Algerian karakou avaThe traditional clothing of Algeria is absolutely charming and very regal-looking. Especially women’s garments, not to mention bridal outfits. Rich costly fabrics, gold and silver embroidery densely covering the surface, lush massive jewelry, and intricate headdresses. And among the most beautiful and ornate Algerian traditional garments for ladies are two wonderful pieces – a djeba and a karakou. They have a lot in common, so let’s talk about both these items of clothing.

Necklace13 avaWe often think about our far ancestors, people who lived millennia of years ago, as dumb, undeveloped, uncivilized creatures who knew nothing about art and culture. But that’s not true. Thousands of years back, people already created wonderful masterpieces – jewelry, decorative statues, tapestry, accessories, weaponry, musical instruments, and so on and so forth. In this post, we’ll look at some of the most outstanding and intricate ancient beaded jewelry items that date back thousands of years.

Mule shoes avaIn the 16th century, both men and women loved to wear mules – backless high-heeled shoes. This footwear was the top trend and shoemakers produced really beautiful and highly decorated shoes, true masterpieces. Some would even say mules were too embellished, especially because male mules didn’t differ very much from female mules. Both were adorned with bows, embroidery, prints, beads, buckles, fringe, etc, and had rather high heels.

Japan makeup avaUsually, we write about traditional clothing, folklore costumes, and the history of fashion, but makeup is another aspect of traditional clothing culture. In some countries, makeup is as important as the folk attire itself. So, we’ve decided to gather all the posts about traditional makeup here to help you with any research papers, homework assignments, college essays, courseworks, and other educational projects. Also, we specified whether you have permission to use the photos from each post. You’re welcome to use this info.

Cambodian folk dress avaMen and women in Cambodia wear a traditional garment for the lower body called “sampot”. There are many variations of this skirt – sampot chang kben, sampot charobab, sampot lbaeuk, etc – depending on the design, wearer’s status, purpose of the attire, and so on. A sampot has been widespread in Southeast Asia since the 1st-6th century A.D. And even today, Khmer men and women continue to wear sampots for special occasions or in daily life.

Petticoat avaIn the 18th century, all of the European and American ladies wore petticoats under their skirts. Petticoats were rather voluminous, usually quilted. They gave the needed fashionable silhouette (hiding the outlines of women’s legs) and provided warmth, as the climate was somewhat colder at the time. In the early 1700s, women started to wear dresses open in the front, so they used fine petticoats, often adorned with embroidery or intricate quilting motifs, that peeked from under the skirt. Here are several beautiful examples of 18th-century petticoats.

Viking mitten avaAncient clothing artifacts are extremely rare because fabric disintegrates quickly. And it’s a startler when archaeologists discover clothes in the ground or ice. So, when a Viking hand-woven lost mitten was found in the melting ice of Norwegian mountains, the scientific community went wild with excitement. This time, it was one of a kind discovery, as there were no similar discoveries anywhere else in the world.

Motovylo avaToday, we buy industrially-made clothes that are cheap and super easy to find. But only 150 years ago, most people had to make their own clothing. They grew flax, cotton, and hemp, bred sheep, alpacas, camels, etc to have the material for the yarn and fabric. Creating a garment was a real challenge and hard labor. They used many original tools, sometimes rather bizarre-looking but very handy, for processing the fibers (crimping, carding, combing) and the yarn (spinning, dyeing, weaving). We’ve found for you the top 5 most unique and awe-inspiring old folk craft tools. You probably haven’t even heard about some of them.

The Empress avaThe Empress or Die Kaiserin is a 2022 German historical drama series on the life of Empress Elisabeth of Austria. This series was released on Netflix on the 29th of September, 2022. In this post, we’ll be doing an analysis of the costumes by Swiss costume designer Gabrielle Reumer. These movie costumes weren’t supposed to be accurate in the first place, so there are a lot of such things as corsets worn as outer garments, no headdresses on the women, or the main character wearing contemporary sunglasses. But still, the show costumes in The Empress are lovely and eye-catching.

Spanish espadrilles avaThese shoes are popular throughout South America and in some European countries as well. They’re worn with the traditional apparel, folk dance costumes, and with modern clothes alike. Originally, peasant footwear, they turned into urban workers’ shoes and then, into casual contemporary footwear. They are really comfy and eco-friendly, so espadrilles/alpargatas are a wonderful example of universal shoes made in the style that exists for millennia.

Spadok8 avaThe variety of outerwear around the world is stunning. All those coats, jackets, mantles, cloaks, parkas, raincoats, and many more garments people use to keep their bodies warm and cozy in colder seasons. To help you with any research papers, college essays, homework assignments, courseworks, and other educational projects, we’ve gathered all our posts about outer garments from different countries and historical eras in one place. Also, we specified whether you have permission to use the photos from each post. You’re welcome to use this info.

kitenge avaIf you thought that a sarong, pareo, or kitenge – rectangular piece of cloth you can wrap yourself in – has only one or two functions, than this post is for you. We’ll tell you about at least 5 curious ways of using this piece of traditional clothing. The African kitenge is a very common and very handy item worn by women in West, East, and Central Africa. It’s dyed with cheerful traditional prints or can even have Swahili sayings or political slogans (that’s a modern invention) written on it, so it’s no wonder people love it and are proud of such a heritage piece.

Floral embroidery avaFloral needlework is very typical for Ukraine and Slavic countries in general. There are literally thousands of floral embroidery patterns created by Ukrainian women’s imagination and skilled hands. They used dozens of needlework techniques and color palettes. We’ve gathered in this post a wide variety of different floral embroidery designs depicted on vintage Ukrainian folk clothing and ceremonial towels. Most of these items are at least 100 years old and exhibited in the local museums.

Scotland4 avaA Scottish kilt is one of the most recognizable and well-known folk outfits around the world. There is so much info about Scottish traditional garments and, sadly, not all of it is true or at least fully accurate. In this post, we want to bust some of the widely-known myths about the kilt, tartan, and Scottish clothing traditions. Like how old a kilt really is? Or did every Scottish clan have their own tartan design?