Basic Clothing of the Mountain Men 

Yep. Fringe can also be used for cordage/sewing in a bind. Thanks for the comment and hope you enjoy the channel.

Howdy KXR. Glad you are enjoying the content! I still have a lot to learn, but am happy that a few of the things I've shared have helped you as you start down your path of learning. It is a time period that really does have a lot to teach us in the 21st century. Thanks for checking things out and hope you find what you are after!

Hey frontier woodsman, thanks for checking out the video. Not a bad idea. I'll have to see what I can put together. Thanks for taking the time to throw out the idea.

Thanks for the comment Tony. You're right on as far as I understand it. In fact, I mention that in my book "Ride to Rendezvous". The main character gets to Fort Laramie and his clothes are in tatters so he has to trade for new ones. Appreciate you stopping by.

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Hey John, thanks for checking out the video. As you said, it is a huge topic and the details are almost endless. I appreciate you pointing out the difference in flannel, and hopefully some folks will check it out in the comments.

Of note, is that this is pre Eli and his cotton gin. Cotton was more expensive to transform. The period would have seen linen, wool and other fabrics commonly before cotton. Wouldn't be long for cotton to take over, though. Good video. AMM 1695 lol (Oops, gotta pay my dues...)

You bet Shaun. Glad you found it helpful, and good luck getting your outfit put together!

Wool and linen mostly. Leather not so much. Just use common sense sew your own keep it simple no fringe. P.S. Don't wear clean clothes to a Rendezvous.

Why no leather? Historically, textiles would wear quickly under frontier use and abuse. The most popular, available and logical replacement was leather. It was common for mountaineers to be completely clad in leather, their "civilized" clothing worn away or sometimes saved for special occasions. So much did they wear leather, that many, upon returning east would acquire fabric clothing quickly. Reports indicate Kit Carson had "sateen pants" at one such time. Don't just dirty your clothes. You'll look like one of Fagen's boys from a bad production of Oliver Twist. Wear your clothes alot, and they will wear, soil and stretch honestly and convincingly. Being new is not a crime, and overall the community is supportive.

You bet Brant. thanks for checking it out

Thanks Mike. Glad you are finding them helpful. Hopefully, I'll be getting some more out in the near future.

Thanks for the comment Damon. Yeah, all mountain men would have had a sewing kit of some kind. That would have pretty much the norm for all frontiersmen. In fact, sewing, patching, and repair would have been a chore they tended to often around the fire at night.

@@FrontierLife if you make future videos about that type of details, I would be very interested in watching them.

@@damonthomas8955 10-4. Appreciate the interest. I'll keep that in mind

Thanks for the comment Billy Bob. I have to admit I'm not an expert on the history of long johns. I don''t see any after browsing the trade invoices and a Google search hints that they would have been relatively new during the Rendezvous period. That being said, I know they had wool sweaters and rubber boots available so it wouldn't surprise me if someone dug up a source showing it. I just have not come across it. Thanks for stopping by

@@FrontierLife I know they would have been the one piece body suit style. Would they have called them something different?

@@BillyBOB-sm3rl If they had them, they must have. I would guess that most guys just wore capotes and used fur to keep their leg warmer.

@@BillyBOB-sm3rl yes, they were called a “ union suit”.

Longhandles/union suits are generally held to be later than our period and more ACW. There are a number of correct ways to stay warm. If it's a matter of underwear, this did exist back east and may have origins in France. Interestingly, the idea of underwear was to keep textile/cloth clothes cleaner, and thus last longer. Not as much for decency. Wearing deerskin, one doesn't worry about wear so much. I wore longhandles for a few years in modern life, red ones and white ones. No fun when Tuesday was taco night and Wednesday comes fast.

Howdy Fortners. Thanks for the comment. Are you looking for braintanning tips or just tips for sewing it all together?

Make leggings. Make your shirt from wool linen or trade type materials. This guy is correct in his assment of what to cloth your self in save the deer skin for a coat leggings or mocs. AMM 536

@Fortners Frontier Leather I just got back from a Rendezvous in Pinedale, Wyoming. There was a clothing demonstration where the showed the difference between deer hide and antelope hide. The antelope hide was so light and airy/breathable. The difference was amazing. Just thought I'd share that with you.

For me, it was easy to make and sew. I will say, I can see how people of the past adapted them around the world. Covers what needs covered and doesn't restrict your movement. Since the video I've sewn a seat into the leggins and now they are full pants. The seat is difficult to cut so it fits correctly, but I'm glad I did it.

Hey John, Thanks for the comment, and I'll go ahead and address some of your critiques. First, I'd say you are right about needing a better definition. I do suppose it never hurts to be overly specific when creating a video like this. Secondly, I certainly can't argue that many pants were manufactured from other materials other than buckskin. Like you mention, the trade manifests plainly show that. Still, that doesn't outweigh the tremendous number of period sources indicating men wore buckskins. Also, trappers of course had to sometimes make their own gear and clothing. In this spirit, I decided to opt for the home-made buckskin rather than the store bought reenactor clothes. On the fringe, it seems to be practical, and most AJ Miller paintings do show "excess" fringing. If nothing else, it could serve as serviceable cordage in some situations. Thanks again for taking the time to post, and offering a critical voice. I try to model an accurate image so as not to perpetuate the Hollywood myth, and feel like the clothing presented meets that goal.

What are your qualifications? What research have you actually done?

Frontier life can you talk about relationships between trappers and native women?

The brigades of the 1820s.... The beginning of the organized factory company system. Yes, those "enterprising young men" would have been attired differently. New to the job, and pioneers of everything about it, there was an adaptation and settling in period. A young fellow, in search of a job and without experience, gets a break as a laborer for a roofing company. He wears the clothes he has. With experience, he replaces his clothes with more practical and conducive to his job ones. By the time he's earned his way to swing a hammer, he has no semblance of his first day self. Now, if we do a dissertation on those in the roofing profession, do we model our subject on the image of his first day of work or after 5 years? While both are correct, we must defer to the accomplished roofer than the first day apprentice. While drop front trousers were the fashion back east, along with cravat and wheel caps at times, and most certainly found their way west (to be worn to destruction), they are not indicative or representative of the common trapper as indicated by research until now. The roofer and the mountaineer, in the interest of basic education, must both be displayed at the acme of their development and evolution. I don't do much fringe for my own reasons. But, it DID exist in plenty. There are numerous examples of whites "going native" in their attire in the 1700s. While the first mountaineers likely didn't immediately adopt leggings and breechclouts, it is without doubt that interaction with the tribes, and marriages resulting thereof, would have introduced them Into acceptance. I've chosen to no longer wear breechclout and leggings for close to 20 years, but I did wear them for an equal amount of time. Spending a great majority of those years in the saddle, I will say there is no attire more suited to riding than breechclout and leggings.