Traditional dress of Nicaragua is so marvelous and colorful, although it is not in daily usage these days, but it is commonly observed in the festive ceremonies and cultural dances of Nicaragua.These cultural and traditional dances are mostly being eliminated in their original forms but still they are not completely disappeared. The dancers normally wear such traditional costumes of Nicaragua those were created throughout the country and they were having the valuable illustration of regional traditions that helped shape Nicaragua’s festive and colorful side.

Traditional costume of Nicaragua during folk dance – Image by welshkaren

In the Las Inditas dance which is normally performed in the traditional festivities of Masaya, the women wear the white dress with red ribbon, as well as other decoration in the braided hair and a basket on top of the head. It represents the hard-working women in this town. Similarly, in the traditional clothing of mestizo or indigenous women, the dress is white with colorful lines on the upper and bottom parts.

A dancer in the traditional dress of Nicaragua – Image by bill_bly_ca – flickr

Mestizaje Costumes, both for the men and women, demonstrate the prominent Spanish influence on the Nicaraguan clothes. The countrymen costumes of the Northern parts of Nicaragua comprise of long-sleeved shirts for the women wrapped around their bodies, with a large kerchief at the top. The men wear long white trousers with  a white shirt, and a scarf around their necks.

The countrymen traditional clothing from Nicaragua – Image by ejglalala -flickr

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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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Philippines is an archipelago of 7,107 islands with a total land area, including inland bodies of water located in the western Pacific Ocean. This way this amazing country has a perplexing geography and its tropical climate make the Philippines prone to earthquakes and typhoons. Philippines is one of the most populated countries of the lovely planet having a population of more than more than 92 million.Philippines has many tribes of having the indigenous dark-skinned people and they form a minority of the population. They have the centuries old residing trend to live in various mountain villages with their original and traditional styles. So if somebody has to really determine about the traditional dress of Philippines, he’ll find it at the most remote areas of Philippines.

Two indigenous women of Philippines wearing their traditional Mindanaoan dresses ; Image by Klaus Stiefel

Now, here the question arises why it is so? The modern culture of the Filipino people carries the influences of the Spaniards and the United States. This was due to the long dominating colonial period of the both of these ruling powers over Philippines and thus a mixed cultural society having the foreign ascendancies and the local magnetisms was developed in the country, However, a significant portion of the Filipinos still retain their indigenous and traditional culture.

Ragragsakan, an all female festive dance from the mountainous Kalinga people – Image by Choo Yut Shing

Many Filipinos who live today in many foreing countries, commonly adopted the westernized style of dressing. Similarly this trend is also followed by the Filipinos living in Philippines who have the Austronesian descent.

Some indigenous old ladies from Philippines in traditional costumes – Image by jwen83

The prominent ethnic groups of Philippines like Tagalog, Visayan, Bicolano and Moro have genuienly preserved a very traditional way of life and culture and even today they live with their folk heritage and traditional sport. In the traditional folk heritage of Philippines, the most spectacular feature is the traditional dress of Philippines.

A Filipino girl in an awesome pose with traditional look – Image © Yoodz – flickr

The barong Tagalog or simply barong is a traditional attire from Philippines which is actually an embroidered formal garment used by both the Filipino men and women. Barog Tagalog is a very lightweight garment which is highly feasible outfit for the humid and tropic climate of Philippines. Filipinos wear Barog Tagalog not only for the formal dressing but also it is the most common traditional wedding costume in Philippines.

Modern Barong Tagalog – A lovely image representing three Filipino generations – Image by Illusive Photography – flickr

Barong Tagalog is stitched in a variety of fabrics in Pina fabric which is hand-loomed from pineapple leaf fibers. Barong Tagalog is also prepared with Jusi fabric which is mechanically woven and was once made from banana silk. Banana fabric is another sheer fabric used in formal occasions. Made and hand woven from banana fiber, it usually comes with geometric design details.

Women from Philippines in traditional and colorful baro at saya – Image © Ceasar Amirhassan Nimor – flickr

The Filipino women love to wear Baro at saya, the baro is the top blouse and the saya is the skirt. Both of these Barong Tagalog & Baro at Saya are the unofficial national costume of Philippines. Barot at saya was evolved with the passage of time as originally both the native sexes used to dress up with half-naked outfits. Gradually, the Filipino females started to cover the upper torso with short and sleeved blouses and it was later on named as Baro. Similarly, during the colonization era of almost 400 years in Philippines, a long and wrap around skirt was developed which was called as Saya. Traditionally Baro and Saya were made from sheer fabrics and today Baro at say comprises of highly expressed and skillful embroidery. In the moderns times, Terno is another form of dress which has gained immense popularity among the Filipino women.

Terno – Another traditional attire for women in Philippines

The traditional dress of Pilippines like Barong Tagalog & Baro at Saya are real symbolic and allegorical in the cultrual heritage of Philippines. Not only in the day to day and formal usage, these traditional outfits are also worn by the folk perfmormers in their diverse cultural appearances.

A group of the Philippine folk dancers in traditional attires – Image by Shubert Ciencia

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