National Historic Trails Fashion Inspiration (U.S. National Park Service)

What inspires your sense of style?
Historical fashion trends? Natural environments? Style icons?

During NPS Fashion Week, we are exploring some ways fashion inspiration may be found on National Historic Trails (NHTs). On NHTs you’ll find intriguing colors, shapes, textures, histories, and stories. From golden sunsets to feathered hats, NHTs have diverse natural and cultural environments that can inspire the fashionista in us all!

Colors of the Trails

Did we just (color) forecast your fall palette? National Historic Trails (NHTs) can be found across the United States. They wind through beautiful, diverse cultural and natural landscapes. Explore these color palettes inspired by NHTs and you just might find your fall look—inspired by Trails!

Three photos of natural sites with color blocks below featuring key colors from the photos. Photo 1 is a red rock cliff. Photo 2 is the adobe block foundation of ruins. Photo 3 is a mountainous terrain with winding road. — National Historic Trails Color Palettes from the California, El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro, and Pony Express National Historic Trails
Image/NPS

Three photos of natural sites with color blocks below featuring key colors from the photos. Photo 1 is an aqueduct filled with blue water. Photo is a rocky hill and covered wagons. Photo 2 is a red rock canyon. — National Historic Trails Color Palettes from the El Camino de los Tejas, Oregon, and Old Spanish National Historic Trails
Image/NPS

An illustration of a women in period dress, wearing historic bloomers. — A woman wearing historic bloomers.
Currier and Ives/Wikimedia Commons/Public Domain/Bloomers Costume

The past is so hot right now

Aside from their natural beauty, NHTs offer another form of fashion inspiration through their history. Fashion trends of the past played a role in creating the fashions of today. Some NHTs helped spread fashions across the US—and even the world!

Bloomers were a “shocking” fashion trend worn on the NHTs including the California, Oregon, and Santa Fe Trails. Defined by puffy pantaloons under a short skirt, bloomers were a practical choice on the trails. They prevented skirts from snagging on vegetation and dragging across damp or muddy ground. More conservative travelers mocked the bloomer girls for their "immodesty," however, so most women stuck with their long skirts. The dress reform movement which inspired the “bloomer costume” led to US women’s fashion as we know it today.

Feeling inspired?

Feeling inspired by National Historic Trails? Design your own NHT fashion look! Download the template below or start from scratch. Then, share your NHT-inspired designs with us.