Category: Worldwide Traditional Clothing

Are you interested in learning more about the meaning behind the unique traditional appeal all around the world? We constantly are publishing answers to the questions that you crave.

Learn more about your favorite countries and the history behind the clothing.

Traditional German Clothing

Women’s/Girl’s German Dirndl Dress:

DIRNDL

The traditional German women’s outfit is a called a ‘dirndl’. It is comprised of a long apron on top of a long decorated pinafore dress with a vest-like top and embroidery, lace, ribbon, and other ornaments on it. It has a full decorated skirt. Underneath this vest-like top is a white blouse with puffed sleeves. Traditionally a dirndl falls to or below the knees to encourage modesty. In fact, the most popular length is “one jug above the ground” but is now worn above the knee among the youth. The blouse or shirt of the dirndl has white puffy sleeves that are shoulder length or elbow length. The cotton material was lightweight and was worn by servant girls in the 18th century but is now worn in German celebrations, Bavaria, and other countries like Austria, and Switzerland. Little and teenage girls often wear the same thing as the women.

Women's traditional Dirndl with apron and white shirt.

Summer and other warmer occasion, dirndls are made of lightweight cotton, reveal more skin (including short sleeves), and colors are usually lighter.

In winter the skirts are thicker and warmer. Aprons are made out of wool, linen, thick cotton, or velvet. Colors are typically darker and sleeves are longer to protect from the cold as well.

SHOES

Women’s shoes are nowadays usually flats or low-heels because a dance could break out at any time. Tall rain boots (wellies) are typically what they wear for bad weather. Traditionally thick-soled shoes used to be the most common though.

Men’s/Boy’s Lederhosen Outfit:

LEDERHOSEN

Lederhosen actually means “leather trousers” so that gives us a pretty good guess about these traditional outfits. They’re short to-the-knee trousers that go over a plaid shirt (which usually are red or green). Originally the lederhosen was meant for hard physical work such as farming. A more expensive pair would be handmade of deerskin which is strong and tearproof and could last a lifetime. Less expensive Lederhosen would be made of velour leather which is heavier and not as durable. Boys would wear the same outfit, but typically it was less decorated and more basic and plain.


Leather Lenderhosen with red plaid shirt and thick-soled shoes.

SHOES

Haferlschuhe are the best traditional shoes! They are sometimes  made out of a goat’s hoof and give great stability to the wearer. They have a unique look that’s special to the lederhosen outfit.

Traditions and History of Mexican Clothing

Mexican attire has always been so full of intriguing color and fascinating designs, right? Actually, after some research, I found that hundreds of years ago they were plain and boring. Here’s what I found:

Men’s Clothing:

Traditional Mexican men’s clothing were all originally made in neutral colors like greys, blacks and most commonly, brown. Shirts and pants most often were a single color and relatively plain to modern-day clothing. The hat Mexico is known for is called a ‘sombrero’. ‘Sombrero’ comes from the Spanish word sobra, which means ‘shade’, and translates literally into the word ‘hat’ in English.

Mexican Mariachi Player with Sombrero

Sombreros are broad-brimmed straw hats that more often than not had a chin strap to accommodate for riding on horses at a full gallop. Men would sometimes also wear capes that went to or below the knee. Like the sombrero, ponchos were popular in Mexico remain a symbol of that country today. The most popular material at first was cotton and then later silk.

A Mexican cowboy’s uniform always included black pants and the typical sombrero. The button-up shirts usually had silver buttons and other elaborate designs.

Traditional Mexican Women’s Clothing

The women wore long skirts that typically reached their ankles. Sometimes a shorter skirt would reach the knee, but they were normally no shorter than that.

The women’s shirts were mostly made out of wool or sometimes silk. They were always white and lightweight to help them not be too hot. Sometimes instead of the typical quarter or half-length sleeves, they wore sleeveless shirts called ‘huilips’ when it got even warmer.

Mothers would often use a shawl-like piece of fabric called a ‘rebozo’ made to carry infants easily.

Modern-day Colors Used in Mexican Clothing

So what changed this clothing into the Mexican clothing we know today?

Modern Traditional Mexican Women's Dresses and Skirts

The modern-day Mexican clothing is heavily influenced by the Hindu and Indian sari! The story begins with an Indian named Mirra (also known as Catarina de San Juan) who was a slave to a Chinese family in Kochi, India. She was captured by pirates and eventually made her way to Mexico where she was sold as a slave to a Pueblo merchant. She refused to wear anything except for her traditional Indian dress (the sari). She always stood out and was very lovely in her beautiful, draping dress. Other women were attracted to it and started putting elements of the sari into their own clothing.

Due in large part to the the influence of Mirra and her sari, Mexican clothing (especially for women) has changed dramatically from what it was hundreds of years ago. Women’s clothing is now a lot more colorful. Even though they still wear brown, they wear brighter colors like red, yellow, green, pink, blue, purple and orange. In fact, the more vibrant the colors, the better. Mexican clothing is now known to include an array of vibrant colors in the skirts as well as embroidery and patchwork on blouses made for Mexican women. Patchwork patterns used in Mexican blouses allow the use of more colors and an all-around more decorated top.

For religious services, crosses are frequently are stitched on their blouses. Symbolic, meaningful, and ornate embroidery adorns their shirts and skirts too.

Traditional Mexican Woman's Blouse with Embroidered Cross

Mexico’s traditional clothing as we know it today has been and continues to be a favorite style throughout the world, being known for their bright and energetic colors, embroidery, frills, and ornaments.