Women's Buckskin is one of the oldest and most beautiful styles of the women’s dances. Often referred to as Women’s Traditional, it is danced tall, straight and proud, each step gliding as if on air, each sway of the shawl fringe like a breeze through a willow tree. This sophisticated dance style is celebrated by women of all ages. Women from around the nation, ages six to age ninety-six, can be found wearing this style of dress.

The Regalia

A well-dressed Southern Buckskin dancer will usually dress from the feet up, so we will begin at the bottom. We start with the beaded knee moccasins more often than not made with white buckskin and tied just below the knee. This is followed by a long white buckskin skirt with a cotton tank attached at the waist. Next a person will put on a buckskin yoke. This is usually beaded utilizing the “lazy-stitch” style of beadwork and has long buckskin strips that hang down below the knees. Sometimes an optional, bone breast plate will be worn over the dress. Various pieces of jewelry are also sometimes worn but these are optional as well. A choker is worn around the neck provided that there is no neckerchief. There are various ways that a person may wear hair anywhere from down to two tight French braids. A single feather is enough to finish the regalia although you may wish to embellish with beaded clips, berets and or heluskas.