- Term
Frontiers and Fringe
- Qualifier
How the West was Worn exhibition
- Remarks
Environment, culture, occupation, practical utility, and desire for status, all contributed to identity formation and evolution of Western fashion in the 19th-century. Buckskin and fringe became solidly associated with frontiersmen, celebrities, and Westerners. As symbols of wildness, buckskin and fringe came to define Westerners to those learning about the region and its people. Buffalo Bill's Wild West and other Western shows introduced large audiences around the world to authentic American Indians, frontier scouts, explorers, Mexican vaqueros and American cowboys: images that remain associated with the West to this day. Clothing and shapes associated with frontiersmen and cowboys have continuously influenced public perceptions of the West and Westerners.