The Clothing and Ornamentation of Aboriginal Australians were basically traditional. Although Aboriginal people in most regions went naked, they wore various kinds of personal ornaments, including armbands, headbands, pendants, necklaces, and bracelets. Depending on available resources, they made these decorative objects from shell, bone, animal teeth and claws, woven and coiled fibers, or tufts of feather and fur. In the colder climate of southeastern Australia, people wore cloaks of sewn possum skin; in southwestern Australia the cloaks were of kangaroo skin. In Tasmania, where the climate was often cold and damp, people covered themselves in red ochre and animal fat to help keep warm, as well as with kangaroo skins.
Hair was styled and decorated in a variety of ways. Women in desert regions often wove colorful seeds into their hair. In parts of Arnhem Land, men plucked their facial hair to create a goatee-style beard. In Tasmania, hair was coated with red ochre. Throughout Australia, the bodies of both men and women were enhanced with scarification (cutting the skin to produce decorative scars), mainly on the chest, arms, and back. On ceremonial occasions, men and women painted their faces and bodies with elaborate geometrical designs of spiritual significance. The Clothing and Ornamentation of Aboriginal Australians however reflected their traditional culture.
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