Native American Fashion

A collection of photographs from museums, collectors and private dealers that documents five centuries of Native American artistry.

Celebrating Native American design as an important force in the world of contemporary fashion, this book features beautiful, innovative, and surprising looks from Native American artists. Mainstream American fashion has always been influenced by Native American design, and that’s because Native artists have always created exquisite clothing, jewelry, and accessories of their own. But it’s only recently that Native designers themselves have started to break into the fashion industry in a big way. Current Native fashion is both wearable and beautiful and, as this volume reveals, increasingly fashion-forward. Divided into sections according to the designers’ personal styles, the book showcases the work of dozens of fashion designers, from Virgil Ortiz to Patricia Michaels to Jamie Okuma. The book even includes a few Native-influenced pieces by non-Native designers like Isaac Mizrahi and Ralph Lauren. Native Fashion Now designers have dressed presidents’ wives and been finalists on Project Runway, sold their work around the world, and seen it acquired by museums and private collectors. With examples that range from haute couture to casual streetwear, from evening gowns to beaded boots, and from skateboards to umbrellas, Native Fashion Now demonstrates the extraordinary range and talent of designers who honor important cultural traditions while creating breathtaking of-the-moment fashion.

Explores the traditional dress of Native Americans in the nine major cultural areas of North America, with an emphasis on everyday or "work" clothes. Individual items of clothing are discussed in detail, including skirts & aprons from a variety of materials, dresses of many styles, capotes, robes, breechclouts, leggings, shirts, breastplates, parkas, hats, moccasins cradleboards and sandals. Selected pieces of dress clothing, primarily from the Plains, are also discussed. Included are drawings, patterns and ideas for making replicas of primitive clothing.

Style is not just the clothes on our backs—it is self-expression, representation, and transformation. As a fashion-obsessed Ojibwe teen, Christian Allaire rarely saw anyone that looked like him in the magazines or movies he sought out for inspiration. Now the Fashion and Style Writer for Vogue, he is working to change that—because clothes are never just clothes. Men’s heels are a statement of pride in the face of LGTBQ+ discrimination, while ribbon shirts honor Indigenous ancestors and keep culture alive. Allaire takes the reader through boldly designed chapters to discuss additional topics like cosplay, make up, hijabs, and hair, probing the connections between fashion and history, culture, politics, and social justice. *A Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection

This beautiful book presents a fascinating array of complete women's and girls' outfits dating from the 1830s to the present, including dresses, shawls, shoes, belts, bags, fans, and hair accessories. Also included is historical and contemporary background information on Native life and Native women and their dress. To accompany a major exhibit of the same name at the NMAI in March 2007.

Assembles information on and photographs of the shirts, robes, moccasins, headdresses, and ceremonial clothing of various Plains Indian tribes, illuminating their history and culture

An accessible and educational illustrated book profiling 50 notable American Indian, Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian people, from NBA star Kyrie Irving of the Standing Rock Lakota to Wilma Mankiller, the first female principal chief of the Cherokee Nation An American Indian Library Association Youth Literature Award Young Adult Honor Book! Celebrate the lives, stories, and contributions of Indigenous artists, activists, scientists, athletes, and other changemakers in this beautifully illustrated collection. From luminaries of the past, like nineteenth-century sculptor Edmonia Lewis—the first Black and Native American female artist to achieve international fame—to contemporary figures like linguist jessie little doe baird, who revived the Wampanoag language, Notable Native People highlights the vital impact Indigenous dreamers and leaders have made on the world. This powerful and informative collection also offers accessible primers on important Indigenous issues, from the legacy of colonialism and cultural appropriation to food sovereignty, land and water rights, and more. An indispensable read for people of all backgrounds seeking to learn about Native American heritage, histories, and cultures, Notable Native People will educate and inspire readers of all ages.