Based mostly I think on current trends of Bohemian fashions where virtually every culture is combined in to a kind of a hippie extravaganza of beading, embroidery, lace, denim and pattern, I had envisioned that late 1800s on the southwest frontier would involve women sharing all their fashion, textiles and needlework techniques and having something that might have been distinctly “southwest fashion”. Specifically since I love embroidery I wanted to dig in to the embellishments that women were making to their clothes – did they learn needle lace from European immigrants, beading from native craftswomen, Spanish embroidery from the Mexican settlers who had been in the Southwest for eons?
From what I’ve read so far there wasn’t a lot of sharing of cultures at this point in time in the Southwest, especially among the women who were arriving from the east. One of the books I read mentioned a woman, recently arrived from the east, appreciating the sensible clothing worn by her Mexican neighbors. The short sleeved blouse and lighter skirts, without multiple layers were obviously more practical in the heat. But the woman’s husband insisted she keep own style of clothing in order to keep up a “proper” appearance. Women of the Frontier, Brandon Marie Miller
I started a new book recently that seems to indicate that earlier in the century, at least in Texas, there was much more adoption of local clothing – probably because in most places where new settlers arrived, the only people who could provide goods were native Americans. For that reason, new settlers were appreciative and much more open to the fashions of their new home and adopted buckskin clothing that they bought or traded from native Americans. Calico Chronicle, Betty J. Mills,
Since I wasn’t initially finding a lot of instances of fashion sharing in the Southwest at the end of the 19th century, I figured I’d just start diving into each of the fashion influences individually during this time. I looked first at how women who came from the east maintained their style of dress when they came west. What did they bring with them for the move? How did they continue to make/buy clothes once they were settled in new homes? How did they keep up with the changing styles? Did their access to different plants, textiles, materials, affect any change in their style of dress? All these questions and more will be answered!
This is one of my relatives, Madeline Hawkins Allen. I love the fabric of her shirt and hope I find out a bit more about what shaped her fashion choices back in the day as well.