Afghan clothing

Clothing in Afghanistan consists of the traditional style of clothing worn in Afghanistan. The various cultural exchanges in the nation's history have influenced the styles and flavors of contemporary Afghan designs.^[1] The national dress is the fusion of different ethnic groups in Afghanistan. ^[2] The styles can be subdivided into the various ethnicities with unique elements for each. Traditional dresses for both men and women tend to cover the whole body, with trousers gathered at the waist, a loose shirt or dress, and some form of head covering.^[3][4]

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Men's clothing

The

From a young age, boys often wear colorful caps with shiny "chips" of mirrors sewn into them.[1]

The karakul hat is made of sheep fur and is of typical Central Asian style. Normally worn by the more stylish or educated, these hats come in conservative colors.^[1] The chapan coat is another cloth of Central Asian origin that provides warmth in the winter, made of striped silk.^[1] The chapan gained international recognition in the 2000s when Afghan president Hamid Karzai always wore a green one.^[6]

• 
  An Afghan soldier wearing

  perahan tunban

  , c. 1843
• 
  Afghan security personnel in folk costume, c. 1867
• 
  Sher Ali Khan and his company in 1869, all wearing Afghan attire
• 
  Leader of the

  Ghilzais

  , 1848
• 
  Men wearing Uzbek chapan and turban, 2004
• 
  Old men in Herat wearing perahan tunban, 2009
• 
  Fur clothing by men during a game of buzkashi
• 
  Man in perahan tunban and a taqiyah (Islamic) cap
• 
  A man wearing Hazara style turban

Women's clothing

Traditional women's dresses are always long

They are usually of heavy design and filled with small mirrors around the chest area, along with long and pleated skirts.[7]

Most Afghans are

In a few places like Kabul, Western dresses like jeans are often worn. From the 1960s to 1990s, more liberal forms of female dress like miniskirts were popular among some communities in Kabul.^[8]

• 
  Ladies of the royal harem wearing firaq partug, 19th century
• 
  Woman of Kandahar wearing

  khet partug

  , 1841
• 
  Uzbek girls in Kabul
• 
  Two women in Turkmen dress
• 
  A female model in traditional Afghan dress
• 
  Burqa-clad women
• 
  A girl in Hazara dress
• 
  A girl in Pashayi dress
• 
  Nomadic

  kuchi

  woman
• 
  A choker necklace from Afghanistan made from silver and lapis lazuli

Culture and society

Clothes are usually stitched by hand. Girls start learning embroidery from an early age and skills are normally passed down from mothers to daughters. Each dress created by a woman can be seen as a unique piece of art.^[1]

Certain attire have special significance, for example in some Pashtun or Baloch cultures in southern Afghanistan, a boy marks his start of adulthood by being allowed to wear a turban.^[3]

Politics

The clothing of Afghanistan gained wide attention in the Western world following the U.S. invasion and fall of the Taliban regime, under which ultraconservative dress like the burqa was made compulsory. Especially, Hamid Karzai gained popularity for his creative style blending various attire of Afghanistan.^[6] In September 2021, Afghan women launched an online campaign protesting against the Taliban's strict dress code after the militants took power.^[7]

Also notably, a photo taken in Kabul in 1972 showing local women in miniskirts was reportedly shown to then-President Donald Trump of the United States by H. R. McMaster, which persuaded Trump to keep American troops in Afghanistan.^[9]

Western and hippie appeal

Sheepskin Afghan coats became popular in the Western world during the late 1960s; John Lennon famously wore one during the launch of his band's Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band album in London. The Afghan coat became a popular dress in the hippie subculture. Afghanistan itself was on the hippie trail and such coats were often bought by foreigners in Kabul's Chicken Street.^[10]

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Traditional dress of Afghanistan.

• Pashtun clothing
• Khet partug
• Firaq partug
• Hazara clothing

References