The traditional dress of Puerto Rico is a blend of Jibaro and Bomba cultures. This means the typical and local features in the traditional clothing of Puerto Rico but the Spanish, Carribean and the Latin American influences are also pretty much reflected there. For the understanding, we can categorize the traditional dress of Puerto Rico into three main kinds.

Jibaro dancers from Puerto Rico in their traditional dresses – Image by Jaime Olmo

There is a dominating culture in Puerto Rico which is known as Jibaro culture which has its origins in the Taino Indian culture and the term Jíbaro usually refers to “La Gente de la Montañas” (the people of the interior montainous regions of Puerto Rico) and emerged in the 16th century with the blending of the Pre-Columbian Taino Indian and Spanish European cultures in the central mountains of the island of Puerto Rico. Some values can of this culture can be observed even today. The most prominent feature of the Jibaro dress is the headdresses as the Jibaro men wear the straw hat and the Jibaro women wear the flower bonnet. The men normally wear white shirt and pants with a colored sash around the waist and colored kerchief around neck and shoulders. Similarly the Jibaro women wear the multi colored long skirts and low cut white blouses. The footwears include sandals and a machete. 

Bomba dancers from Puerto Rico wearing traditional costumes – Image by Rona Proudfoot

The Bomba culture is a purely African tradition that was introduced in Puerto Rico by the black slaves who worked on the island’s sugar plantations in the 17th century. The Bomba dancers usually perform hip-hop dancing on drum beats and the drums are accompanied by the rhythmical beating of sticks and maracas to create a swelling tide of drumbeats. The traditional Bomba costumes of Puerto Rico are much similar to the traditional slave attires as the turbans and long flowing white skirts and short blouses are the major articles of such dresses. The men wear colorful shirts tied at the waist and pants cut at the ankles or sometimes the man is dress elegantly in a white suite with a Panama Hat.

Puerto Rican dancers in phenomenal traditional costumes

Plena is a genre of music, chant and dance native to Puerto Rico and it was originated in Joja del Castillo Ponce around 1900. While performin Plena folklore, the Puerto Rico women wear flowers in their hair colorful short dress above the knee.The Puerto Rico men wear Panama hats with guayabera shirts mostly in white.

In the nutshell, the population of Puerto Rico is multi cultured and the lovely people of this small island wear a variety of traditional dresses. The traditional dress of Puerto Rico is an amazing blend of the Jibaro, Bomba and Plena cultures.

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Belarus has a phenomenal cultural accomplishment as the country has gone through several dynamic and ethnographic backgrounds for many centuries. There are impacts on the Belarusian society of many religions and sects like Catholicism, Orthodoxy, Judaism, and Islam. Clothing is the most important component of the typical Belarusian culture and the origins of Belarusian clothing tradition lie in the ancient Kiewan Rus‘.

Girls from Belarus in majestic style wearing folk costumes – Image by anoldent – flickr

Belarus has a very cold climate in its long winters and even mild weather conditions in its limited summer. So the clothes were made out fabrics that provide closed covering and warmth. Mainly, the traditional dress of Belarus was made with flax fibers and wool, decorated with printed or embroiled ornaments, or weaved from using threads of different color. But the then rich elite of Belarus also used to import the fabrics like brocade, velvet or tuft etc having different shades of red, blue, and less often green.

A typical and traditional bridal dress in Belarus – Image courtesy www.belarus.by

The traditional dress for the Belarusian men usually consisted of delicate fabrics, decorated with golden and silver embroidery, precious stones, colored buttons. The costume was having a long dressing gown and having a top like coat or jacket. They also used a long belt made with wolf or beaver fur.

A girl in the traditional Belarusian dress – Image by Ilya Kuzniatsou – flickr belarusian

Similarly, the traditional dress for the Belarusian women included longer shirts or skirts having blouses of various patterns and colors. Their dress was decorated on the sides with ornaments or the fur of sable, marten or fox. The same trend was followed later on in the traditional folk costumes when the dresses were prepared with the white and red colored fabrics and embellished with splendid geometrical  patterns.

An awesome pose of the folk dancers from Belarus in their traditional dress – Image by anoldent – flickr

There was gradual and slight variation in the clothing tendencies when the traditional dress of Belarus was progressively evolved.  This was the consequence of multiple religious heritage and the designers applied moderate designing methodologies. A tremendous categories for the clothing were introduced in Belarus as the dresses worn during weekdays or holidays, weddings or birthdays, during celebrations or mourning. Today, the modern Belarusians, no doubt follow the western clothing but on the festive occasions, they continue the tradition to wear their cultured heritage, i-e the traditional dress of Belarus.

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Danish traditional dresses were historically handmade fabrics, usually made from yarn spun from wool or flax. The traditional dress of Denmark is a hallmark of the Danish culture which has not a very long history but the dresses roughly date back to the eighteenth century. Mostly the dresses were woven by the women themselves or by the professional weavers. Although the dresses had slight variations in different regions of Denmark, yet the patterns were based on a limited color schemes derived from the vegetable dyes.

Danish Dancers in their traditional costumes – Image by Björn Láczay – flickr

The Kingdom of Denmark is situated in Scandinavia which is although a small country but the Danish population living in various rural, urban and island areas have developed a mixed culture in the country. This is the main reason that the variations had made their impact and moderated the Danish clothing.

A model posing in the traditional Danish costume – Image : Kristina V Mack

The Danish women normally used to dress up in their best costume on Sunday and the most significant part of their costume was the superb headdress. This headdress was either in the form of a bonnet or a scarf. The headpiece often consisted of a bonnet, a piece of linen underneath and a scarf to hold it in place, either in broad lace or in embroidered tulle. On the island of Zealand, there was a tradition for trailing bonnets embroidered with gold and silver thread. The traditional skirts or petticoats were long, worn by the layer and invariably covered by an apron of fine silk or embroidered mull. The upper part of the body was covered by a fabric jacket or blouse. A close-fitting bodice fastened by hooks or laced at the front was worn in some regions. Skirts, jackets and bodices were edged and decorated with flat or patterned silk tape while light scarves were worn around the neck to cover the shoulders and throat.

Two old Danish women in their traditional dress – Image courtesy – www.travelphotogallery.net

Like the women, men’s clothing was made mainly of flax and wool but their knee-breaches were often of leather. Long home-knitted white woolen stockings reached above the knee. In addition to long shirts, men wore several jerseys and jackets. The well-off displayed buttons made of silver although usually they were of tin or even horn. Men and women both generally wore clogs while men often had long, leather top-boots and both men and women wore leather dress shoes with a buckle in front.

The traditional dress of Denmark is truly a hallmark of the Danish culture which actually represents the diverse cultural characters of the Danish society.

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In Philippines, it is a very popular myth that after the Spanish invasion, the King of Spain ordered for the massive plantation. All the filipinos obeyed the orders and those who disregarded the rules of the King, they were penalized by standing between two bamboo poles. At that time, a practice was established among the common Filipinos to perform a traditional folk dance, which is nowadays known to the world as Tinikling; the traditional bamboo dance of Philippines.

Tinikling – Traditional Bamboo Dance of the Philippines – Image by symplex

The Tinikling dancers perform barefooted, wearing the traditional costumes; as the females wear a dress called balintawak or patadyong. And the male dancers wear the outfit called barong tagalog. The balintawak are colorful dresses with wide arched sleeves and the patadyong is a pineapple fiber blouse paired with checkered skirts. The barong tagalog is the traditional outfit for males, which is a lightweight long sleeved shirts and worn with red trousers.

Tikling Bird of Philippines

Tinikling is the word which is in connection with a special native Filipino bird known as tikling. Tinikling; the traditional bamboo dance of Philippines derives its impression from the movement of the tikling birds as they walk between grass stems, run over tree branches, or dodge bamboo traps set by rice farmers.

Colorful costumes of Tinikling dancers in Philippines – Image by Beechwood Photography

There are five steps of this traditional bamboo dance. Firstly, the dancers dance opposite each other, and during the last step, they start from the same side of the bamboo poles. The bamboo is the appalling feature of Tinikling, as it is banged against the ground (or a piece of wood to make it easier to hold) and each other in a pattern. The bamboo has to be closed hard enough to make a sound, and the dancers must be quick enough to not get their foot (or feet) caught. The rythem of the Tinikling becomes faster and faster, and the dancers receive the appreciation from the crowd with their amazed and thrilling movements.

Green Violetear is a glamorous hummingbird of Mexico which is endemic of the forests and shrublands of Mexico and the northern parts of the Latin America. Overall, the Green Violet-ear has a very large range, estimated globally at 800,000 square kilometers.

Green Violtear Hummingbird – Image by Don Faulkner

The Green Violetear is roughly medium-sized by hummingbird standards. It averages around 9.7 to 12 cm (3.8 to 4.7 in) in total length. Its bill is black and mostly straight with only a slight downward curve and measures from 1.8 to 2.5 cm (0.71 to 0.98 in). The body mass can vary from 4.8 to 5.6 g (0.17 to 0.20 oz). Among standard measurements, the wing chord is 5.8 to 6.8 cm (2.3 to 2.7 in) and the tail is 3.5 to 4.3 cm (1.4 to 1.7 in). It is shining green above with a glittering violet ear-patch on the sides of its neck. Its throat and chest are a more glittering green with a shining green belly. The tail is a metallic blue-green with bronzier central feathers and a prominent black subterminal band. Colibri thalassinus is the scientific name of this glamorous hummingbird from Mexico and the Latin America.

Green Violtear Hummingbird on a flowering plant – An image by Francesco Veronesi

The Green Violetear searches madly for the nectars and insects around the flowering trees, especially coffee-shade Inca. They feed at mid-level to canopy and often hold and defend a feeding territory.The Green Violetear has been recorded as attaining the greatest flying speed ever recorded for a hummingbird, with a pair of birds having attained 90 mph (140 km/h) during a chase, although other species may be able to attain similar speeds.

Green Violtear – A hummingbird of Mexico – Image by Laura Gooch

The Green Violetear makes their small nest with various plant materials, cobwebs, and down woven together to form a sturdy cup structure. The female Green Violetear lays two small white eggs within the nest and the female incubates them on her own for 14–18 days.