The Olneyville times. (Olneyville [Providence, R.I.]) 1887-1917, 1907-01-04
DRESS OF THE ESKIMO.
Made<Sy the Women From the skins
of Northern Animals.

of NOrthern Animals.
The chief material Of the clothing OF
the Eskimo is the skin OF the reindeer.
which is used in various stages of pei
age or tanning Fine. short haired
summer skins. especially those OF does
and flwns, are used for making dress
garments and underclotles. The heav
lest winter skins furnish extra warm
jackets for cold weather The whits
spotted skins Of the tame Siberian rein.
deer are especially valued for full
dress jackets.
Tie skins Of the white mountail.
sheep. white aud blue fox, wolf. dog
ermine AMI lynx are sometimes made
into clothing Underjackets of elder
duck skins are often pressed into serv.
ice. Scalskin dressed with the hair or
is used only for breeches and boots.
ana for those rarely. or late years
drilling and calico have been intro
duced into the makeup OF some of the
minor garments.
The dress Of the men consists of
loose hooded frock without opening eX-
cept at the neck and wrists. This
reaches just over the hips and very
rarely TO mdthigh, where il is cut off
square and usually confined by girdle
at the waist. Under this garment Is
worn n similar one of lighter skin AMI
sometimes without hood. The thighs
are clad i'm one or two pairs of tight
fitting knee breeches, rather loose, but
fitted TO the shape Of the leg. They are
very low in front. but are much higher
behind, sometimes as high as the small
Of the back They are held in place by
n grdlc or thong around the waist and
are usually fastened below the knee
over the boots with drawstring
On the legs and feet are worn, first. a
pair Of long deerSkin stockings. with
the hair inside, then slippers of tanned
Sealskin. in the bottom which is spread
q layer Of whalebOne shaYingS and out
side a pair Of close fitting boots, held i'm
place by 4 string around the ankle.
which reaches above the knee and
ends with a rough edge covered by the
brcechcs. Dress boots often end in an
ornamental border, with drawstrlng
just below the knee. The boots are OF
reindeer skin, with white sealskin
solcS for winter and dry weather but
in summer waterproof boots Of white
whalcSkin are worn. OvershOes of the
same material, reaching Just above the
ankles, are sometimes worn over the
winter boots.
.he women wear tight fitting deer
skin pantalouns, with the hair next the
.1
pair made Of The skins from deer legs.
with the hair ont, and having sOles OF
sealSkin. but no ankle strings. The
women's pantaloons, like those OF the
men. are fastened with girdle Just
above the hips. 1t appears that they
do not stay up very well. rs the wO-
men are continually hitching them up
and tightening their girdles, like some
old srp1or
Until they reach manhood the boys
wear pautaloOns like the women, but
their jackets are cut just like those of
the men.
The we'll to do ESkimos generally own
several complete suits Of clothes and
present a neat appearance when not
engaged in dirty work. The poorer
classes wear one suit for all occasions
until it becomes shabby. New clothes
are seldom put on till winter. The
outer frock is not often worn in the
iglu, or hut home. being usually taken
off before entering the room
At present there is no such thing as
an Eskimo tailor, for the women Of
-. 1It- gI-A
the garments of all the members Of the
family Not only this, but the EsFmOS
are extremely conservative i'm the mat
ter of changes In the style OF their raj
mcnt and respond very slowly to the
undermining influences in this particu-
lar which have reached their neighbor-
hood.