15 Must Items For a Full Outfit For Men’s Fancy

There’s a lot of people who want to dance Men’s fancy but don’t know where to start. There are also parents and guardians who want to get their loved ones dancing and also don’t know where to start.

In this blog post, let us share with you how to get your outfit started, what you all need, and maybe even get you dancing at your first Powwow.

First here is the checklist:

1. Moccasins
2. Furs
3. Back flaps
4. Bells
5. Aprons
6. Belt
7. Dancing Shirt
8. Top Apron
9. Armbands
10. Cuffs
11. Scarf
12. Headband
13. Roach
14. Rockers and Feathers
15. Bustles and Backboards

These are the items that you will need to start dancing fancy. There are a couple options to go about getting a full outfit.

1. Make everything yourself
2. Order everything from artist
3. A combination of 1 & 2

Okay let’s go over the things you need, what they are for, and how they look.

Moccasins – ($200 – $1,300)

Moccasins are what you put on your feet to dance on. I have found a few people who are very reliable when it comes to making moccasins. The price range for Moccasins range in between $200-$1,300.

Here are my moccasins that I actually made myself and are a little warn out.

https://www.facebook.com/manny.campbell

I ordered a bunch of moccasins from Manny Campbell and has delivered each time in a very respectable time frame. His range for prices has been $500-700 CAD.

If you message Manny for Moccasins, make sure you mentioned Patrick sent you their way.

Another person we successful ordered Moccasins from is SweeterMoccs from Instagram.

https://www.instagram.com/sweetermoccs1/

His moccasins that he makes are a bit more expensive, but the quality is amazing. He is very reliable and we got our order in good fashion.

Dancing Furs

The dancing furs are what tie on your leg just below your knee. Some of the furs are made from nylon string and also from sheep.

Here is how the furs look like.

They also look very cool when you add ribbons to the furs as well.

The prices for furs vary on size. You can expect a price range from $50-300.

One very reliable person that we order from all the time is Curtis Miller.

https://www.facebook.com/cujo.gansta

Actually Curtis can help you get a lot of the accessories needed for a fancy dance regalia.

Back Flaps – $50-$150

The back flaps will go behind your furs. It adds an extra component to make your legs look good when dancing, but also it covers the gap left from the furs.

They are like mini aprons and many will go through the process of making them as nice as possible.

You will need a seamstress to get these done for you if you don’t do it yourself.

Bells – $100 – $250

You need bells when you dance fancy. The bells let everyone know you are dancing on beat and add that extra flare when you are dancing.

Again for bells there are two good sources that we use with very good results.

https://www.facebook.com/cujo.gansta

https://www.facebook.com/manny.campbell

Aprons – $200-$300

Aprons are what ties around your hips and hang in the front and back of your thigh area.

Here is where you can design your aprons to fit your tribe or preference. I use floral designs because with my Cree culture, we use a lot of florals for designs.

There are a lot of people who will do your sewing, the problem with my contacts is that they are always booked solid for sewing.

One person you can ask that is not as busy but always delivers with good prices is:

https://www.facebook.com/gabby.cardinal

She does a lot of the sewing that you would actually need for a fancy dance outfit.

Let her know that Marrisa Moccasin sent you.

Belt & Side Drops – $150-$250

The belt is what goes around your waist and adds that much needed look to a fancy dance regalia.

There are a few people we rely on when it comes to making dancing belts.

We use Curtis Miller again to make our belts and he is very reliable in getting it all done.

Another person if you want really nice leather work done is Theron Black.

https://www.facebook.com/theron.black.50

Let him know that Patrick Mitsuing sent you their way.

Side Drops – $200-$500

Side drops are what go on the sides of the belt and will hang down.

You can make your side drop in a few ways.

1. You can bead your side drop
2. You can get leather work side drop
3. You can use just fabric and sewing
4. Or you can get velveteen and do some beadwork on top

I like to get my side drops beaded because it looks really nice. For my son who is a Junior boys fancy, we use fabric for his side drops.

Theron, Gabby, and Curtis can help you get your side drops done.

Dancing Shirt – $100-$200

I like to have a few dancing shirts on the go because we sweat when we dance. It’s good to have a few fresh dancing shirts that are ready to go throughout the weekend.

For fancy dancing, it is good to have a design around the elbow area and the bottom sides of the shirt. This is because that is what shows on the shirt when dancing and spinning.

Again you can use Gabby and Curtis to get your dancing shirts done. (Links above).

Armbands and Sticks – $250-$300

Armbands and sticks are the feather work that will go on the arms and hands. Here you are using hackle feathers that you can buy here. You can make these on your own and actually are pretty easy to make. The only thing is that you use a lot of hackle feathers which can cost you some good money.

Usually for a half pound of hackle, you are looking at $100.

That is enough to get a row done on each arm.

Cuffs – $100-$200

Cuffs are what will go around your wrists when you are dancing. I like to get mine fully beaded, but you can use leather or fabric.

Here is how the cuffs look when fully beaded.

Scarf – $15 – $100

Scarf is what goes around your neck area. Using a scarf also covers up all the strings used to tie the roach on.

Another set of scarves I use is for the armbands area and will hang just in your armpit area.

You can use a simple scarf that you find at an Indigenous craft store or sew a custom made scarf that you will order from a seamstress.

Headband – $50-$200

Headband is a must that you need around your forehead area. You can get really intricate with your headband and make it look really nice. Experiment with using beadwork or even leatherwork would look really nice.

Here is how my headband looks.

Dancing Roach – $200 – $3,000+

Dancing roaches give you a great look when dancing fancy. The best is when it matches the colour scheme for your outfit.

You can get a starter roach for around $200-$400 and for a really nice professional roach will go for $3,000+.

If you want to go for the best of the best roaches, you can contact

https://www.instagram.com/furiouslyfancy/

Let him know that Patrick sent you and you are looking for the top of the line roaches. Be ready to pay $3,000+ for this roach.

If you are more on a budget and want to pay less, then reach out to:

https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100069898536616

My friend Perry runs the Wild West gallery and has a good collection of roaches. The price ranges from $300-$1,200 range. He also ships out directly to you for your convenience.

Rocker and Feathers – $100 – $250

The rocker is what is going to go on top of the roach. It will rock back and forth and go along with the beat of the drum.

The feathers that go on the roach are a little more tricky. You usually earn your Eagle feathers that go on the roach. A good starter feathers would be imitation Eagle feathers or Hawk feathers. You can get these feathers from Wild West gallery on the link just above.

A good person who makes rockers would be Jarrett Whitefish.

https://www.facebook.com/jwhitefish

Let him know that you are looking for a rocker and he will make you a good one.

Bustles & Backboards – $800 – $3,000

Bustles are what gives the fancy dancer that classic Men’s fancy dance look.

These tie on the back of the dancer. One on the top near the neck and shoulder area. The other one will be lower around the waist area.

Our company Powwow Times has created a full course on how to make bustles that you can find here:

https://www.makebustles.com

There you can get step by step instructions on how to make your own bustles, but also links to where to buy the materials needed for the bustle making.

Here is how a full outfit should look when put on.

Take a look.