When I think of Navajo clothing I think of the grandmothers. It’s always great to see a Navajo grandma at the store or at the flea market (or even herding sheep) wearing traditional clothes.

When going about their daily activities, most Navajo people wear modern clothing – simply pants and shirts.

Our dad is almost always wearing jeans, work-boots, and a black t-shirt. The same pretty much goes for mom – jeans or sweat pants and a plain or collared shirt.

For our wedding, though, both of them wore traditional clothing.

For women, traditional Navajo clothing looks like this……..

When it comes to their hair, it is rolled into a tight bun and sometimes decorated with a silver ornament.

The blouse they wear is usually long sleeve, but I have seen some Navajo women wearing short sleeves. When short sleeves are worn, their bracelets stand out.

Navajo jewelry is definitely a part of traditional clothing. The women not only wear silver bracelets, but also wear sash belts, necklaces, and earrings.

The sash belt is a woven belt and resembles Navajo rugs. It usually has some type of design. It can be worn alone or it can be worn with a concho belt.

The skirt is usually velvet or cotton and runs down to the feet.

Moccasins are the traditional footwear. They differ slightly for women and men. Navajo Moccasins for women cover the foot and are wrapped around the lower leg, up to the knee.

For women, there are also traditional Navajo dresses. My wife wore one at our wedding. The traditional dress is velvet with a tiered skirt. All of the same jewelry is still worn. Bracelets decorate the wrists, necklaces, earrings, and both sash and concho belts are also worn.

Here is a picture showing Miss Navajo, Crystal Frazier. She is wearing a traditional Navajo dress and traditional jewelry as well.

As for the men, the original Navajo clothing was made from deer skin. In fact, nearly all of the original clothing, for both men and women, was made of deer skin.

Men wore moccasins similar to the women. The only difference is that the moccasins did not wrap up the knee. They stopped just above the ankle.

After the Spanish and Mexican influence, the men wore leggings that came down just below the knee. For a formal occasion regular pants are worn. During our wedding, I wore a pair of white pants made by a Navajo woman.

The man’s shirt is and was crushed velvet. It is long sleeve, remains open near the neck, and is fastened near the wrists with a traditional cuff pin (like a cuff link).

Jewelry is also a prominent part of the traditional clothing. For our wedding, I wore two bracelets, a concho belt, and a bolo tie. My cuff pins and bolo tie were also traditional Navajo jewelry.

Our wedding was really something special. Seeing all of our family (my wife’s side) in traditional Navajo clothing was beautiful. Our little nephews were running around in their jewelry and moccasins. And all the men and women looked great!

Take a look below and get a glimpse of traditional clothing.