amber
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posted on February 15, 2008 10:52:39 AM
I purchased a couple of old sewing patterns recently. One was what I thought was a square dance skirt, but when I got home and looked at the back, I find it is called a Squaw skirt. Would it be offensive if I use that term? It would certainly make a great square dance skirt, but I am not sure if I can call it that in the title if it's not what is on the pattern.I certainly don't want to offend anybody.
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annekila
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posted on February 15, 2008 10:58:52 AM
You could put both...but the squaw skirt could be in quotes.
I just did a search on Squaw skirts..you won't be alone
[ edited by annekila on Feb 15, 2008 11:01 AM ]
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fluffythewondercat
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posted on February 15, 2008 11:15:15 AM
I wouldn't put it in quotes. Think a moment about how people search. They enclose search terms in quotes.
Squaw skirt is perfectly fine, unless someone changed the name of Squaw Valley to Hoochie Mama Valley and forgot to tell me.
fLufF
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Who are those batty old women and why are they wearing silly hats?.
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cblev65252
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posted on February 15, 2008 11:28:26 AM
unless someone changed the name of Squaw Valley to Hoochie Mama Valley and forgot to tell me.
ROFLMAO! Good one.
Cheryl
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roadsmith
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posted on February 15, 2008 12:14:53 PM
High school girls like me, in Phoenix in the 50s, call them squaw dresses or squaw skirts, and we all had to have them. The Goldwater kids and the Udall kids set the style standards for all of us at North Phoenix HS. The ultimate was to own a squash blossom necklace. I never did.
When I went to college in the midwest, it took me just a day or two to discover that my squaw dress looked like a stage costume to others. Never wore it again.
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amber
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posted on February 15, 2008 01:20:38 PM
Thanks so much for the help. I grew up in England, and different words are good/bad in different cultures. I had never heard of a squaw skirt, maybe because there were no squaws in England. I will use both names, I know that people still buy Square dance patterns.
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pixiamom
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posted on February 15, 2008 01:33:14 PM
Amber, although "squaw skirt" may be acceptable, squaw is considered a derogatory name - for future reference.
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photosensitive
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posted on February 15, 2008 01:41:57 PM
And in Texas we did not iron them but tied them damp around a broom handle. Made nifty little pleats.
edited to add - Squaw is indeed politically incorrect but that is what they were called. When I write copy for some photographic subjects on my web site I will start with "In a less enlightened age this was called ..."
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“The illiterate of the future will be the person ignorant of the use of the camera as well as of the pen.”
Maholy-Nagy, Vision in Motion, 1947
[ edited by photosensitive on Feb 15, 2008 01:44 PM ]
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Libra63
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posted on February 15, 2008 03:35:08 PM
I had a squaw when I was young. Lived in Northern Minnesota. It was made of polished cotton with the three tiers. It was not as long as a square dance skirt and not as full. Some were made with different fabric in each tier. We did call them squaw skirts and they were very popular. My mother did all our sewing and making those gathers were rather hard.
Wow! that was a blast from the past....
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kraftdinner
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posted on February 15, 2008 04:13:32 PM
I had a squaw when I was young
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neglus
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posted on February 15, 2008 04:23:52 PM
Sometimes it's ok to list things that not pc, and sometimes it's not.
I can't bring myself to list this postcard:
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http://stores.ebay.com/Moody-Mommys-Marvelous-Postcards?refid=store
[ edited by neglus on Feb 15, 2008 04:24 PM ]
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amber
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posted on February 15, 2008 04:44:00 PM
Thanks, I did have a feeling that it was no longer pc. I hope it will be alright to use it when that is what the pattern calls it.
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roadsmith
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posted on February 15, 2008 05:19:48 PM
Photo: Yes, I remember the broomstick bit! Of course there are broomstick skirts still sold in boutiques, but not quite the same. The squaw dresses we coveted and wore were rather gaudily decorated with rickrack and Indian designs here and there.
Jeez, I even remember starching my crinolines with sugar water, hanging them on the line to drip dry.
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mcjane
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posted on February 15, 2008 05:32:25 PM
Yikes neglus, if that isn't a sick, sick sense of humor then what is.
Easy to understand why you would not list it & glad to know you never.
It's a sad thing & something to be ashamed of that we took this country from the Indians rather that share it.
And then some scum prints a postcard like that & thinks it's clever/funny.
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photosensitive
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posted on February 15, 2008 06:46:40 PM
Boy has this thread dredged up the memories. Yikes I just flashed on the pink suede moccasins with beads on the toe that I wore with the squaw skirt! :-0
-----o----o----o----o----o----o----o----o
“The illiterate of the future will be the person ignorant of the use of the camera as well as of the pen.”
Maholy-Nagy, Vision in Motion, 1947
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amber
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posted on February 15, 2008 07:30:31 PM
This my squaw skirt pattern. I take it that it is from the 1950's, it is not dated. The envelope is quite tatty, but the pattern is complete.
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pixiamom
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posted on February 15, 2008 07:35:12 PM
Definitely 1950's. In Nebraska, we called it bric-brac.
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niel35
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posted on February 15, 2008 07:38:40 PM
these skirts are very like what the Seminoles wear
BLUE NATIVE INDIAN SKIRT SEMINOLE MICCOSUKEE, FL
Item number: 220199854016
[ edited by niel35 on Feb 15, 2008 11:12 PM ]
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roadsmith
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posted on February 15, 2008 10:05:12 PM
Amber: Sure looks familiar! You can see how the squash-blossom necklace would work well in that neckline. Sigh. It was never to be.
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