Sidefold Dress

One of the earliest Northern Plains styles was the side-fold dress, constructed of tanned hide wrapped around the wearer and sewn closed on one side. Six pieces of hide were cut and joined together to construct this garment. The blue, brown, and white quilled decoration of parallel horizontal stripes is framed by tufts of red yarn. The tinned iron and copper cones sewn along the bottom were valued trade goods, and therefore prestige ornamentation for a Yankton woman in the nineteenth century.