My Beautiful Elk Brain Tan Leather

Just Look at the Quality and Size of these Hides!

This is Loren of Circle S Leather showing off the beautiful Elk hides he brain tanned and smoked on both sides for me.

Loren and Liza Stallsmith Circle S Leather - http://Braintanner.com

I could not be more pleased with the results!

Any one who tries to recreate pre-contact garments knows how precious it is to find someone who is making brain tan the old way.


I know several good brain tan tanners, but to my knowledge, Loren and Liza are the only quality Elk Brain Tanners in the country.


As you can see, they are thick, as large Elk hides are, but he has put the work into them to make them supple enough to make a flowing garment.


I should be receiving the hides in the next couple of weeks and will begin construction of this dress at Forts Folle Avoine, in Danbury, Wisconsin, July 18-24, 2011.


Join me in the kitchen as Doyle and I celebrate our Sixth Anniversary of our First Meeting by beginning work on this historic treasure.


(You are more than welcome to help me cut the acres and acres of fringe!)

This dress will be a recreation based on paintings of John Whites watercolors of a first contact Elk hide garment that I found a technically correct version of that had been gifted by tribal people to a good friend of mine in Florida, who graciously lent it to me for study.


Now for the hard part.....pre contact shells or first contact beads or just plain beautiful fringe! (I am basing the long fringe on the letters written at the period of John Whites paintings that comment on Native garments being so long of fringe, they dragged on the ground, and I will get that documented for posterity at a later time.....).

Man's One Arm Sleeve Ties to shoulder, covers back

Also there will be sleeves made for this garment based on an actual one armed sleeve in a museum made for this type of garment and possibly a head dress worn during the era made of shells researched by my Archeological Friend Sheila.