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The national costume of Kyrgyzstan hasn’t changed much for the last almost 700 years. A lot of garments remain practically identical to vintage items. But, of course, slight changes occur with time – mainly in decoration and details of the outfit or sometimes in the cut. For instance, modern Kyrgyz folk dresses can be shorter and more fitting, while the traditional embroidery patterns are still used to embellish them. But let’s look at 5 curious features of Kyrgyz national male and female costume.
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- Category: Kyrgyzstan
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Today, we have a wide choice of maternity clothing available, designed and made specifically for this purpose. But what about women in the 1700s? What choice did they have during pregnancy? We all know that females wore corsets in daily life at the time. The question is, can a corset hurt the baby, or is it a useful asset for a future mother? In this article, we’ll try to find out the answers to all those questions.
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- Category: Nationalclothing
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Slavic countries have very curious hair traditions. And this time, we’ll talk about Hungary and its folk hairstyles and headwear. The local women strictly preserved their old traditions regarding hair up to the mid-20th century. In some villages, these traditions still exist, though they’re not as widespread. In the past, say 100-200 years ago, it was a big deal as to what hairdo and headpiece a little girl, young maiden, bride, married woman with and without children, elderly woman, spinster, or widow uses. Every marital and social status needed to be showed off by the woman’s appearance and easily recognized by other people.
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- Category: Hungary
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The Georgian-era jewelry pieces are very elegant and tasteful items, despite often being made from artificial materials. And the jewelry makers of the period were skilled and imaginative – jewels made from foiled stones and rhinestones, iron and steel jewelry, micro-mosaic jewelry pieces, and a large variety of fake gems are the best proof to this opinion. The 18th – first third of the 19th century was a great time for jewelry lovers, but it had some difficulties and peculiarities of its own. So, let’s look at Georgian-era jewels a little closer and find out which materials are typical for this period.
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- Category: Nationalclothing
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In several African countries, women wear a beautiful flowing outfit called “mushanana”. At first glance, it may look like the fabric is a little carelessly thrown over the body, but it isn’t like that. Women in Africa just need some thin and flowing layers of cloth to protect their skin from the hot sun. And this attire is perfect – formal enough to be worn for any occasion, festive, flattering, and comfortable at the same time. This outfit is mostly popular among the women of Rwanda, Uganda, and Burundi.
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These traditional belts were popular among the men of the Carpathian Mountains. They were not only beautiful and decorative but also functional because they protected the body during weightlifting and even served as armor against knives and bullets. In this area, men often work at tree felling and transporting the wood, so they need special protection for their back and stomach. And this extremely wide leather belt does all that perfectly, and looks great in addition. Also, this accessory is an important part of the local folk costume.
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- Category: Nationalclothing
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The women of Hmong and Miao origin wear this headdress with their national costumes. Of course, there are several sub-ethnic groups that belong to Miao and Hmong, but this particular headpiece is one of the most widespread hats among the local communities. It is bright, eye-catching, and, at the same time, rather cheap to make, so women love it. Also, it’s a distinctive feature that marks people of Miao and Hmong ethnic groups and helps them know each other among so many other minorities of China, Vietnam, Laos, Thailand, and other Asian countries where these people live.
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- Category: China
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In many cultures around the world, hair is considered sacred and an important part of human appearance and even of the local culture. The hairstyle and hair accessories often showed the status in society, age, marital status, gender, and other info about a person. For example, in Slavic countries, it was traditional for unmarried girls to braid their hair and for married women to wear it covered under coifs, bonnets, kerchiefs, etc. Practically every area in Eastern Europe has its own hairstyle traditions, customs, and superstitions. Let’s look at the ones typical for unmarried females in Hungary.
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- Category: Hungary
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At the beginning of the 1800s in Europe, the Regency and Empire fashion styles thrived. We’ve already written a lot about stylish outfits of these periods, but this topic demands more attention. So, we dedicated this article to graceful men’s costumes of the Regency era. Delicate male gloves, which were an absolutely obligatory item for a ball, extravagant neckpieces, and breeches replaced by full-length trousers – these are only a few spoilers for you.
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- Category: Nationalclothing
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Peruvian women love these adorable and eye-catching skirts. They’re so bright! Though such full skirts aren’t very flattering to most female figures, somehow they suit the local women just fine. Moreover, Peruvian ladies even wear up to 10 polleras one on top of another to make the silhouette look ampler. Believe it or not, plenty of polleras used in Peru today are handmade, with a hand-woven border to embellish them. Despite industrially-produced clothes being so available these days, Peruvians continue to honor their old clothing traditions.
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- Category: Peru
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Our ancestors, no matter in what part of the world they lived, used different weaving looms to produce the fabric and make clothes from it. There is a big variety of looms that existed throughout human history – backstrap looms, vertical warp-weighted looms, drawlooms, horizontal four-post looms, pegged looms, pit looms, etc. Various constructions of looms were popular in different regions, time periods, cultures, etc. Today, we’ll take a closer look at the horizontal floor loom, one of the most widespread devices used in the 17th – early 20th century.
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- Category: Nationalclothing
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The Háromszék area in Transylvania has old and rich clothing traditions. Though this region was already industrially and technically developed in the mid-19th century, the local people kept their authentic clothing styles until late in the 20th century. And one of those archaic and favored by most women garments was the traditional bodice, a cute form-fitting piece that had a whole list of advantages. Today, women still happily wear these folk bodices as a part of traditional attire during festivals, folk celebrations, and other special occasions.
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- Category: Hungary
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The folk dress of Tibet looks charming. Especially their charming outerwear called “chuba” that can tell so much about the wearer. In the past, there was a tradition for Tibetan men to wear a sheepskin chuba over the naked upper body, with the right arm left bare. It was the ultimate show of masculinity and machismo to go out like this during harsh Tibetan winters. Even today, in the 21st century, chuba still remains a significant part of Tibetan culture and lifestyle – the locals wear it in winter because no modern outer garment can be as warm and comfy.
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- Category: Tibet
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Northern regions of Ukraine are a swampy woodland area. The lifestyle of local people differed a lot from those in other regions. For example, they traditionally used materials and food the forest gave them, while Ukrainians from other territories mostly survived from farming. Also, the local climate is a bit colder and more humid, with hordes of midge everywhere, so people often preferred to wear woven clothes and thicker fabrics. Their traditional footwear was bast shoes because birch, willow, or other tree bark was available in large quantities.
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- Category: Ukraine
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