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Daiyu_Xiaoxiang

National Costume/Traditional Costume

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I know this is a rather bullshit topic for this thread.

A National Costume/Traditional Costume expresses an identity through costume which is usually associated with a geographic area or a period of time in history. So I wonder if anyone of you wear any of these costumes before?

Examples here:

China & Taiwan: Hanfu, Qipao
Japan: Kimono
Korea: Hanbok
Italy: Toga

etc.

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I've certainly never worn one, but this is the Swedish national costume:


It's an amalgamation of various local costumes which look fairly similar but are usually in sane colors. The local costumes were actually worn for special occasions, but this one is a gimmick dreamt up around 1900 for 'national unity' or something.

Even when the royal family decides to dress up in this thing, there seems to be a slight gender bias...

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Britain - specifically England - has always been such a melting pot of different cultures that I have no idea what a "national costume" would look like, if one even exists.

I suppose the closest thing to an English national costume would be one of the Royal Guard's attires, or a Beefeater's. Or you could pile on many pounds of fat, develop a receding hairline and dress like Winston Churchill circa 1940.

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DAMN I must find a scanned pic (or two) I have from a geographical atlas, which shows "people of the world" dressed in what are supposed to be their EVERYDAY attire. Needless to say, the "American" is portrayed as a cowboy, the "Russian" as a stereotypical bearded Ivan, the Japanese is a samurai, the Chinese looks like a mandarin, and of course the "african negro" (sic) wears a straw loincloth, spear and a leopard skin shield, the "australian negro" (sic) is an aboriginal with a didge... this WOULD be a national costume parade, if not for the fact that the "European" was the only one dressed in a "normal" business suit!

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In both China and Taiwan, Hanfu and Qipao are the National Costume. The left picture shows Hanfu, the right picture shows Qipao:



As a Chinese/Taiwanese, I only wear Hanfu once when I was a child. It seems that I wear Kimono more than Hanfu. But of course I wear Yukata before.

Yesterday the Japanese Culture Club held a Japanese Culture Experience in my school. Students can have a try on Kimono, however only the girl's one are provided. lol I haven't care, whatever! Even if only a girl's Hanbok or Hanfu(No matter Princess, Queen or Palace Maid) is given, I will still choose to wear it since I love culture experience. It doesn't matter for me lol. I choose a pink one and then wear it, and take photos lol.

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Daiyu_Xiaoxiang said:


That Hanfu (and the guy's look in general) looks much more like a Japanese costume than a Chinese one. And from your comments, I gather that in the Republic of China you have much better relations/sympathies for the Japanese than in the People's Republic of China?

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Maes said:

DAMN I must find a scanned pic (or two) I have from a geographical atlas, which shows "people of the world" dressed in what are supposed to be their EVERYDAY attire. Needless to say, the "American" is portrayed as a cowboy, the "Russian" as a stereotypical bearded Ivan, the Japanese is a samurai, the Chinese looks like a mandarin, and of course the "african negro" (sic) wears a straw loincloth, spear and a leopard skin shield, the "australian negro" (sic) is an aboriginal with a didge... this WOULD be a national costume parade, if not for the fact that the "European" was the only one dressed in a "normal" business suit!

I guess Greeks dress in the manner that ancient philosophers are always depicted.

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Maes said:

That Hanfu (and the guy's look in general) looks much more like a Japanese costume than a Chinese one. And from your comments, I gather that in the Republic of China you have much better relations/sympathies for the Japanese than in the People's Republic of China?


Yep indeed, same for Korean Costume in Goryeo Dynasty. When China is in Tang Dynasty(618 - 907), the country is very powerful(Just like USA nowadays). A lot of countries(Especially Japan) send students to learn in China. A lot of business is set in China too. Because of these, Chinese Culture was being bought back to both Japan and Korea.

For Japan, Kimono is just like the Chinese Costume of Tang Dynasty(A bit different). It's good that Japan keeps a lot of Chinese Traditional Culture, till now.

For Korea, Hanbok is quite different. Ancient Korean Costumes we seen nowadays actually from Joseon Dynasty. The reasons why Culture of Goryeo Dynasty seldom mentioned in Korea is that most of them are in North Korea.

And of course people in Taiwan(No matter Mainlanders or Islanders) have better relationship with Japan more than Mainland China. Taiwan once ruled by Japan, and Japan helped Taiwan a lot, no matter there's diplomatic relation or not. If you go to Taiwan, you will understand more about it. PRC just a bullshit full of junks, both Mainlanders and Islanders hate PRC. Mainlanders love China(ROC), and Islanders love Taiwan(Republic of "Taiwan"), they hope to fuck Mainlanders away and build a country for themselves. I actually the 3rd generation of Mainlanders.

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DoomUK said:

I guess Greeks dress in the manner that ancient philosophers are always depicted.


I don't know if there's a "European" analogue of that atlas, but if it existed, it would probably be equally stereotypical though not so archaic: Spaniards would dress as toreros, Italians as Harlequins, Germans would dress like Tyrolean lumberjacks (Lederhosen and all), the British would probably be depicted with a burgeois black bowler hat and umbrella (or a Queen's Guard), the French would be a mime with a basque and a striped blouse, etc.

Greeks and Balkanic people in general would probably be depicted like this:



which would not be very far from the truth up to 40-50 years ago, and definitively the norm at the beginning of the 20th century.

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Maes said:

the British would probably be depicted with a burgeois black bowler hat and umbrella

Not in Scotland they wouldn't.

This type of attire is common at functions such as weddings:



A bowler and umbrella would be more likely to get you beaten up.

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Strictly speaking, isn't the kilt of a "true Scotsman" supposed to be of a specific tartan, corresponding to what region or clan you descend from? Or is it more flexible these days?

Maes said:

Germans would dress like Tyrolean lumberjacks (Lederhosen and all)

Better than having them wear Schutzstaffel uniforms, I suppose.

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America's national costume is Ronald McDonald or something, since they have no culture, only a disgusting corporate culture.

Maes said:

the "European" was the only one dressed in a "normal" business suit!


Humans are a bunch of primates. A "power tie" is a fake long penis to wear on your neck to impress other primates. That's why girls look dumb in them. Go to an interview with an actual dildo tied around your neck; the interviewer will piss his pants in fear then hire you.

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gggmork said:

America's national costume is Ronald McDonald or something, since they have no culture, only a disgusting corporate culture.


So I thought Cowboy also a culture in USA. Ah Ronald McDonald, how about Colonel Sanders?

gggmork said:

Humans are a bunch of primates. A "power tie" is a fake long penis to wear on your neck to impress other primates. That's why girls look dumb in them. Go to an interview with an actual dildo tied around your neck; the interviewer will piss his pants in fear then hire you.


Mistress and her shemale slave?

DoomUK said:

Better than having them wear Schutzstaffel uniforms, I suppose.


I think only Neo-Nazis will wear Schutzstaffel uniforms nowadays.

hmm..........CODOR, what costume is that?

Actually I would like to see Tatsurdcacocaco in Kimono!!! I wonder what he looks like in real world.

So I just mentioned about me crossdress in Girl's Kimono just now lol. Maybe I wear something like this next time if I have chance:

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Cowboy attire is a Southwest thing, and when I say Southwest, I mean Texas, Tennessee, Oklahoma, Nebraska, etc. because history is weird. Though here in Southwest Texas (the actual southern/ westerly portion of Texas), a strong Hispanic population gives us overlap with Mexican cultural standards. Anyway, that's your minor geography lesson for the day, and yes Texans often wear cowboy hats to weddings and funerals and mostly drive trucks. I live in a fairly large city and yet know a number of ranch hands and almost everyone hunts for fun. You're welcome.

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Daiyu_Xiaoxiang said:
hmm..........CODOR, what costume is that?

Canadian stereotype from the comedy sketch show SCTV. The network it was on asked for some Canadian content, to which the creators replied something like: "it's made in Canada, the crew is Canadian and all but two of the writers and cast are Canadian. What do you want us to do? Sit in front of a map of Canada in toques and parkas with a Mountie while drinking beer and eating back bacon?" "Yeah, something like that." Which is exactly what they did...

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The national costume of Norway is called "bunad". There are many different versions, mostly based on from where in the country its origins are.

Some examples:





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DoomUK said:

Strictly speaking, isn't the kilt of a "true Scotsman" supposed to be of a specific tartan, corresponding to what region or clan you descend from? Or is it more flexible these days?


Some people do get very tied with what tartan you are "allowed" to wear by virtue of being descended from one clan or another. Amusingly, much of it is simply a load of bollocks made up by two Italian-born brothers. Also, new tartans are being created all the time and most of them are not associated with family names or clans at all (eg Millenium tartan). Personally, I go with the ones I like the look of. My own kilt is of modern dress MacAulay, a clan that I have no tangible connection to.

If you want to know more about tartans, that site that I linked to has a number of pages of useful information.

darkreaver said:

The national costume of Norway is called "bunad". There are many different versions, mostly based on from where in the country its origins are.

I like the look of the jackets - especially the first one.

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Daiyu_Xiaoxiang said:

I think only Neo-Nazis will wear Schutzstaffel uniforms nowadays.


Nazi chic fans, too.

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I don't know if I'd qualify cowboy clothes as traditional American attire. You don't wear chaps and a Stetson to Thanksgiving dinner. We're not a traditional country, by our very nature.

But we also have Puritan and Amish attire...

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If you want to get technical, the traditional garb for all of us is whatever our African ancestors were wearing before we populated the whole world - i.e. probably nothing.

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DoomUK said:

If you want to get technical, the traditional garb for all of us is whatever our African ancestors were wearing before we populated the whole world - i.e. probably nothing.

It's not entirely known. Evolutionary evidence suggests that the first uses of clothing originated around 107k years ago, before the migration of Homo sapiens out of Africa. Even Neanderthals seem to have worn sewn animal furs. The debate is mainly over whether it started mostly as a matter of practicality (protection, warmth) or cultural expression (religion, shamanism, decoration), or a combination of the two converging toward ubiquity.

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Bucket said:

I don't know if I'd qualify cowboy clothes as traditional American attire.


I just think about Southern Belle, can this qualified as a traditional costume? Although it's only for ladies.

yukib1t said:

I've worn kimono and yukata before when I lived in Japan, though I'm not Asian.


The same for me when I travel to Japan. There's a lot of Kimono and Yukata sold in Japan, same for Hanbok in Korea(Not available in hotels)

So j4rio, this is for Slovokia?

I actually have one picture of me wearing Hanfu, however it was lost.

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Daiyu_Xiaoxiang said:

I just think about Southern Belle, can this qualified as a traditional costume? Although it's only for ladies.

I'd say it's about as traditional as zubaz, so no. The united states simply can't have anything designated as 'traditional' unless you want to talk about native peoples.

Bucket said:

I don't know if I'd qualify cowboy clothes as traditional American attire.

It's not at all. Cowboy 'culture' and attire are almost entirely spanish vaquero lifestyle and traditions brought over from europe to mexico. This can be further traced back to moorish rule in the iberian peninsula. Go tell that at your local rodeo.

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If there had to be a national costume for Americans I'd say it was bluejeans. They're American, and they're everywhere (which is in itself a very American characteristic). Not everybody wears them, but almost everybody has at least once and you never have to go far to find them, even in many other countries.

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