The soft elk skin, deerskin or buffalo skin slippers worn by Native Americans and known widely as moccasins were a fashion of shoe shared by many different tribes over time.  The seemingly simple design of moccasins, however, was actually so nuanced that Native Americans could attribute moccasin footprints to different tribes and identify one another accordingly.  Subtle variations in stitching or fringe detailing or the finishing of the heel could distinguish one pair of footprints from another.  Beyond this, the decorative detailing in beadwork or quill design on the front tab, or vamp, of the moccasin would also signal origins or affiliation.

The shoes are remarkably efficient in design and would have been well-suited to different geographical and climate conditions.  They were also extremely well crafted in supple leather with careful stitching to allow for ease of wear as much as for sensitivity to the landscape, something that would have been essential to Native Americans so skilled at traversing the land and tracking things on foot.  Those tribes to the west that lived in drier, more rugged terrain would have had shoes made of tougher leather with soles to match and would be constructed of two or more pieces of leather for sole and upper.  Tribes further east would have relied on soft-soled moccasins, typically constructed of one piece of hide and sewn with seams at the sides or at the top.

The word moccasin in association with Native American footwear has been adopted by the greater American public but it was never a universally understood word within the different Native American tribes.  Moccasin was the word for shoe in the Virginia Algonquian language and was passed into English as a generalization through the encounters early English settlers had with the native community.  Captain John Smith of the Jamestown settlement is attributed with noting the translation in his 1612 glossary, ‘mockasins: shoes.’  In actuality, each tribe used words in their own language or dialect to signify shoe/slipper and it is coincidence that has made ‘moccasin’ the lasting word in English.  It is more than coincidence and surely a tribute to the beauty of the design and image of the moccasin that it has been preserved as a style of shoe until today and continues to permeate the broader fashion market.

moccasin image from: Wisconsin Historical Society- and Morning Star Gallery, Santa Fe, New Mexico

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The cowboy boot as we know it today, as an icon of the American West and the rough riding and spirited cowboys who wore them, is a style of boot actually born far from North America as part of the military dress of Hessian (German) soldiers in the 18th century. The Hessian boot was characterized by a high shaft decorated with a tassel at the front, which was cut at a v-shape. The tip of the boot was narrowed and it had low heels that were adapted for ease of use with the riding stirrup.

The journey of the Hessian boot to the cowboy boot of the wild west was helped along by England’s Duke of Welllington, Arthur Wellesley, who took the original Hessian style of boot and had the design altered for his own use towards the middle of the 1800’s. His version of the boot, which came to be termed the Wellington, had a shorter shaft cut to mid-calf and was more closely fitted than the Hessian original. This boot quickly became popular with his compatriots and eventually made its way to the United States where it was widely worn among soldiers in the Civil War and then by those involved in the expansion of the western frontier: the cowboys of the American imagination.

The cowboy boot, an evolution of the Wellington (which also later would be more firmly associated with the rubber material version rather than the original leather version), was distinct for its ornamentation and slight variation on the Wellington style; they originally did not have as pointed a toe as the Wellington and some alternatives had the cut of the shaft higher at the front or decorated with inlaid ornamentation. By the 1950’s, the cowboy boot was popularized to an extraordinary extent by the film industry. Hollywood proliferated the image of the heroic cowboy and the fashion for cowboy boots was no longer confined to the great wide open frontiers or the rural lifestyle but became tokens of independent spirit for the urban style-setter as well.

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The English riding coat as a feature of women’s fashion flourished towards the beginning of the 1800’s in Western Europe and among the landed classes, well-associated with one another’s court styles, became a conspicuous trend thereafter. Equestrian sport was a favorite pastime and horseback riding was still the standard of transportation when the English riding coat, in fashion terminology transformed to the French ‘redingote’ where the new fad for women began, became the necessary outer garment for the aristocratic female equestrian.

Initially the redingote took its stylistic cues from military coat design and was more function than form. It typically would have been a cloak-like covering with layered-cape collars and would have been made of wool or other sturdy fabric. As it developed in design from very functional origins to a more embellished and fastidious style, it became a more tailored, form-fitting garment. At the end of the 1700’s its traits were the narrowed waist that opened into the expansive skirt of the coat, with a wide opening at the front to reveal the woman’s tailored clothing beneath.

By the early 1800’s the design still referenced the clean lines of the military suit but was significantly altered to accommodate the woman’s fashion of the times, echoing the high waistlines of the empire dress that came to prominence. The redingotes also

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took on adorning features such as brocade and elaborate buttoning detail on the cuffs or sometimes on the front and quickly became markers of status, not only referencing the equestrian culture, with its sporting and military history, but also the court culture of see-and-be-seen etiquette. image– Redingote 1787. image– Riding coat with empire waist. 1799, from the magazine Lady’s Monthly Museum

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In the late 1700s cattle herders of Spanish descent spread throughout the west with their horsemanship and indefatigable attachment to the land and came to define a certain way of life that occupies a distinct part of the American and Mexican imagination.

The vaquero of New Spain in the 18th and 19th centuries was the forerunner to the American cowboy of the Old West who symbolized the freedom and spirit of the frontier enterprise. He was identifiable by the dexterity of his horsemanship as well as the cut of his clothing.

The vaquero’s typical outfit included a bolero style short jacket made of silk, velvet, or wool with embroidered detailing that was often decorated with silver buttons. The style of the vaquero or charro jacket had its origins in the short waist jackets worn by Andalusian cattle herders who brought their knowledge of herding and their distinct attire with them to the New World. The pants worn by the vaqueros were usually made of coarser fabric, such as canvas, or leather and would also be adorned with silver buttoning. They would be fitted at the waist and upper legs for better facility in riding. The cattle-herder’s recognizable sombrero as well as his half-boots and chaparraras (chaps) were the other quintessential parts to his costume.

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The dangers of the frontier as well as the nature of cattle herding (which included the struggle to maneuver barely domesticated animals while contending with opposing Indian tribes and living a life of exposure to the elements) wore hard on the vaqueros. Nevertheless, the vaquero wore his costume, with the noble cut of the vaquero jacket and the silver-studded pants, so that it rose above the purely functional.  His outfit became a display of status and elegance as he advanced toward his dream of becoming a landowner–a ranchero–in his own right.

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