Traditional dress around the world and its significance

Each country has its own culture, making it different from another country. There is no better way to understand the nature of each people than through traditional dress. Whether it is the colour used, the textile or the method of manufacture, all give clues as to what defines each culture. This is what this article will address through the different continents of our planet:

Traditional African dress

Depending on the climate and terrain, the clothes worn by the inhabitants of the African continent are not all the same.

South and Central Africa

If we start from the South and go North we will notice the use of light cotton clothes. These allow the air to circulate through the clothes while covering the wearer. These clothes, whether they are “kittenge” or its lighter version “kanga“, are tunics that must be very colourful in order to represent a certaine happiness. Their patterns show a taste for what is rich and lively. If these two garments are reserved for women, those for men follow a similar principle. In the centre of the continent, the loincloth is used, which is not so different from the clothes mentioned above. The difference is that the cut is not the same and there is a choice of different types of loincloths. The type of loincloth changes according to the culture.

North Africa East and West

Then in the North we have clothes inspired by a sandier climate and by a historical and religious shock. If the East and the North benefit from clothing inspired by Muslim traditions (djellaba, sarong…) or made to fight against the Sahara like the turbans (covering the respiratory tract) and boubous of the Tuaregs, the West is quite different. The East is the middle ground between the South with light clothes and the North with more covering clothes. If we look at Ghana or Liberia we can find clothes with the colours of the flags of these countries with very geometrical patterns, showing a rather patriotic side.

Traditional South American clothing

As this continent has a fairly mixed and unified culture, clothing does not differ so much from one country to another, except according to whether the country has mountains or remains at a lower altitude. As far as the climate is concerned, the purpose of the clothing is to protect the wearer from the vagaries of the weather. For this there is the Poncho designed as a wind and rain protector and its more simplified version the “Chamanto”. Then there is the “Chullo” made of alpaca wool, which is used to protect from the cold. Finally, for traditional celebrations, we have the “Pollera” worn by women, which testifies to the relationship between the continent and Spain.

Traditional Asian clothing

Depending on which part of Asia we live in, the inspirations change and their influence on the clothes we wear.

North Asia

In the North, the traditions of the Hans, the majority ethnic group in China, are reflected in both Korea and Japan. At the beginning the Hans wanted imposing and magnificent clothes to radiate but also silky, the “Tangzhuang”, to differentiate themselves from the rougher clothes of the Mongols, their “Deel”. With their invasion to the East they brought their clothes to their neighbouring countries which then brought their own optics to the latter. On the Korean side we have the Hanbok, very sober and sophisticated, which competes with the Chinese gilding. For Japan we have the Kimono, which, if it has flowery patterns inspired by Zen philosophy, is still mostly white, breaking with the Chinese shine.
On the other hand, Tibet recommends very colourful clothes strangely reminiscent of those of South America, with the aim of being closer to harmony: the “Chuba”.

South Asia

In the South, clothing is made to ensure comfort in humid, hot, tropical climates. This is the case with the Filipino Barong or the Malaysian Longyi, the former covering the upper as well as the lower part of the body and the latter being made of the country’s own silk. There is also the cultural influence of external religions between the Indian influence in Pakistan, Bangladesh or Sri Lanka and the Muslim influence with still the Sarong here modified in the form of the Baju declined in Kurung, Melayu and Kebarung according to the age or the sex of the person (the Indonesian hat which is the Songkok is part of it). Just as in Northern Asia, there is also a desire to have distinguished, sophisticated and refined clothing, as in Thailand with the Chut Thai or in Vietnam with the Áo dài.

Oceania

Oceania being divided between natives and descendants of settlers and characterised mainly by Australia and New Zealand there is little to say. However, there are the woven fibre garments characteristic of the Aborigines and, to a lesser extent, the loincloth-like pareos of French Polynesia.

Traditional dress in Europe

Western Europe

In the west, there are two groups: the Celts and the Germans. The Celts choose woollen clothes with stripes to keep warm and to differentiate themselves from the others, while the Germans prefer a lively style, especially in Bavaria. However, traditional dress in Germany varies from region to region. In the South, Spanish and Italians like to wear hats to indicate where they come from, while the North is of course characterised by warm clothing in keeping with the past (Norwegian Bunad or Swedish and Finnish Luhkka).

Eastern Europe

In the East we have the Slavic influence on the German aesthetic with colourful but less festive, more conventional clothes, such as the Czech and Slovak Kroje, the Russian Sarafan or the Austrian Lederhosen. However, the Balkans share roots with Greece and so we have Slavs with very bright but more festive clothes such as the Šibenik cape or the Šubara. Poland, because of its many cultures, has such a wide range of traditional clothing that it would be exhaustive to list them.

Traditional North American dress

Finally in North America there is the clothing of the indigenous people with Kuspuks and the Parka of the Inuit of Alaska and Canada made to resist the cold. Then there is the traditional clothing of the settlers from Europe with the traditional dress of the Amish, the Creole clothing in Louisiana and the dress of the landowners of Texas with their cowboy hat and their bolo tie. Finally, further south we have Mexico, which is divided between a traditional culture of pre-colonial people and the classic Texan cowboy aesthetic.

Thus it is apparent that in every country of the world the traditional dresses designed by the inhabitants for themselves vary according to the type of resource present, the terrain, the climate, the religion, the language, the aesthetics and even the sex of the person. In short, the culture of a people is reflected everywhere, even on what covers its members.