The winter garments of the Eskimo are made from the skins of animals, while only those who can procure European clothing wear anything but skins throughout the year. For winter clothing deerskin is by far the best, and is always used where it can be obtained. When this material is not available, sealskin, or the skins of foxes, wolves, bears and dogs is used, and sometimes the skins of birds. For the summer garments, sealskin is the common material, while waterproof clothing is made from the intestines of the Big seal.

The clothing of both sexes consists of a coat, breeches, stockings and boots. In the winter two suits are worn, the inner with the hair next to the body and the outer one with the hair exposed. The man’s coat is usually made to descend a short distance below the hips, and is cut plain on the bottom. There are no openings in the coat, and it is drawn on over the head. It terminates above in a hood, provided with a drawing string, so that in cold weather the opening may be closed tightly about the face. The bottom is often provided with a fringe hanging several inches below the garment, and made by cutting a band of deerskin into narrow thongs. This fringe becomes entangled with the hair of the lower garment, and serves as a wind-break. The coat, or kulitang, varies somewhat in shape in the various tribes, and the style seems at times to be due to the fancy of the individual. On the east side of Hudson bay the coats are of a moderate length; among the northern Eskimo of Greenland they are quite short and barely reach the tops of the breeches when the man is standing upright, while a wide section of the back is exposed when he bends over. Along the west coast of Hudson bay, among the Aivilliks and Kenipitus, the men’s coats are long, and often have a short apron and tail like those of the women. They are also ornamented by the insertion of white patches of deerskin in the backs and on the sleeves. This white skin is only worn by the women of other tribes. The inner suit is made from light summer skins, while the outer ones are heavy and thick, and are from the deer killed late in the autumn.

The breeches are made loose, and reach from the thigh to a short distance below the knee, where they are quite open to provide ventilation. They are secured to the body by a string in the waistband and have no openings.

The winter boots are usually made of the skin from the legs of the deer, carefully matched and sewn, and the feet are made with the hair inside, so that a pair of low shoes may be worn over them when travelling on the sled. Deerskin socks are worn inside the boots; they are both long and short, and are worn with the hair inside. A pair of deerskin mitts, worn with the hair outside, complete the ordinary costume of a man, but sometimes, in very cold weather, a pair of dogskin shoes are slipped over the ordinary foot-gear when travelling on the sled, as the Eskimo is very careful that his extremities are kept warm and dry.

A man’s summer clothing of sealskin corresponds closely to his deerskin suit. All the garments, except the boots, are made from skins dressed with the hair on, and the hairy side is worn outside. The skins of the foetid seal are commonly used for this purpose, and it is only a very fortunate swell who has a suit from the skins of the harbour seal. The boots are made of skins from which the hair has been shaved off. For the tops, the skin of the foetid seal is used, the bottoms being made from the thicker skin of the big seal.

The women’s clothing consists of garments similar to those worn by the men, but they are cut differently. The coat, in the body, is much looser, and the hood is larger and more open, being prolonged into the back to form a receptacle for the baby, who is carried naked there, the weight being supported by two thongs sewn to the shoulders in front and which, crossing the breast are attached under the arms. Unlike the men’s coats, those of the women have an apron, reaching nearly to the knee in front, and a longer tail behind. The inner coat is often ornamented with beads or fancy strips of skin, while the outer garment is decorated with strips and patches of white deerskin, all very neatly appliquÉ. On the east side of Hudson bay the women wear breeches and boots very similar in cut to those of the men, but on the west coast they are quite dissimilar. There the breeches are very loose, and reach almost to the ankles, where they are gathered in. Between the knee and ankle they have a curious bag on the outer side of the leg, which is used for their feet when seated within the snow-houses, the footwear being removed and the feet withdrawn inside the breeches and thrust into these bags—a very comfortable plan. With such long and clumsy looking breeches, short shoes and socks must be worn.

The women arrange their hair in different fashions, often attempting to follow those set by their more civilized sisters of the trading stations. For example, the prevailing fashion on the east side of Hudson bay is to wear the hair cut short, like that of the wife of the officer of the Hudson’s Bay Company at Great Whale river. About Cumberland gulf the hair is usually put up in a knot on the back of the head, and this is sometimes varied by small side knots over the ears. Among the Aivilliks and Kenipitus, the prevailing fashion is two rolled braids wound with string or ribbon, one over each ear. The hair when dressed for native state occasions is separated into two side locks, each of which is covered by a highly ornamented covering sewn with beads, and worn as long cylinders hanging down over the breasts.

The children’s clothing, when they wear any, is very similar to that of the grown people, except that the girls, until they are nearly mature, are not provided with tailed coats. Infants are carried perfectly naked in their mother’s hoods until they are about two years old.