What was Apache clothing like? Did the Apaches wear feather headdresses and face paint?
Originally Apache women wore buckskin dresses and the men wore leather war shirts and breechcloths. In the 1800’s, many Apache men began to wear white cotton tunics and pants, which they adopted from the Mexicans, and many Apache women wore calico skirts and dresses. The Apaches wore moccasins or high moccasin boots on their feet. An Apache lady’s dress or warrior’s shirt was often fringed and beaded for decoration. Here is a site about the symbolism of Plains Indian war shirts, and some photos and links about Indian costume in general. The Apaches did not traditionally wear feather warbonnets, but the Plains Apaches adopted these headdresses from their Kiowa allies. Other Apache people wore leather or cloth headbands instead. Women usually wore their hair long and loose or gathered into a bun. Many young Apache women fastened their buns with hourglass-shaped hair ornaments called nah-leens. We haven’t yet found a good photo of a nah-leen to share with you, but here is a photograph of
