National costume
National costume, also known as national dress, regional costume or folk dress, expresses an identity through
costume which usually relates to a geographic area, but can also indicate social, marital and/or religious status. Such costumes often come in two forms: one for everyday occasions, the other for
festivals and
formal wear.
Encyclopedia
National costume, also known as
national dress,
regional costume or
folk dress, expresses an identity through
costume which usually relates to a geographic area, but can also indicate social, marital and/or religious status. Such costumes often come in two forms: one for everyday occasions, the other for
festivals and
formal wear.
Origin theory
Following the outbreak of
romantic nationalism, the
peasantry of
Europe came to serve as models for all that appeared genuine and desirable. Their dress crystallised into so-called "typical" forms, and enthusiasts adopted it as part of their symbolism.
Thus one might now expect a
patriotic Scot to wear a
Highland kilt and a Lowland Tam o'shanter, an Irish Nationalist to sport green
knee-breeches, all true
Frenchmen should wear a
beret etc.
German-speaking lands, long disunited politically, feature many regional variations of traditional dress. In this
nostalgically idealised world, all
South Sea islanders wear grass
skirts, and all
Africans appear topless or
naked.
During the
French Revolution, the notion of a national costume was ideologised, and so the artist
Jacques-Louis David was given the project of devising a costume for Frenchmen and Frenchwomen throughout the country so as to eliminate provincial distinctions . It did not catch on.
United States residents have choices. They can look back to European traditions, donning Puritan garb, slip into
pioneer fringed
leather with coonskin,
cowboy or "Western" clothing, or even adopt
Amerindian gear .
In
England, on the other hand, early industrialisation preceded the full flowering of
nationalism. There the
middle-class uniform of the suit predominated over the peasant's embroidered smock, and that suit spread throughout the world as a
fashionable and prestige mode of dress, only to become re-nationalised in forms like the
Nehru jacket and the
Mao suit.
Examples
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