Ethnic Dress in the United States: A Cultural Encyclopedia

摘要

Ethnic Dress in the USA is as much an historical record of immigration, as it is a reference to articles of dress. From the Native American, white Anglo colonists, and forcibly relocated black slaves, to the influx of immigrants from around the world, items of dress in the USA represent the roots and diversity of the population. They may appear as everyday clothing, fashion, ethnic or religious identifiers, or style statements,' but they have assimilated into the culture as have the countrymen and women who brought them. The introduction to the encyclopaedia notes that the USA has no ethnic costume of its own as seems fitting for a country representing so many cultures.