Although the "tear dress" provides the most well-known example of Eastern Cherokee clothing, it doesn't represent an encompassing Cherokee fashion. In fact, early Cherokee clothing differed little from that of other native tribes in the region. Furthermore, the Europeans considered the Cherokees one of the "civilized" tribes because they so readily adopted the foreigners' style of dress.
Early Men's Clothing
Before the arrival of the Europeans, Cherokee men wore little during the summer. A breech cloth covered their privates and hung almost to the knee and, before marriage, they sported only a simple deerskin belt. When hunting and at war, they added leggings for protection. During the winter, they also wore moccasins made out of beaver or muskrat fur, fur robes, and deerskin shirts. Cherokee men wore beaver skin hats that had holes on top for their ponytails.
Early Women's Clothing
Cherokee women wore a basic deerskin dress that fell to about mid thigh. They wrapped deer hide scarves around their necks and then tucked these into the tops of the dresses. Hemp underskirts rested beneath the dresses and had fringes decorated with beads or feathers. Women's moccasins were taller than men's, lacing to the knee.
Woven Clothing
The early Cherokee used finger knitting to create some clothing items. For instance, women wove ceremonial dresses out of mulberry bark and turkey feathers. They also spun possum hair into red, black and yellow thread that they then used to weave belts, anklets and garters for their husbands. However, the Cherokee later adapted to European weaving. In the early 1800s, Moravian missionaries promoted church attendance and required the Cherokee to cover themselves during services. This led to the development of a number of basic woven dresses, including the "Mother Hubbard," a functional garment similar to the Hawaiian muumuu.
Origins of the Tear Dress
Although some Cherokee retained elements of leather and fur in their clothing, most completely adopted "white" clothing. Therefore, their wardrobes continuously changed with American styles during the 19th and 20th centuries. This led to embarrassment in 1968 when a Cherokee woman named Virginia Stroud had to wear a Kiowa dress as Miss Indian America because there were no traditional "Cherokee" clothes. As a result, an old dress found by another Cherokee woman, Wynona Day, was used to create the prototype of what would later become known as the "tear dress." The name of the dress refers to the method used to make the dress: squares of fabric are torn, instead of cut, from cloth.
Specifications of the Tear Dress
The Cherokee tribe now considers the tear dress its official dress. Each is made of numerous squares and rectangles and must have square gussets under the arms. They are one piece, a design that allowed freedom of movement when working. Although 100 percent cotton works best, almost any soft and draping fabric can be used. Tear dresses have square necklines and decorative applique bands over each shoulder, around each sleeve and on the upper skirt. Cherokee women who wore the original variations closed them like they would a man's shirt, using buttons or brooch pins instead of having to deal with rows of hook-and-eye closures.
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