What was Nez Perce clothing like? Did the Nez Perces wear feather headdresses and face paint?
Nez Perce women wore long deerskin dresses. Nez Perce men wore breechcloths with leather leggings and buckskin shirts. Both men and women wore moccasins on their feet. A Nez Perce lady’s dress or warrior’s shirt was fringed and often decorated with beadwork, shells, and painted designs. Later, Nez Perce people adapted European costume such as cloth dresses and vests, which they also decorated with beading and traditional ornaments. Here is a site about the symbolism of Nez Perce clothes, and some photos and links about Indian clothing in general. Nez Perce Indian leaders did sometimes wear feather headdresses, but they weren’t long and trailing like Sioux warbonnets. Nez Perce headdresses were made of a ring of feathers that stood up from a headband, as in this photo of Chief Joseph and Red Cloud. Nez Perce women usually wore fez-shaped basket hats woven from beargrass and cornhusks. Nez Perce women and men both wore their hair long, either leaving it loose or putting it into two braid
