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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People of Croatia have a phenomenal heritge, which is their traditional clothing worn by them, who not only live in the Republic of Croatia but also by the other Croats who are scattered in different areas of other Central European states. This is also a bitter fact that the most of the Croats have left the centuries old custom of wearing the traditional dress of Croatia and use Western-style clothing on a daily basis. Now, the traditional attires are worn by the people of Croatia on the events of national importance, festive moments, wedding celebrations and religious ceremonies.

The women or Croatia in traditional cpstumes – Image :Radio Velika Goriaca – RVG

The females of Croatia usually wear the dresses that consist a plain white dress or blouse (košulja) or underskirt (skutići), which is usually the basic form of the costume. It is then added with other clothing and decorations, which may include another overdress or skirt (kotula), a decorative jacket (djaketa, paletun or koret), apron (ogrnjač or pregjača), scarf (ubrsac), kerchief or shawl which are usually decorated with a floral or animal motif. The embroidery is very intricate and is usually red, white, blue, gold, or black.

A Croat Girl in traditional attire – paul Barker Hemings

The women of Croatia also wear a lot of traditional jewellery, ranging from necklaces, earrings, bracelets, and rings could consist of gold, silver, beads, pearls, or even corral from the Adriatic . Hair is interwoven into one or two braids and decorated with red ribbons for girls or women that are unmarried, while married women wear woven or silk kerchiefs on their heads. Costumes of brides consists of a crown or wreath often made of flowers (vijenac) and large amounts of jewelry.

Croatian folk dancers – Frans (3Djavu.nl)

The woman’s head could be adorned by a kerchief, cap, or a headdress, the most famous being the headdresses worn by the women from the island of Pag. The amount of paraphernalia a woman is adorned with, either very much or rarely any at all, depends on the region. Completing the costume are stockings (bječve) or knee-high socks, and boots or a special kind of sandal called opanci.

Opanci – A typical Croatian footwear – Image by Aleksandar Cocek

For the Croatian males, the traditional dress which is their phenomenal heritage usually consists on loose, wide slacks (gače širkoke) and a shirt, and both are usually either black or white, or both. The men of Croatia may wear a decorative or plain vest (fermen or jačerma), over his shirt, and possibly a waistcoat. The man almost always wears a cap, varying in shape and design depending on the region. The most famous cap is perhaps the Lika Cap, worn in the Lika region for centuries by the people. Footwear, like the women’s', consists mainly on boots and sandals. Because of the weather, certain places often have woolen vests, cloaks, coats, or fur for the colder regions, and silk and light linens for the warmer climates.

A Croat boy wearing a traditional dress. Image: Radio Velika Goriaca – RVG

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The traditional dress of Iceland is today somehow preserved in form of the national dress of Iceland which truly reflects the pure Icelandic heritage. The days are not gone too far, when the people of Iceland used to wear the dresses in the same pattern as they use today on the days of public importance and festive ocassions. The national dress is known as Þjóðbúningurinn and the women of Iceland wear the traditional costumes of many types.

Þjóðbúningurinn – The national costume of Iceland – An image by Helgi Halldórsson

The Faldbúningur is a common traditional dress worn by the Icelandic woman which is a classic costume in use since at least the 17th century. The Faldbúningur includes a hat decorated with a curved sheet-like ornament protruding into the air and exists in two variants. One of which is the krókfaldur and the other is the spaðafaldur. The Peysuföt are black woollen clothes commonly worn by women in the 18-19th century. They usually consisted of a twill skirt and a jacket of fine knitted woollen yearn with a black tail cap.

Faldbúningur – The traditional dress of Iceland

The upphlutur or bodice costume comprises a long black skirt, and a sleeveless bodice ornamented with silver filigree and laced together with a silver chain. Another traditional version is the kyrtill (kyrtle), usually white or blue. It is worn with the tall headdress. The skautbúningur is a richly-embroidered costume worn for special occasions, even as a wedding dress. It comprises a fitted long-sleeved black jacket and long skirt, with embroidery on the breast, cuffs and around the hem of the skirt.

The traditional Upphlutur from Iceland – An image by Awfulknitter on flickr

The traditional men’s wear in Iceland is known as Búningur karla and from its all versions, the most popular is Þjóðbúningur karla which normally consists of consists of woollen breeches or trousers, a usually double buttoned vest and a double buttoned jacket called treyja. Although not a traditional costume, the hátíðarbúningur was conceived as a modernized version of the men’s traditional national costume and is frequently worn instead of a tuxedo to formal events.

Hátíðarbúningur karla – Typical Iceland Male Dress

The footwear in the traditional dress of Iceland traditionally included the shoes made of either fish or sheep-skin, with woollen inlets, were worn with the costumes. Iceland has a magnificent heritage and history and the traditional dress is actually the pure descendant of the ancient dressing techniques.

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You’ll be aware of one of the absorbing features of Pakistan; the fascinating and captivating handicrafts. The marvelous artisanship is the most renowned cultural identification of Pakistan. The handicrafts making tradition is thousands of years old Pakistani custom which is evident from the ancient excavations of Indus Valley, Harappa and Mohen-jo-Daro civilizations.

The handicrafts of Pakistan are particularly famous for the enchanting embellishment, attractive colors and bewitching textures. There is an ethnic division of the handicrafts making as many regions of Pakistan have their own individual handicrafts heritage.

Pakistani artisans are very brilliant and genius in their skill. Whether it is embroidery, weaving, printing or designing, they are master in every quality.

A busy artisan in his work from Sindh - By Iqbal Khatri

The traditional decorative goods have remained a phenomenal ingredient of the Northern Pakistan.

Decorative items of the Northern Pakistan - Image by Pasvic Surgeon

The handmade wooden pottery especially bowls and carves are the distinctive parts of the heritage of Hunza.

Exotic wooden crafts from Hunza - Image : Saad Rashid

Sillanwali is a small town located in the Sargodha district of Pakistan which is particularly famous for its woodwork handicrafts, which are largely exported to other cities, provinces and even to other countries.

Handmade woodcraft from Sillanwali - Image: Amir Taj

A handwoven utensil is very popular not only in the rural but also in the urban areas of Sindh and Punjab in Pakistan. This is used for keeping Chapati ( Bread ) and commonly known as Chaba.

A handwoven utensil " Chaba" - Image courtesy : wikipedia

The traditional penny banks or money boxes made of clay have still not lost their popularity among Pakistani kids.

The traditional penny banks - Saidpur Model Village - Photo: Faisal Saeed

The traditional wooden bags are also very mesmerizing for their tremendous art work.

A classical handmade wooden bag of Pakistan - Armughan Javaid

The handmade Khussa shoes is the cultural footwear of Pakistan, which are made with fine leather and decorated with golden and silver threads, beads and sequins on traditional motifs.

The handmade Khussa shoes - Image by Amir Taj

Multan is also famous for the exotic handicrafts made with camel bones. Camel bone is considered as along lasting material for making amazing handicrafts and articles for decoration.

A busy camel bone handicrafts man - Photo: Ammar Chaudhry

Some clay pots are amazingly decorated with fantastic mirror work in Multan and the Southern Punjab.

Mirror crafting art of Multan - Image : Javaria&Khadeeja

Who can deny the beauty of the superb and handmade patchwork art of Sindh?

The handmade Sindhi patchwork art - Photo: Zahid Ali Khan

The hand knotted carpets and oriental rugs of Pakistan are world famous and magnificent in their character.

A fantastic handknotted carpet from Pakistan - Photo: Ted Swedenbur

The people of Sindh love their traditional hand woven buckets and door chimes.

The alluring handmade door chimes of Sindh, Pakistan - Image: go2net

The traditional handmade buckets from Thatta - Image: S M Rafiq

No doubt, the fascinating and captivating Pakistani handicrafts are the integrated features of the Pakistani cultural heritage.

The Kurdish people have a similar tradition to dance together by holding each other’s arms like the Lebanese and Balkan traditional dances. The Kurdish traditional dance is a centuries old heritage of the Kurdish community which is a symbol of harmony and integrity. The Kurdish traditional dance is accompanied by melodious music and superb body movements and it is a primary part of Halparke (the Kurdish culture). There are slight variations in the Kurdish traditional dances that exist in various regions. The renowned versions are known as Dilan, Sepe and Chapi.

Kurdish traditional dance - Photo owned by Khosro Zabihi

Dilan is performed by the Kurdish men and women together in a circle holding hands with bright colored handkerchiefs. Chapi and Sepe are almost alike and consist of stepping forward on the left foot twice and then stepping back on the right foot twice while traveling in a circle. The only difference in Sepe is the motion towards the center of the circle and hitting the right foot roughly to the ground.

Kurdish people are considered as a brave and warrior nation. The Kurdish traditional dance is the regalia of the magnanimous and proud life style of Kurdish nation.