Folk costume is the visible, outward badge of folk-group identity, worn consciously to express that identity. In the peasant cultures of Europe, identity was determined geographically, and the local costumes expressed locality, region, or province. In the United States, where the peasant culture concept does not fit the historical situation, the term folk costume can be used to describe the dress of all traditional regional, ethnic, occupational, and sectarian groups, from the Allegheny frontiersman to the Cajun, and from the cowboy to the Amishman (Yoder 295). -- Don Yoder, "Folk Costume"
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