Before Native American Fashion Designer Nan Blassingame started talking to a fashion design class at the ACC Highland campus, her dresses spoke for her.\u00a0 Her dresses were displayed at the front, with incredible color, intricate detail, and a radiance that filled the room and brought an anticipation to her discussion.<\/p>\n
Then, Blassingame introduced herself, first detailing the evolution of her twenty-year career in fashion and then later her role in orchestrating the Austin Powwow.<\/p>\n
How It All Began<\/b><\/p>\n
Nan recounted how she dreamed of making dresses from a young age.\u00a0 She was always enamored with a style of dress called the jingle dress, and begged her mother to teach her to make them.\u00a0 The jingle dress is a style of dress that is used during Powwows and is created with hundreds of small metal cones that create the \u2018jingle\u2019 sound as dancers move.<\/p>\n
One day, her mother agreed to teach her the jingle dress \u2018one time and one time only.\u2019\u00a0 Her dream became a reality as she created beautiful jingle dresses for friends and family.<\/p>\n
One fateful day Blassingame decided to post one of her dresses on Facebook, to see if there were any potential buyers.\u00a0 It sold instantly.\u00a0 Since then her life has been transformed.\u00a0 She has a company, \u201cNative American Notions\u201d, and makes dozens of dresses each year.<\/p>\n
Breaking into the Fashion Scene\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n
In 2018 a friend let her know about the \u201cAustin Intercultural Fashion Show.\u201d\u00a0 Blassingame entered and was selected, leading to her fashion show debut and an interview in Art Today London Magazine.\u00a0 As it turns out, her friend had only meant she should attend, not participate!\u00a0 Yet, that fashion show led to more opportunities, including New York Fashion Week and her work on display at the Bob Bullock Texas State History Museum.<\/p>\n
Nan\u2019s favorite creation is still the jingle dress, but she designs and creates other styles of dresses and clothing as well.\u00a0 Each traditional style of dress comes with a history and is an integral part of a Powwow –\u00a0 the dresses form dance competition \u2018categories\u2019 at a Powwow. \u00a0 Dance categories can include the fancy shawl, the buckskin, the grass dance (for men), and others.<\/p>\n
The jingle dress, according to Blassingame:<\/p>\n
\u201c[The jingle dress] Came out in 1920.\u00a0 This man from the Ojibwe tribe kept having this dream –\u00a0 this vision of this dress.\u00a0 So, he told his wife about his dream and vision that he was having and they made four of them, in the four directions.\u00a0 We do a lot of the things in the four directions.\u00a0 So they made four of these dresses.\u00a0 There was this little girl that was very ill. She was on her death bed\u2026\u00a0 Well, they came and they presented the dresses at her gathering and they were dancing around the circle and the little girl got up and began to dance with them.\u00a0 So, they consider it a medicine dress, a healing dress.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Creation of the Jingle Dress<\/b><\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/instruction.austincc.edu\/tledupdates\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2023\/03\/IMG_9143-1.jpg?resize=225%2C300&ssl=1\")
The jingle dress is created with small metal cones that are intricately arranged creating a cascade alongside the bottom part of the dress.\u00a0 Blassingame points out, \u201cEveryone thinks they are little bells.\u00a0 They are not little bells, you have to hang them close enough together so that they clank together.\u00a0 So a lot of math goes into one of these dresses.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Native American fashion is firmly rooted in indigenous tribal culture. The dresses Blassingame makes are primarily for use in Powwows and are designed with reference to traditions, spirituality, and history. \u00a0 Many of her dresses reference her own tribe’s culture, the Cheyenne and Arapaho. Blassingame explains:<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/instruction.austincc.edu\/tledupdates\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2023\/03\/IMG_9421-2-1.jpg?resize=150%2C150&ssl=1\")
\n\u201cEverything has meaning.\u00a0 Someone might even know I am Cheyenne just from looking at my beadwork.\u00a0 Other tribes can identify the designs, \u2018She\u2019s Cheyenne\u2019, just by wearing that.\u00a0 One of the colors we are known for is Cheyenne pink.\u201d<\/p>\n
Native American Materials<\/b><\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/instruction.austincc.edu\/tledupdates\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2023\/03\/IMG_9332.jpg?resize=150%2C150&ssl=1\")
Part of Nan\u2019s presentation included showcasing the variety of materials used in Native fashion.\u00a0 She brought porcupine quills to illustrate the difficulty in using this material in crafting jewelry.\u00a0 Traditionally, jewelry makers soaked each quill in their mouth to soften it before use.\u00a0 Now, designers soak each quill in water, a painstaking and time-consuming process.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/instruction.austincc.edu\/tledupdates\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2023\/03\/IMG_9357-1.jpg?resize=150%2C150&ssl=1\")
Another key material used in Native design is beads.\u00a0 Blassingame showcased a wide variety of beads, some so small it takes a trained eye to make use of them in beadwork.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/instruction.austincc.edu\/tledupdates\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2023\/03\/IMG_9380.jpg?resize=150%2C150&ssl=1\")
Historically, Native garments made use of different parts of animals such as elk, deer, and buffalo.\u00a0 Today, many garments use replicas to mimic these materials.\u00a0 The metal cones that are used for jingle dresses were originally made from commodity cans on reservations.\u00a0 Today, they are manufactured by a select few companies.<\/p>\n
Each material in Native fashion is connected to a history, place, community, and culture.<\/p>\n
More Than Fashion: Inspiring the Native American Community<\/b><\/p>\n
Blassingame hopes her fashion can be an inspiration to those in the Native American community, but also serve as a reminder that Native people are still here and involved in pushing fashion forward.\u00a0 She feels passionately about spreading her love and pride for Native fashion to the next generation of Native Americans.\u00a0 Before moving to Texas Nan worked with Native youth in her hometown of Hammon, Oklahoma.\u00a0 Blassingame explained:<\/p>\n
\u201cThat is why I am so passionate about teaching, so it is passed down from generation to generation.\u00a0 They (Native youth) can do it too, even if you are from a small town you can do it.\u00a0 If no one believes in you as long as you believe in yourself you are going to do good.\u201d<\/p>\n
It is with this passion and pride that Nan teaches, designs, and inspires not only her community but those around her.<\/p>\n
The Future for Nan<\/b><\/p>\n
Nan plans to continue making her designs and supporting the Powwow. One of her eventual goals is to continue teaching and inspiring Native youth in Central Texas and back home on the reservation in Oklahoma.\u00a0 According to Nan:<\/p>\n
\u201cI taught a ribbon skirt class back home, a few years ago, in four days we made forty ribbon skirts with the community. To me, it was the smiles on their faces, of accomplishment, like \u2018I made this.\u2019 Just by looking at their faces, I\u2019m accomplished. If they were excited that they made it. Some were like \u2018I\u2019m going to go buy a sewing machine.\u2019 Just the inspiration they get from that.\u201d<\/p>\n
As for Nan\u2019s future,\u00a0 the sky’s the limit with her fashion career, so look for her designs on runways in the U.S. and abroad!<\/p>\n
Native American Heritage Celebration at ACC<\/b><\/p>\n
Nan Blassingame’s presentation was made possible through a collaboration between the ACC Fashion Design Department and the Teaching and Learning Excellence Division (TLED). Special thanks to Victoria Taylor, Dept Chair, ACC Fashion Design.<\/p>\n
To learn more about Blassingame, follow her on instagram @n_a_notions.<\/p>\n