Traditional Kiowa Clothing

         The Kiowa peoples wore clothes that were totally different than the modern clothes today. The Native American peoples wore clothes made out of materials that they could find or get easily. Women wore deerskin dresses, that that painted with yellow, green, or other bright colors. Both men and women wore moccasins on their feet. The women would wear their hair down or braided. The other unique feature of how women dressed was that they had a tribal tattoo on their foreheads. This tattoo would symbolize a belief or tradition. The men and women would sometimes paint their faces for special events. They would paint their faces with bright colors to represent something. The men wore things way different from the women. The men wore breechcloths and leather leggings, and usually went shirtless, depending on the weather. A breechcloth is a strip of cloth (usually a rectangle), that passed between the thighs, and were held up by a belt of some sort. The cloth would cover both the front and back. In some cases girls would wear some type of fitted breechcloth, under their skirt of dress, but not always. Sometimes they also wore turban-like hats, that were made out of otter pelts. They also wore long buffalo hide robes when the weather was colder, so they would have a little extra warmth. The men also wore their hair in braids, just like the women. On really special occasions the men wrapped their braids in fur. Our modern clothing is a lot different than the Kiowa peoples.