Buckskin Clothier
©Bert Gildart: Listen up holiday shoppers. In just slightly over a month it’ll be Christmas, and if you want to make an impression on your significant other check out Buckskin Clothier and you’ll get lots of ideas. (Contact info is also on the web.) The business is owned by Elaine Snyder who excels in making fashionable works from tanned hides.
Originally I thought the purse shown here would, in fact, be a Christmas gift, but then I reconsidered, concluding that because Janie has endured more than her fair share of health problems this year that I’d give her something a month early to add some extra cheer.
Something really special!
The gift accomplished what I wanted, and so I’m passing on this recommendation. Believe me, creations from Buckskin Clothier are not fly-by-night productions.
The media has long known of Elaine’s skills — and Gail Jokerst, a local media talent — wrote about Elaine and her business for one of her regional columns, saying that Elaine has transformed hundreds of tanned deer, antelope, elk, moose, and buffalo hides into unique WEARABLE ART. “Your tanned hides or mine?” queries Elaine. “SEW BE IT!”
AWARDS FOR HER ART
Jokerst’s story goes on to say that in January, 2009 Elaine was inducted into Montana’s Circle of American Masters as a Master Tailor in Buckskin. The Montana Arts Council also chose her in their first round of 11 inductees to the Montana Circle of American Masters in Visual Folk and Traditional Arts in 2009. Elaine was chosen as a buckskin tailor, “in recognition of artistic excellence for a body of work and contribution to the preservation of the state’s cultural heritage.”
Today, lots of her clients are baby boomers that know and appreciate leather craftsmanship, though she sometimes sells to younger rodeo riders. Elaine told me there have been times when she has noticed a gal on television wearing one of her “Sweetheart of the Rodeo” jackets or a guy wearing one of her buckskin vests. Wrote Jokerst, “Like a mother who intimately knows what her own child looks like, Elaine instantly recognizes one of her creations.”
And here I should add that I, too, wear one of her vests. With a string tie I wear it for formal occasions, and no one ever looks at me askance.
Check out the antler rosette, beautiful fringe, and the exquisite stitching!
And now a brief note about the purse, which is made from the hide of a deer. Check out the antler rosette, the beautiful fringe and look at all that perfect stitching.
Janie says anyone who has a buckskin vest (as she does from a previous purchase) and a purse from Elaine’s Buckskin Clothier is indeed a lucky person.
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AIRSTREAM TRAVELS THIS TIME LAST YEAR:
4th ed. Autographed by the Authors
Hiking Shenandoah National Park
Hiking Shenandoah National Park is the 4th edition of a favorite guide book, created by Bert & Janie, a professional husband-wife journalism team. Lots of updates including more waterfall trails, updated descriptions of confusing trail junctions, and new color photographs. New text describes more of the park’s compelling natural history. Often the descriptions are personal as the Gildarts have hiked virtually every single park trail, sometimes repeatedly.
Big Sky Country is beautiful
Montana Icons: 50 Classic Symbols of the Treasure State
Montana Icons is a book for lovers of the western vista. Features photographs of fifty famous landmarks from what many call the “Last Best Place.” The book will make you feel homesick for Montana even if you already live here. Bert Gildart’s varied careers in Montana (Bus driver on an Indian reservation, a teacher, backcountry ranger, as well as a newspaper reporter, and photographer) have given him a special view of Montana, which he shares in this book. Share the view; click here.
$16.95 + Autographed Copy
What makes Glacier, Glacier?
Glacier Icons: 50 Classic Views of the Crown of the Continent
Glacier Icons: What makes Glacier Park so special? In this book you can discover the story behind fifty of this park’s most amazing features. With this entertaining collection of photos, anecdotes and little known facts, Bert Gildart will be your backcountry guide. A former Glacier backcountry ranger turned writer/photographer, his hundreds of stories and images have appeared in literally dozens of periodicals including Time/Life, Smithsonian, and Field & Stream. Take a look at Glacier Icons
$16.95 + Autographed Copy
