Trade wool Dresses:  

                              
                               Trade wool dresses :

   The fur trade made wool available to the Native American
    tribes and was early substituted for skins in making
    garments, at least  when it could be afforded.It also
    became a status symbol of wealth since anyone could
    have buckskin.

    Mountaineers took pride in dressing their wives in the
    finest outfits available and Joe Meek, for instance, talks
    about his wife being dressed in Red and Blue Broad
    Cloth.

    Denig had been  in the fur trade since 1833 and in the
    early 1850's wrote a description of Crow women, stating
    that "The women have scarlet or blue cloth dresses,
    others white cotillions made of dressed skins of bighorn
    sheep, which are covered across breast and back with
    rows of elk teeth and sea shells.  These frocks are fringed
    along the sides and round the bottom.The fringes are
    wrought with porcupine quills and feathers of many colors. 
    The price of elk teeth is 100 for a good horse or in money
    the value of  $50.00.  A frock is not complete unless it has
    300 elk teeth,  which with the other shells, skin, etc. could
    not be bought for less than $200.00"

    Kurz sketched a crow woman wearing a trade cloth dress
    in 1851, that shows some fringe at the bottom, the triangle
    symbol at the bottom, and elk teeth across the bodice.

   He also has this to say about the Cree: "After their return to
    the trading post [in the spring] and the proceeds of their
    winter's work exchanged for blankets and cloth of various
    colors the camp looks gay and lively.  Both young and old
    of both sexes lay aside their filthy habiliments and adorn
    themselves in those of European manufacture.  A profusion
    of ornaments is worn.  Most parts of dress are garnished in
    some of the forms before referred to and a general neatness
    is exibited, leading one to suppose that they were an entirely
    different people.  This cleanly appearence, however only
    lasts a short time.  As different suits are never thought of
    nor any washing done the brilliant colors of English goods
    become gradually obscured by dirt so that in the fall a new
    supply of winter clothing is as desireable as the spring
    exchange.

   The Cree woman's dress was a long slip supported by 
    straps over the shoulders.  James Isham  observed that
    Cree women near the Hudson Bay Posts were making
    their dresses of trade cloth as early as 1743. Kurz
    described and sketched skin dresses of this style worn
    by Plains Cree and Chippewa women who visited Fort
    Union in 1851. These tribes were the poorer ones and
    other tribe women scorned them for their old fashioned
    dress when the deertail dress had come into style.

Harriet modeling her strap dress of saved list trade wool.
The sleeves were worn during cooler weather.


    Pattern for strap dress are in
Feminine Fur
Trade Fashions by Kathy Wilson and James Hanson

             

   Most trade cloth dresses were made from two lengths of
    material [saved list wool]seamed at the shoulders in order
    to make use of the white selvadge as a decorative bottom
    edge of the dress. An opening was left for the head, then
    sleeves added, and triangular gussets sewn into the sides
    to give extra width.

    Measure from your shoulders to mid calf and add 1/2 inch
    seam allowance for length. Measure hips and add 4", use
    1/2 this measurement for the dress width.

    Cut two of these and sew together at the shoulder, leaving
    about 10 or 11" for the neck opening. Cut a curve for the
    neck, deeper in the front.

    Measure from where your shoulder seam would be down
    to wrist [some dresses had shorter sleeves than this if that
    is your preference].  Width of the sleeves is about 21 to 23
    inches. Sew sleeves to the dress body, then measure for
    gussets. They are about 8 or 9" wide at the bottom and
    extend up into the sleeve an inch or two. You may want
    the dropped tabs that echo the deer legs of the deer tail
    dress or you may want the gussets to be flush with the
    dress bottom. Sew the gussets to the dress sides and you
    are then ready to decorate.

   This shows pieces laid out to use the white selvadge                 
   as decorative effect at sleeve and dress bottom.                        

   Here are some ideas for decorating your wool
                                 dresses:

    Green Crow style list cloth dress decorated with elk teeth
    and wool strips of different colors. Though red and blue
    were by far the most common, green is also listed in some
    ledgers and was much admired by the Crow. The red saved
    list dress is decorated with lumpy money cowries which
    was traded from coastal tribes. Note the white selvadge edge
   or the "saved List."

    Both these ladies are wearing commercial leather drop
    tail belts, one with a buckle, but we have found no
    documentation of such being worn during fur trade times.
    Instead,belts were probably rawhide tied with thongs or a
    long strip of buckskin tied in a knot. Not to be critical of
    these ladies, since these pictures were taken a number of
    years ago and we are always adding to our knowledge and
    improving our outfits. I just wanted to bring this to your
    attention so that you could benefit from our past mistakes.