Fashion at European Contact and Conquest

Published: July 28, 2026 · Updated: July 28, 2026

At European contact and conquest, European and Indigenous dress met: Europeans in tailored clothing and armour, Indigenous peoples in traditional dress, as glass beads and cloth began to enter Indigenous dress through trade.

Fashion at European Contact and Conquest — Author: Theodor de Bry, after John White (1590) Public domain Source

Overview

After 1492, two worlds met and dress too mingled — and clashed.

Key garments and style

Spanish and other conquerors brought Western clothing such as the doublet and armour. Indigenous peoples kept their cotton and hide dress, but trade glass beads, metal and wool cloth were taken into adornment and embroidery. Conquest and disease gravely damaged Indigenous societies and their dress.

Transition

In the colonial era, transplanted European dress took root across the continent.

History of this period

European contact and conquest 1492–1600