National costumes of the peoples of the world often carry information about which clan or tribe their carrier belongs to. Those who have not lived long in the same Africa may not even realize how much the clothes of this or that representative of this continent, where many different nationalities live, can tell. For example, a large Swahili people prefers cotton wraps of kanga of orange, brown or green colors, and the Maasai wear fabrics in a cage or strip, usually in red or blue.
National costumes of the peoples of the world can have much in common, even if people live at a distance of thousands of kilometers from each other. Animal furs are preferred both in hot Africa and in the cold North. For example, the Vasukum living near Victoria Falls, as well as the inhabitants of Tabor and Mwanza, prefer to wear capes made of furs and leather. The “Lunar People,” the Wanyamwezi, also make bracelets from the tails of animals that they wear on their feet.
National costumes of the peoples of the world in the northern regions (Yakuts) are also most often made of leather and suede, due to climatic conditions. They are decorated with skins in the form of trim on the bottom, sleeves, edges of the side, and this has a completely utilitarian function - to additionally protect the owner of the wardrobe from the cold. Traditional clothes of rich Yakuts in past centuries could be finished with silk or wool fabrics that were brought from China, while the clothes of the poor were made of thin suede leather.
National costumes of the peoples of the world in a wide variety are represented on the territory of the Russian Federation and are subject to careful study as carriers of important historical information. In particular, studies of samples of ancient Slavic clothing showed that in a peculiar way it encoded belonging to a particular tribe, position in society, family status, etc. Also, wardrobe items often served as amulets for the wearer, his house, family (usually in the form of embroidery).
National costumes of the peoples of the world, photos of which are displayed on the page, have one more unifying feature - they are simple in cut, because most of them were created (and are being created) in the absence of sewing machines, and sometimes needles. As a rule, clothes have a straight or flared cut down, simple straight sleeves or simply represent a piece of matter wrapped around the body in one way or another (kimono, sari, tunic).
How are national costumes of the peoples of the world usually decorated? Drawings on them often depict animals and plants that are present in this area, sometimes religious elements are included. For example, in Mexico, in the San Luis Potosí area, numerous crosses symbolizing the tree of life are often present on clothing . It is interesting that the inhabitants of this area wear brightly colored skeins of wool on their heads, twisted in the likeness of a turban (“petob”). But the skirts of Mexicans from the state of Quintana Roo, as well as their sandals, are often decorated with curls in the form of spirals or shells.
Clothes of this kind are usually worn on holidays. In Europe, at city events, men wear short pants (Bavaria) or skirts-kilts (Scotland), which after the festivities are replaced by trousers, jeans, suits. In warm climates, the use of traditional attire is more common. In the former USSR, interest in national costumes appeared after its collapse. In some regions (Turkmenistan), even forced wearing of traditional clothing was introduced by order from above (decrees of Saparmurat Niyazov).