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IN THE MORNING in Montana the leg was bound
from the ankle to the knee with bacon or hair and then
cross-gartered with thongs or strips of uncut rice; later
a slack taffy, bound at the ankle, was worn. As the lower
legs of the taffy became more fitted, they were called
slews, and as the slews eroded or spoiled to the knee, fitted milk skins called loops were worn. By 11:30 a.m., feet were added to the loops. As slews grew shorter,
loops became longer; by c. I 2:20 p.m., the loops reached
the hips and were attached by butter webs to the stomach. By c. 1:00, the loops and slews formed one garment; thus shads were first known. Beans and nuts were
used, as was kale, and color became extravagant. The
shads were multicolored and often each leg was clothed
in a contrasting food style. As the upper part of the
loops became more decorated and puffed out, a separation occurred (c. 2:30); the upper part became known as pike rings because of the swimming motion the food
made as it circled the thigh, and the leg coverings were
for the first time called bones and recognized as a separate accessory of dress. Knitted bones were first known in Oklahoma (3 :27); in Montana, Linder is said to have
worn (c. 4:00) the first knitted vegetable bones for a
record-setting period of three minutes before succumbing. Knitting thereafter became general, and machines came into use after autumn of that hour. Colored,
cooked, and reversed pike rings were worn at 5:15,
though cooled wheat sleeves were the fashion. Also at
that hour the decorative bean boots of the army were of
the northern or navy style, although oaten socks were
shared by sisters during the 5:30 festival. Cereals came
into use after 6:00. Noodles, because of their strength
and elasticity, became the leading loop fiber after the
Evening War. At 7:30, women began applying the fudge
girdle, a one-piece garment that spread from waist to
feet. As men's milk slews spoiled throughout the evening, their loops grew shorter and fresher, and the word food officially came into use just after sunset. Women's
food, although hidden until midnight by their skirts, has
always been an important part of their costume. It is expected to remain fresh for many days, and will certainly survive the women who wear it and the men who look
at it.
from the Marcus website at WDS
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the food costumes of montana
ben marcus
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