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| Image source: foxnews.com |
There is more to Native American fashion that mainstream America often fails to recognize. Beyond the stereotyped “native look” of headdresses, fringed jackets, and buckskins, there are various collections that represent the Native American culture in a tasteful and respectful way. These elegant Native designs include the works of Project Runway contestant Patricia Michaels and the couture gowns of Bethany Yellowtail.
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| Image source: beyondbuckskin.blogspot.com |
These masterpieces are featured in Beyond Buckskin Lookbook, which aims to highlight the Native-made fashion from couture to street wear. Feathered headdresses are still included in the lookbook, nonetheless. “It's disheartening to see Native American fashion as cheap knockoffs. To change that, we have to be the voice for what Native American fashion is, instead of just complaining about it,” says Yellowtail.
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| Image source: cnn.com |
While designers want to introduce the “tasteful” and “appropriate” Native American fashion to mainstream America, their works are mainly intended for wide audiences regardless of most people’s ignorance of patterns and designs. “These are not your stereotypical Native American designs. They’re very contemporary, which is the point: to present new visions of what Native American fashion means. They incorporate designs that have a lot of meaning to them, but to the average viewer they might just look like a dragonfly or zigzag lines, and that's OK,” says Shelby Tisdale of the Los Angeles’ Autry National Center.
Elizabeth Rehnke is a proud fashionista and a seasoned traveler who muses about her trips to Asia, Australia, and Africa. Follow this Twitter page to catch the latest trend in fashion.
