Bucksin Floral Coat

Bucksin Floral Coat

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The "noble savage" is a conceit of the Enlightenment, evidence of the imperialist dialectic between "civilized" Europeans and the "uncivilized" inhabitants of the new and exotic colonies. A common consequence of colonization was the fusion of Western and indigenous dress, as can be seen in the fringed coat of the Métis of North America. Cut in the style of a nineteenth-century frock coat, it is made from buckskin ornamented with floral motifs and roundels.

The Costume Institute

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

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The Costume Institute's collection of more than thirty-three thousand objects represents seven centuries of fashionable dress and accessories for men, women, and children, from the fifteenth century to the present.