Nonfiction Monday-- Dressing a Nation

Krohn, Katherine.Calico Dresses and Buffalo Robes: American West Fashions from the 1840s to the 1890s
1 October 2011, Lerner Publications.

These books are very interesting to me, and great for reports that students have to do. Our 8th graders cover the Westward Expansion, so this is a great resource. It covers Native American clothing (and addresses the changes to the culture that putting Native American's on reservations, basic work clothes for men and women, as well as more fashionable items that were rarely worn but reflected European couture. Well-illustrated, with nice bulleted lists of the main clothing for each sort of person, this was a fun, quick read that I hope I can convince students to pick up. My only complaint is that some of the photos of average citizens were very dark and indistinct. I know many older photos are that way, but when using them to illustrate the finer points of costume, I would have looked around a bit more for clearer photos.

Head over to Wrapped in Foil, which is hosting Nonfiction Monday. This meme was started by Anastasia Suen.