around on the internet. Since at least 2014, Kimbal has rarely been spotted without a cream cowboy hat, resulting in some truly cringeworthy moments when it's paired with tacky, outdated, or otherwise costume-y outfits.
Some of Kimbal's biggest offenses include, but aren't limited to, the Doug Dimmadome-esque white-and-gold suit and pink shirt combo he chose for a glitzy 2021 premiere and a silk shirt and tight white pants combo that made the businessman look like he owned a chain of casinos. Kimbal gave off major "I'm wearing a costume" vibes on "The Tonight Show" in 2024, when he sported a glittery velvet blazer, purple silk shirt, belt with a huge silver buckle, black skinny jeans, and shiny cowboy boots.
Kimbal has a surprisingly touching reason for constantly wearing his cowboy hat
Kimbal Musk loves the cowboy style to the point that the restaurateur even paired his cream suit with a matching cowboy hat for his 2018 wedding to his wife, Christiana, but the hotter Musk brother's Instagram feed and red-carpet photos are full of evidence that he has a hard time nailing this type of look. However, Kimbal proved that he once had some good cowboy looks too when he shared a throwback photo of himself in 2019 rocking a cream cowboy hat with a black T-shirt, straight-leg jeans, and brown cowboy boots.
Alongside the image, Kimbal revealed the heartwarming reason he's rarely seen without a cowboy hat. According to the food entrepreneur, he initially bought one in Texas in 2014 out of necessity, but it became part of his wardrobe after making so many great memories in it. "I was spending a lot of time on farms across America. I quickly learned that asking a farmer to borrow a hat is like asking to borrow a pet- you just don't do it. So, I bought my own hat and found myself the happiest whenever I wore it because it meant I was on a farm, in my garden, or outside enjoying this beautiful Earth," Kimbal wrote on Facebook.
In addition to reminding him of good times, the businessman also believes that the hat was the "lucky charm" that led to him meeting and falling in love with Christiana. "For me, my cowboy hat symbolizes happiness, a connection with #realfood farmers, and it reminds me to keep going," he sweetly added, before going on to joke, "Plus, everyone looks good in a cowboy hat. Oh and to dispel another rumor, yes, I have a full head of hair underneath."