Pakistani clothing

Pakistani clothing refers to the

Sindh, Balochistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Gilgit-Baltistan, and Kashmir

regions of the country. The clothing in each region and culture of Pakistan reflect weather conditions, way of living, the textiles and embroidery used and its distinctive style which gives it a unique identity among all cultures.

Pakistani national dress

The

Balochi shalwar kameez. Pakistanis wear clothes ranging from exquisite colours and designs to various types of fabric such as silk, chiffon, cotton, etc.^[4]^[5]

Traditional Khet partug. (Traditional loose shalwar worn in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) (1842)
Girl from Karachi, Sind, in narrow Sindhi Soossi suthan and cholo. c. 1870.
Balochi traditional dress
Balochi male shalwar kameez, Quetta.1867
Pakistani dress

Men's clothing

Men wear shalwar kameez, kurta, Pakistani

Pashmina or other warm materials especially in the Northern regions of the country, mainly, Khyber Pakhtunkhwans usually wear the Pakol

hat,

Every province has a different and unique cultural dress.

Ethnic & Regional clothing

Balochistan

In Balochistan, traditionally a long jama (robe) like a smock-frock is worn down to the heels, loose shalwar, a long chadar or scarf, a pagri of cotton cloth, and mostly shoes that narrow at the toe.[6] The material is thick cloth with a very wide shalwar to protect against the hot winds of the dry Sulaiman Range and Kharan Desert.

Elders of Kirani Quetta in turbans and hats
Pakistani Baloch
Traditional Balochi suits

Sindh

or any other locally made shawls/handkerchief were carried on shoulders.

Two Sindhi muslim men in Sindhi Salwar/Suthan and Pehriyan with Sindhi Patko (turban) and Loi (winter shawls)
Two Sindhi men in Sindhi Kancha, Patko and Ajrak.
A Sindhi hindu banker in long Jama and Dhoti.
Sindhi man in modern style Sindhi Khamis and Kancha in Karachi.
Two Sindhi muslim men wearing Sindhi Salwar Khamis and Godd with Sindhi rumals (handkerchiefs)
Sindhi ajrak and Sindhi topi.
Sindhi topi (cap)

Punjab

Punjabi men wear the straight cut Punjabi

khussa and Peshawari chappal

, which is also widely worn.

Punjabi kurta and tehmat
Punjabi clothing of Lahore, 1890s
Saraiki Turban
Bhangra Dance performers in Punjab wearing Kurta and Tehmat.
Saraiki Kurta
Prince Suba Sadiq Abbasi, Bahawalpur in Bahawalpuri shalwar
Men in Attock in shalwar kameez

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa

Peshawari cap, turban, or Pakol as traditional headgear

.

Clothing worn by most Pashtun males in Afghanistan and Pakistan
Peshwar
editor wearing a Peshawari Turban
Man wearing pakol

Gilgit-Baltistan

A Gilgiti man wearing the cultural "Khoi" cap of Gilgit-Baltistan

Azad Kashmir

The clothing of Azad Kashmir includes various styles of the shalwar kameez. It is called Pheran.

Women's clothing

Shalwar kameez

Pakistani women wear the shalwar kameez which is worn in different styles, colours, and designs which can be decorated with different styles and designs of embroidery. The kameez can be of varying sleeve length, shirt length, and necklines. The drawers can be the straight-cut shalwar, patiala salwar, churidar, cigarette pajama, tulip trouser, samosa pajama, or simple trouser

Dupatta

The

Gota

.

Burqa

In Pakistan, upper and middle-class women in towns wear burqas over their normal clothes in public.^[17]^[18] The burqa is the most visible dress in Pakistan. It is a garment worn over the ordinary clothes and is made of white cotton. Many upper-class women wear a two-piece burqa which is usually black in colour but sometimes navy blue or dark red. It consists of a long cloak and a separate headpiece with a drop-down face veil. Some educated urban women no longer wear the burqa, while some of them wear Hijab as an alternative. The burqa is also not worn by rural peasant women who work in the fields.^[19] In rural areas only elite women wear burqas.^[17]^[18] Purdah is still common in the rural elite and urban middle class, but not among rural farmers.^[20]

Bridal dresses

Pakistani brides traditionally opt for lehengas, anarkalis, or shararas and ghararas. Most wear lehengas, popularly either with short lehenga cholis or a longer shalwar top. Lehengas are long skirts usually paired with a short blouse known as a choli, but can be paired with a long shalwar kameez. Anarkalis are also an option, imitating gowns. Shararas consist of a blouse or shalwar, with loose pants. Ghararas, are similar, except the pants are tight at the thighs and flare from the knee. All these options are normally intricately embroidered, and are moderately popular with Indian brides too.

Other traditional dresses

On special occasions such as Eid more heavily embroidered iterations of the shalwar kameez are worn by Pakistani women.

Farshi Pajama is an old traditional dress which is worn occasionally. Laacha is worn in Punjab,^[21] the lower part of which resembles the dhoti.