Pictures: 15 Traditional Dress Around the World
Published 31 Oct 2017, 16:31 GMT, Updated 16 Nov 2017, 10:52 GMT
Three Thai girls dance in traditional costume.
Photography by Theodore Macklin, National GeographicOff-colour characterisations of women sometimes appeared in the early decades of the magazine. In 1913, National Geographic wrote that “these three Georgians, even in their national costume, can hardly be described as ravishing.”
Photograph by George Kennan, National GeographicA girl poses in festive attire in Mezokovesd, Hungary, around 1930. The portrait was taken with autochrome, the first viable method of colour photography, which required an unusual ingredient—potato starch.
Photograph by Hans Hildenbrand, National GeographicPeople dress as medieval court jesters for the Joan of Arc festival in Compiegne, France, in this photo from a 1932 issue of National Geographic.
Photograph by Jules Gervais Courtellemo, National GeographicActors don ancient court dress in a photo from a 1934 issue of National Geographic about China’s coastal cities.
Photograph by W. Robert Moore, National GeographicA couple does the Tamborito, the national folk dance of Panama, in a photo from a 1941 issue of National Geographic. They both wear the traditional dress associated with this courtship dance, which is often performed at festivals.
Photograph by Luis Marden, National GeographicMen pose in traditional Albanian clothing in this 1930s autochrome, taken in the capital city of Tirana.
Photograph by Luigi PelleranoA rodeo clown sits between two men dressed as cowboys in Wyoming in the early 1970s. Rodeo clowns provide comic relief at bull-riding shows in the United States.
Photograph by William Albert Allard, National Geographic CreativeThe Fu Shing Opera Company performs in a village square in Er-Long, Taiwan, in the early 1990s.
Photograph by Jodi Cobb, National Geographic CreativePeople wear old-fashioned outfits for the Carnival of Venice, Italy, in the early 1990s. The annual pre-Lent party features costumes, masks, and parades.
Photograph by Sam Abell, National Geographic CreativeMembers of a traditional Khmer dance troupe wait to perform a tourist show. In 2000, National Geographic reported that some Cambodians were reclaiming their culture decades after the violent reign of the Khmer Rouge.
Picture by Steve McCurry, National GeographicA Huli wigman shows off his human-hair wig before performing the sing-sing, a ceremonial welcoming dance, in Papua New Guinea in the 1990s. The dance’s elaborate attire is inspired by local birds.
Photograph by Jodi Cobb, National Geographic CreativeTarahumara people dress as Pharisees for a pre-Easter ritual in the Mexican community of Choguita. The performance ends with Judas being burned in effigy, reported the 2008 National Geographic article in which the photo ran.
Photograph by Robb Kendrick, National Geographic CreativeDancers let loose during an early 2000s carnival parade in Salvador, Brazil. Carnival is a pre-Lent celebration comparable to Mardi Gras.
Photograph by David Alan Harvey, National GeographicA man dresses as a stag on New Year’s Day for a ritual reenactment of a hunt in Romania. The photo ran in “Europe’s Wild Men,” a 2013 National Geographic article about men who don elaborate costumes to celebrate old traditions.
Photograph by Charles Feger, National Geographic