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C_Rock77 · 01-06-2004, 05:59 PM

I can't say enough how much of a help Scott Evans' book will be to you! It's a BEAUTIFUL book with lots of great pics. It will help you to put together a nice outfit for your son.

11 yrs old....
I have a 12" roach for sale that might fit him nicely, depending on his height and taste for the length of the roach. Check out my post in the Trading Post section.

When talking about any style, you dress from the feet up. With that in mind......

1) Moccasins - Plains hard sole with fully beaded uppers
2) Goats - Angora or Icelandic sheep anklets
3) Bells - one or 2 rows worn at the ankle - usually a row of sheep bells w/ or w/o an accompanying row of sleigh bells
4) beaded kneebands - usually beaded in the Lazy stitch style and being 3-6 lanes wide worn at the knee with fringe hanging from the bottom of the kneebands to the top of the mocs (some use shorter fringe).
5) Aprons - decorated on the front and usually left plain in the back, or decorated a bit
6) Belt & side tabs- Beaded, tack decorated, concho - all of these are acceptable. Side tabs fill in the sides of the outfit and add movement with their long, flowing fringe
7) Ribbon Shirt - from plain to VERY intricate. variations are TOO numerous to discuss in this thread
8) Breastplate - usually hanging past the waist nowadays. I'd suggest plastic b/c of the lesser cost and weight
9) Choker - plastic/bone/horn hairpipe & beads. 3-5 rows wide
10) Bandolier - hairpipe or "junk" style. Usually wear 1 or 2
11) armbands - Beaded or metal
12) Cuffs - Usually beaded with buckskin fringe
13) Headdress - BY FAR the most common is the porky roach with a spreader and 2 spinning feathers in a roach spreader. Also seen are Mandan or Hidatsa, sometimes called Dog Soldier Headdresses - affectionately called "mop tops"
14) Hand Articles - Articles in both hands give the dancer balance and things to do with his hands while dancing. Wing or other type fan is the most common and a dance staff decorated with fur wraps, beadwork, and feathers is the other most common item. War clubs, medicine hoops, and shields are also fairly common.
15) Bustle - A single bustle is worn. Size and style of the buslte are up to personal preference of the dancer. Old Style "mess" bustles are seen, but not very common. Variations are very wide and spreading.

Next, I can suggest some substitutions to some of the more labor intensive and expensive pieces of the outfit.

Beadwork: A friend of mine, while he was working on his beaded set (Cuffs, armbands, belt, side tabs, etc) wore painted canvas painted with good, traditional designs and fringed in white buckskin. From a distance, you could not tell they were not beaded. Just make sure you research and put together the designs well.

Moccasins: Canvas deck shoes with painted designs. I STILL wear these when the dance arena is wet. If you think I'm going to dance on a wet dancefloor in my fully beaded mocs, you've lost your mind! Just as with the imitation beadwork, the designs are the most important thing!

I must stress here that these substitutions are some that I would not dance with permenantly. It is important that your son have a COMPLETE set of clothes before he dances. That is out of respect for the style, the other people dancing, and those that have come before us. As he gets older, and as he completes pieces (beadwork, for example) he can replace the substitution pieces with the real thing. Start off small..like with a pair of armbands.

I also have to say that this is an outline of basics. It's by NO means an end-all be-all list. Go to dances, look at pictures, watch videos, talk to other dancers to decide on the direction to take the outfit. Also, do whatever you can to learn the proper ways to make the pieces. A lot of times, it takes just as much time and effort to do something wrong as it does to do it the right way.

Ok, now I'm having second thoughts about posting this thread :p

I just noticed your tribal affiliation. That book will be VERY applicable to you, considering Scott dances with the Lakota a lot. His clothes are VERY traditional Lakota, and that's what he wrote his book about. ;)

Good Luck!!

P.S. I heard a nasty rumor that the Traditional Dancer Book was sold out of print... I'm not so sure, though.

01-06-2004, 05:59 PM	#3 (permalink)
C_Rock77 Tiny Tot Dancer Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: Little Rock, AR Posts: 88	I can't say enough how much of a help Scott Evans' book will be to you! It's a BEAUTIFUL book with lots of great pics. It will help you to put together a nice outfit for your son. 11 yrs old.... I have a 12" roach for sale that might fit him nicely, depending on his height and taste for the length of the roach. Check out my post in the Trading Post section. When talking about any style, you dress from the feet up. With that in mind...... 1) Moccasins - Plains hard sole with fully beaded uppers 2) Goats - Angora or Icelandic sheep anklets 3) Bells - one or 2 rows worn at the ankle - usually a row of sheep bells w/ or w/o an accompanying row of sleigh bells 4) beaded kneebands - usually beaded in the Lazy stitch style and being 3-6 lanes wide worn at the knee with fringe hanging from the bottom of the kneebands to the top of the mocs (some use shorter fringe). 5) Aprons - decorated on the front and usually left plain in the back, or decorated a bit 6) Belt & side tabs- Beaded, tack decorated, concho - all of these are acceptable. Side tabs fill in the sides of the outfit and add movement with their long, flowing fringe 7) Ribbon Shirt - from plain to VERY intricate. variations are TOO numerous to discuss in this thread 8) Breastplate - usually hanging past the waist nowadays. I'd suggest plastic b/c of the lesser cost and weight 9) Choker - plastic/bone/horn hairpipe & beads. 3-5 rows wide 10) Bandolier - hairpipe or "junk" style. Usually wear 1 or 2 11) armbands - Beaded or metal 12) Cuffs - Usually beaded with buckskin fringe 13) Headdress - BY FAR the most common is the porky roach with a spreader and 2 spinning feathers in a roach spreader. Also seen are Mandan or Hidatsa, sometimes called Dog Soldier Headdresses - affectionately called "mop tops" 14) Hand Articles - Articles in both hands give the dancer balance and things to do with his hands while dancing. Wing or other type fan is the most common and a dance staff decorated with fur wraps, beadwork, and feathers is the other most common item. War clubs, medicine hoops, and shields are also fairly common. 15) Bustle - A single bustle is worn. Size and style of the buslte are up to personal preference of the dancer. Old Style "mess" bustles are seen, but not very common. Variations are very wide and spreading. Next, I can suggest some substitutions to some of the more labor intensive and expensive pieces of the outfit. Beadwork: A friend of mine, while he was working on his beaded set (Cuffs, armbands, belt, side tabs, etc) wore painted canvas painted with good, traditional designs and fringed in white buckskin. From a distance, you could not tell they were not beaded. Just make sure you research and put together the designs well. Moccasins: Canvas deck shoes with painted designs. I STILL wear these when the dance arena is wet. If you think I'm going to dance on a wet dancefloor in my fully beaded mocs, you've lost your mind! Just as with the imitation beadwork, the designs are the most important thing! I must stress here that these substitutions are some that I would not dance with permenantly. It is important that your son have a COMPLETE set of clothes before he dances. That is out of respect for the style, the other people dancing, and those that have come before us. As he gets older, and as he completes pieces (beadwork, for example) he can replace the substitution pieces with the real thing. Start off small..like with a pair of armbands. I also have to say that this is an outline of basics. It's by NO means an end-all be-all list. Go to dances, look at pictures, watch videos, talk to other dancers to decide on the direction to take the outfit. Also, do whatever you can to learn the proper ways to make the pieces. A lot of times, it takes just as much time and effort to do something wrong as it does to do it the right way. Ok, now I'm having second thoughts about posting this thread :p I just noticed your tribal affiliation. That book will be VERY applicable to you, considering Scott dances with the Lakota a lot. His clothes are VERY traditional Lakota, and that's what he wrote his book about. ;) Good Luck!! P.S. I heard a nasty rumor that the Traditional Dancer Book was sold out of print... I'm not so sure, though. Last edited by C_Rock77; 01-06-2004 at 06:05 PM.