Archaeological evidence indicates that the use of Inuit clothing extends far back into prehistory, with significant evidence to indicate that its basic structure has changed little since. The clothing systems of all Arctic peoples (encompassing the Inuit, Iñupiat, and the indigenous peoples of Siberia and the Russian Far East) are similar, and evidence in the form of tools and carved figurines indicates that these systems may have originated in Siberia as early as 22,000 BCE, and in northern Canada and Greenland as early as 2500 BCE. Pieces of garments found at archaeological sites, dated to approximately 1000 to 1600 CE, are very similar to garments from the 17th to mid-20th centuries, which confirms consistency in the construction of Inuit clothing over centuries.
Beginning in the late 1500s, contact with non-Inuit traders and explorers began to have an increasingly large influence on the construction and appearance of Inuit clothing. Imported tools and fabrics became integrated into the traditional clothing system, and premade fabric garments sometimes replaced traditional wear. Adoption of fabric garments was often driven by external pressure to conform to non-Inuit standards of dress, but many Inuit also adopted fabric garments for their own convenience. These voluntary adoptions were often a precursor to the decline or disappearance of traditional styles.
With an increase in cultural assimilation and modernization at the beginning of the 20th century, the production of traditional skin garments for everyday use declined as a result of loss of skills combined with shrinking demand. Formal schooling, particularly during the era of the Canadian Indian residential school system, was destructive to the ongoing cycle of Inuit elders passing down knowledge to younger generations. Wider availability of manufactured clothing and reduced availability of animal pelts further reduced demand for traditional clothing. The combination of these factors resulted in a near-complete loss of traditional clothing-making skills by the 1990s.
Since that time, Inuit groups have made significant efforts to preserve traditional skills and reintroduce them to younger generations in a way that is practical for the modern world. Although full outfits of traditional skin clothing are uncommon overall, they are still seen in the winter and on special occasions. Many Inuit seamstresses today use modern materials to make traditionally-styled garments, leading to the growth of an Inuit-led fashion movement, a subset of Indigenous American fashion. In light of the growing interaction between Inuit clothing and the fashion industry, Inuit groups have raised concerns about the protection of Inuit heritage from cultural appropriation and prevention of genericization of cultural garments like the .
Prehistoric development
Archaeological research on Inuit clothing provides a great deal of insight into the origins of skin clothing system. Individual skin garments are rarely found intact at archaeological sites, as animal hide is highly susceptible to decay, so it is difficult to definitively date the origins of circumpolar skin clothing. Evidence for the earliest origins of the Inuit clothing system is therefore usually inferred from sewing tools and art objects found at archaeological sites.
In what is now Irkutsk Oblast, Siberia, archaeologists have found carved figurines and statuettes at sites originating from the Mal'ta–Buret' culture which appear to be wearing tailored skin garments, although these interpretations have been contested. The age of these figurines indicates that a clothing system similar to that of the Inuit may have been in use in Siberia as early as 22,000 BCE. Prehistoric ivory figurines from the Dorset culture, a Paleo-Inuit culture that lived in what is now northern Canada from approximately 500 BCE to 1500 CE, also appear to show parkas, underpants, and Inuit boots (). Some of these Dorset figures exhibit what appear to be high collars rather than hoods, and it is not clear whether they depict figures with hoods down, or if the parkas worn in that era had no hoods at all.
Tools for skin preparation and sewing made from stone, bone, and ivory, found at prehistoric archaeological sites and consistent with later tools used by the Inuit, confirm that skin clothing was being produced in northern regions of North America and Greenland as early as 2500 BCE. Conversely, the absence of sewing needles at summertime coastal camps indicates that the Dorset may have had taboos forbidding the production of caribou clothing at coastal sites, just as the later Inuit did. Archaeological evidence of seal processing by the Dorset culture has been found at Philip's Garden in the Port au Choix Archaeological Site in the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador. Radiocarbon dating indicates use of the site spanned approximately eight centuries, from about 50 BCE at the earliest to about 770 CE at the latest.
Figurines from the Thule culture era of approximately 1000 to 1600 CE found at archaeological sites in Nunavut, Canada also display features consistent with skin clothing. One ivory figure from Southampton Island displays chest straps reminiscent of the woman's parka, the . A wooden figurine from Ellesmere Island actually has miniature trousers made of bear skin, a feature which Inuit skin clothing expert Betty Kobayashi Issenman noted was, to her knowledge, completely unique on prehistoric figurines. Thule-era ivory figurines collected in Igloolik in 1939 show the large hoods characteristic of the , as well as the rounded tails of women's parkas.
Occasionally, scraps of frozen skin garments or even whole garments are found at archaeological sites. It can be difficult to determine the era of origin owing to the delicacy of these items. Some are believed to come from the Dorset culture era, but the majority are believed to be from the Thule culture era of approximately 1000 to 1600 CE. Although style elements like hood height and flap size have changed, structural elements like patterns, seam positions, and stitching of these remnants and outfits are very similar to garments from the 17th to mid-20th centuries, which confirms significant consistency in construction of Inuit clothing over centuries. For example, one Dorset-era boot sole from Kimmirut (formerly Lake Harbour), Nunavut, dated to 200 CE, is constructed with an identical style to modern boots.
Thule-era garments are similarly consistent with later items, which suggests that the Inuit skin clothing system directly evolved from the Thule system. At Devon Island in Nunavut, Canada, several pieces of frozen skin clothing were found in an archaeological dig conducted in 1985; these items, including an intact child's mitten, have been dated to the early Thule era, around 1000 CE. The pattern and stitching of these garments matches those of modern garments. Clothing items including a , a type of overcoat made of gut-skin, were found at a dig site on Ellesmere Island in 1978. They have been dated to 1200 CE, and are consistent with 20th century gut-skin coats. A group of eight well-preserved and fully dressed mummies were found at Qilakitsoq, an archaeological site on Nuussuaq Peninsula, Greenland, in 1972. They have been carbon-dated to , and extensive research on these garments indicates that they were prepared and sewn in the same manner as modern skin clothing from the Kalaallit people of the region. Archaeological digs in Utqiaġvik, Alaska from 1981 to 1983 uncovered the earliest known samples of caribou and polar bear skin clothing of the Kakligmiut group of Iñupiat, dated to approximately 1510–1826. The construction of these garments indicates that Kakligmiut garments underwent little change between approximately 1500–1850.
As a result of socialization and trade, Inuit groups throughout their history incorporated clothing designs and styles between themselves, as well as from other Indigenous Arctic peoples such as the Chukchi, Koryak, and Yupik peoples of Siberia and the Russian Far East, the Sámi people of Scandinavia, and various non-Inuit North American Indigenous groups. There is evidence indicating that prehistoric and historic Inuit gathered in large trade fairs to exchange materials and finished goods; the trade network that supported these fairs extended across some of Arctic territory.
European contact
Due to a lack of records, it is difficult to pin down the earliest point of contact between Europeans and the Inuit. The Norse had colonies in Greenland from 986 to around 1410, and the Thule began migrating there from North America as early as 800; contact between the groups is believed to have occurred after 1150. Historical records and archaeology indicate that the groups traded as well as fought, and that the Norse did not appear to adopt garments or hunting techniques from the Inuit, who they called skrælings.
Europeans had little contact with the Inuit in the following centuries. Occasionally, sailors would kidnap Inuit from what is now Labrador and bring them to Europe to be exhibited and studied. The Europeans conducting these exhibitions sometimes produced images and written records of their captives, particularly their clothing. The earliest known European depictions of living Inuit were advertising broadsides printed in Germany in 1567, which depict an anonymous Inuk woman and her child who had been kidnapped from Labrador in 1566.
The first real expansion of contact with the Inuit was prompted by the voyages of Martin Frobisher, who from 1576 to 1578 made several attempts to seek the Northwest Passage in the North American Arctic, necessitating contact with the Inuit. Subsequently, hundreds of European ships arrived to hunt seals and whales, trade with the Inuit, and continue the search for the Northwest Passage. Europeans continued to document the details of Inuit clothing during this time, producing the first detailed visual records of Inuit garments. The clothing styles they depict are largely consistent throughout the centuries. For example, Issenman notes that the 1567 broadsides are consistent with a 1654 painting depicting Kalaallit Inuit in traditional skin clothing. In turn, the Kalaallit clothing in that image is similar to that found with the bodies at Qilakitsoq.
After the arrival of Frobisher and his imitators, contact with non-Inuit, especially traders and explorers from America, Europe, and Russia, began to have a greater influence on the construction and appearance of Inuit clothing. Clothing-related items brought by foreigners include trade goods like steel needles and fabric as well as pre-made European garments. While imported garments never fully replaced the traditional clothing complex of the Inuit, they did gain a significant degree of traction in many areas. Figures carved by Inuit following contact include details that indicate the wide adoption of fabric clothing.
Christian missionaries played a significant part in influencing Inuit communities to adopt non-Inuit or "Southern" clothing. Missionaries imposed a religious taboo on nudity where none existed before. Women's clothing was seen as particularly inappropriate, as the cut of certain garments could expose their trousers or even their bare thighs, so they were often pressured into wearing long skirts or dresses to conceal their legs. Adoption of Southern clothes, especially formalwear such as coats and ties, was taken as a visual signifier of conversion to Christianity.