Traditional costume of Belarus by region

Summer male and female costumes, Pinsk district of Brest region, Western Palesse

The territory of Belarus is subdivided into six historical and ethnographic regions with specific features of traditional costume. Besides, costumes from different districts of the same region have their unique and characteristic features and vary in their decoration and ornament or in the way of styling. But the basic pieces are similar on the whole territory and let's have a look at them first.
Historically traditional clothes of Belarus people were almost completely made of home-made fabrics and decorated with woven and embroidery ornament. Flax and hemp were cultivated on the farms and widely used for making clothing along with wool and leather.
The basic component of both male and female costumes is a long linen shirt. Women wear a skirt over the shirt which is made from woolen, half-woolen or linen fabric and has different names - andarak, spadnitsa, yupka. It is constructed of several pieces of cloth sewn together. The ordinary type is sewn from three, four or six pieces that are gathered or pleated into the waistband. The paniova, the earliest type of skirt, consists of pieces of cloth, often four, which are attached to the waistband but unsewn at the sides.

Cambodian Apsara dance costume

Recently I have visited Cambodia and while being impressed by the architectural wonders of the Angkor Wat I was absolutely captivated by the Cambodian Classical Apsara dance. This dance is very slow and delicate and every gesture and pose is full of effortless grace and beauty. And not only I was charmed by the dance itself but by the costumes of the performers.
Apsaras are celestial dancers who entertain the gods and kings in Hindu mythology. They are spirits representing water and clouds (since the fluidity of the dance). The power of Apsaras over men is beyond comparison as both mortals and divinities cannot resist the charms of the celestial dancers. The Apsara dance already existed in the 6th-7th centuries. Hundreds of Apsaras are depicted on the stone carved walls of the Angkor site, especially in Angkor Wat and the ancient city of Angkor Thom and costumes of the present day Apsara dancers are based on those carvings.