Kurdish traditional clothing

Kurdish traditional clothing, also called as Kurdish dress (Kurdish: جل و بەرگی کوردی, Cil û bergên kurdî), reflects the rich cultural heritage and diverse history of the Kurdish people. This attire is often characterized by its vibrant colors, intricate embroidery, and unique styles. Kurdish dress varies across different regions and tribes, but it has some common elements. While it has evolved over time and was much more varied and complex in the past, it is now simpler and remains in daily use in many regions. It is also prominently worn during festivals and special occasions such as Newroz.

Kurdish man in traditional Kurdish clothing, 1862

Men's clothing

The traditional clothing of Kurdistan can be categorized into three main types for men.

East Anatolian

The East Anatolian Kurdish costume is tight-fitting and not dissimilar to the clothes worn by rural Turks. Mehrdad Izady points out that it is reminiscent of Balkan costumes. The trousers feature tight lower legs with a baggy crotch that may extend to knee depth. Waistcoats over shirts are usual, and neck scarves are common. The shirt will only have the distinctive funnel sleeves among certain tribal groups. The headgear varies, including loose turbans, skullcaps, or a combination of both, and is generally modest in size.

Two Kurds From Constantinople 1899

Left: Kurdish shepherd from Diyarbakır in East Anatolian style. Right: Kurd from Cizre in Badinani style. 1873

Rewanduzi, Badinani, or Hakkari

In southern Turkish Kurdistan, including Hakkari province and Iraqi Kurdistan, the Rewanduzi, Badinani, or Hakkari style is popular. This style consists of a fitted collarless jacket, open to the waist, tucked into gathered trousers that flare to the ankle. The suit is often embroidered, with colors ranging from striped browns and creams to self-colored stripes. The white shirt with funnel sleeves is often worn, with the sleeves usually wound around the outside of the jacket arms. A sash, often large but now less substantial, is worn around the waist and can be tied in elaborate ways, traditionally storing small personal items. Headdresses vary by tribe but usually consist of a turban made from a coiled chequered scarf around a skullcap, available in many shapes and colors. The turban has no hanging tail and can be removed and replaced without untying. Favored scarf colors are black, gray, and white, except for the Barzani tribe and Yezidis, who wear red and white check.

Noble Kurdish Man, 1880

Kurds in Zakho by Albert Kahn, 1910s

South and Eastern Kurdistan

The most prevalent costume in southern Kurdistan has become widely adopted as a universal Kurdish outfit, seen across all regions and commonly worn by peshmergas. It includes a jacket similar to the Badinani style but without embroidery. The trousers are baggy, gathered at the waist, and tapered at the ankle. Suit colors are typically browns, creams, beiges, black, gray, or serge, usually in solid colors, with the possibility of a pinstripe. Jackets may be without fastenings, like the Badinani style, with elaborate button fastenings and mandarin collars, or cut like collared shirts, needing no under-garment. The traditional funnel-sleeved shirt is now less common. A sash of varying length and width is worn at the waist. Headdresses vary but typically involve a skullcap and a large fringed square scarf used as a turban, often worn loosely with a dangling tail and fringes over one eye.

Kurdish Peshmerga in Iraq.

A Kurdish man wearing traditional clothes, Erbil

Women's clothing

Kurdish woman in traditional attire.

The traditional clothing of Kurdistan can be categorized into four main types for women.

East Anatolian

The Kurdish East Anatolian costume type is now rarely found in modern Turkey but still exists among the Kurds of Khorasan in Iran, where certain Northern Kurdish tribes were deported in the seventeenth century. This is the only female costume featuring a short dress. It includes the typical baggy trousers under a knee-length dress, worn in layers with aprons, all in various colors. The trousers are usually made of cotton at the top, lined with cotton, and gathered at the ankle. A sash is worn at the waist, along with a short jacket, though sometimes a long coat is also seen. The hair is typically fully covered with tight triangular scarves, secured by another scarf tied across the forehead.

Badinani or Hakkari

The Badinani or Hakkari costume is worn in parts of Southern Turkish Kurdistan, including Hakkari province, in the Badinan region of Iraqi Kurdistan and often around Urmia in Iran. It features the usual trousers and a plain, above-knee underdress or petticoat worn under a typically sheer dress with a gathered waist and flowing funnel sleeves. A long-sleeved coat with a wide scoop front, fastening at the waist, is worn over the dress, with a wide gathered skirt that doesn't meet at the front. The dress is rarely worn without the coat, and the sleeves are usually tied behind the back. Traditionally, the same fabrics were used as in Southern Kurdish clothes, but now, solid colors are more common, with sheer fabrics used for the coat, revealing the heavier dress underneath. Regional headdresses, like turbans wound with wool tassels, have mostly been replaced by non-local headscarves.

Main Kurdish Dress (Sorani)

The predominant Kurdish costume, known as Sorani dress, is widely worn. It includes trousers and a petticoat under a floor-length, funnel-sleeve dress. Over this, a short waistcoat, long coat, and/or short jacket are worn. Traditional materials include chiffon voile or cotton for the dress, and velvets and brocades for the waistcoat, coat, and jacket. Nowadays, synthetic fabrics and sequinned materials are popular for coats. Traditional jackets and coats featured cotton linings and wadding. Sashes are occasionally worn around the waist. The traditional backcloth and headdress, now worn only by elderly women, includes a velvet skullcap held under the chin with a beaded chain, often decorated with jewelry and ornaments. The skullcap anchored the cloth covering the back of the neck, and multiple scarves and tasselled fabrics could form a tall turban, which was commonly worn by married rural women before. However, the items needed for these headdresses are now hard to find. As in other parts of Kurdistan, ordinary headscarves, either triangularly folded or long and narrow, have become the most common form of headgear.

Mukriyani

The Mukriyani costume worn in the region around Mahabad and Saqqez is notably different from other Kurdish costumes. It includes more voluminous trousers without cotton tops, worn with a short vest top under a sheer straight-sleeved dress, gathered at the hips. A large sash is worn on the hips, and a waist-length coat. Traditional headgear features a decorated velvet or brocade pillbox hat, topped with a large triangular shawl crossed over the chest, with the ends hanging down the back. This hat is now mostly worn in villages during weddings, while a turban similar to that worn with the Sorani costume may still be seen in rural areas and among older women.

Modern Clothing

Kurdish women's dress, modernized with minimalist style

Modern Kurdish women's dress is traditional. It is, however, still fashionable amongst the Kurdish community. Kurdish women and men often have a large collection of Kurdish clothing and frequently seek out new designs and fabric. They usually buy the fabrics of their choice and then have clothing tailored, as there are tailors who specialise in Kurdish clothes. Recently these respected tailors have turned into designers, creating variations on the conventional structure of the dress. In villages, women usually tailor for their entire family after everyone chooses their fabric.

There are many different styles of the Kurdish clothes, and in recent years there have been several fashion shows, showcased for a Kurdish and international audience. Shows have been held in Vancouver, Canada; in Melbourne, Australia, at the Kurdish Film Festival by the Kurdish Women's Society; and at the Hackney Museum as part of their Kurdish Cultural Heritage Project.

Main attire

• Vest, long-sleeved jacket and overcoat: This is either made from a plain fabric, a velveteen fabric or a sequin covered fabric.
• Gown: This is usually the dazzling masterpiece of the outfit. Most commonly, Kurdish women wear a mesh fabric or a sheer fabric which is ornamented skillfully with many beads or sequins, or both. The embroidery can be the same colour as the fabric, or multicoloured to create a bright dress. The brightly coloured outfits characterize the spirit of the Kurdish people. There are many different structural designs of the gown. The most common ones today are the traditional Kurdish region gown, which is straight top to bottom with very long sleeves, and the Kurdish-Iranian gown, which is frilly from the waist down.
• Under layers: The under dress and trousers are made of a plain satin fabric usually matching the colour of the gown.
• Belt: Fabric belts are colour coordinated with any piece of the outfit. Married women tend to wear gold belts. There are two common types:
  • Lira belt; a gold belt made entirely from connected gold lira coins or dangling gold liras.
  • Gobarah belt: similar to a lira belt, but made with inexpensive coins.
• Trousers: These are a type of traditional Kurdish clothing for men. It consists of two main parts: Renek and Çoxe, together Çoxo-Renek (Sorani: چۆخۆ ڕەنەک, in Iran: چوخو رانک)
  • The rank is worn like pants, but is usually almost twice as wide as normal pants.
  • The Çoxe is like a jacket, but the bottom of it goes inside the chogha. In addition, a shirt must be worn under the chogha.
• Traditional hat: This is usually black velveteen ornamented with traditional amber, turquoise beads, and gold or silver charms.
• Traditional jewellery: This is gold, with gold charms and traditional amber, red or black beads and occasional dangling lira coins.
• Şîlane: This is a long gold necklace with amber, red or black beads and dangling leaf-shaped charms.
• Meglad: This is a large black stone dangling from a gold chain.

Gallery

• 
  A Hawrami man, Kurdistan, 1843
• 
  A portrait of a Kurdish fighter from the Hakkari region, 1800s
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  Kurdish woman in traditional clothes, 1920
• 
  Ihsan Nuri Pasha and his wife, Khadija Yashar Khanum, wearing Kurdish clothing, 1950s
• 
  Kurdish woman from traditional tableaus, likely first created in the 15th-16th century
• 
  A girl wearing a Kurdish uniform in Rawandiz

See also

• Kurdish culture
• Kurdish dance
• Kurdish music

External links

Media related to Kurdish clothing at Wikimedia Commons