Iran Traditional Clothing

Iran’s traditional clothing is among the most beautiful clothes in the world. Iran is a giant country with diverse ethnicities. Factors like religion, culture, geographical situation, social issues, and government affect Persian clothing style.

Iran Travel Guide Center invites you to read the complete article to know better about the worth of Iran’s traditional clothing.

Iran’s traditional clothing is a product of Persian customs and heritage. Different colors used in the Persian clothing style are inspired by nature. In the past, traditional clothing was used by the majority of people but now you can see it in villages and some traditional festivals and weddings.

Iran Traditional Clothing of Women and Men

Iran traditional clothing of Iranian women is modest including trousers (shalvarشلوار), Blouse (Pirhan/پیرهن), a skirt, a scarf (روسری), a jacket (jelighe/جلیقه) and other over garments.

Blouses and jackets were made of various fabrics with heavy embroidery like needlework, ribbons, swing tapes, and coins. Persian clothing style of men included trousers, wide belts (kamarband/کمربند), Headdresses (sarband/سربند), jackets/coats, and long robes. In addition, women have been using gold as jewelry and it was used as part of their clothes, too.

Iran’s traditional clothing for women is elegant and eye-catching in vivid colors. They are distinct due to ethnicity. Let’s take a look at traditional dress for women and men:

Baloch/ Baluch/ بلوچ

Baloch women who live in Sistan and Balochistan have the most Iranian traditional clothing, they wear clothes in multi-colors like red, blue, white, purple, and yellow. This outfit is a long robe made of cotton or light wool with loose sleeves, and low-necked and baggy pants.

This Persian clothing style usually has heavy needlework. They also wear a kind of scarf and a kind of chador. Baloch men wear a simple long robe often in white with loose trousers. They have wide belts in cotton and hats which are mostly white or grey.

Gilaki/گیلکی

Gilaki women’s dress who live in Gilan like Rasht city is known as one of the happiest clothes in the world. This outfit includes a shirt, jacket, scarf, and headdress.

They also wear pants and a kind of scarf fastened around the waist. Their jackets have beautiful embroidery and their shirts are in pretty colors like red, blue, white and orange.

Their prominent difference in clothes is their colorful skirt which is like a rainbow. Gilaki men’s outfit consists of a vest, trousers, shirt, hat (mostly woolly), and shoes.

Iran-Turkish/ ترکی

Turkish women who live in east Azerbaijan dress in long shirts, long wrinkled skirts, floral long scarves, headbands,s and hats.

Turkish men dress in wrinkled robes and loose pants that get tight in the ankle. They use various hats.

Nowadays traditional Iran-Turkish clothes are used by famous Turkish ethnics like Shahsavan (شاهسون) and Arasbaran (ارسباران). Few villages like Doijan (دویجان) in Marand still wear local clothes.

Iran-Kurdish/ کردی

Kurdish women who live in Kurdistan wear a long frock with a short jacket in velvet which has coins from gold on it. Their pants are in cotton or silk usually baggy which is tight by a button in the ankle.

Their hat and headdress are often made by themselves. In regions like Oramant (اورامانات), girls and women braid their hair and put hats with coins on their heads.

Kurdish men’s clothes contain coats and loose pants which get tight to the ankle, wide belts (in which they put a knife or guns), and shirts. Also, they use cloth (Pech/پچ) which they wrap around their head.

Qashqai/قشقائی

Qashqai tribe is one of the biggest Turk tribes in Iran who live in Fars province. They have one of the most beautiful clothes in Iran. Qashqai women wear long colorful shirts which are down their knees and it has two long plackets on two sides.

They also wear a wrinkled skirt that is harmonious with their shirt. Furthermore, they use thin cloth which has a special pattern as a scarf.

Moreover, they wrap a cloth around their head on that scarf which is usually from silk. Qashqai men’s outfit includes along loose robe they wear on a shirt, a wide belt, and a hat usually in grey and buff made from goat’s fluff.

Kormanji/ کرمانجی

Kormanji women who live in Khorasan wear tunics, vests, and wrinkled skirts in velvet which is red for women and orange or yellow for girls. Their prominent difference is their nice long earrings (gar/گار).

Kormanji men wear a red shirt from silk with a coat and pants. Their shoes are from natural leather.

Bakhtiari/ بختیاری

The Bakhtiari tribe is one of the biggest Fars tribes who live in Lorestan. Bakhtiari women’s clothes are from different fabrics like silk, velvet, and brocade.

You can see coin embroidery and sequins on their clothes. They dress in a long frock, wrinkled skirt, headdress, long scarf in blue, green, yellow, red or purple and black shoes.

Bakhtiari men’s outfit consists of a shirt, pants, a wide belt, shoes, a felt hat, and a kind of woolly coat (choogha/چوقا).

Turkmen/ ترکمن

Turkmen are one of the Turk ethnics who live in the northeast of Iran. Turkmen women dress in silky long frocks usually deep red or dark brown with needlework.

They wear hats which the shape of it shows if they are married or not. Turkmen men’s clothes are silky robes mostly in red or yellow, vests from camel fluff, loose cotton pants, and leather boots.

The prominent difference in men’s clothes from other ethnics is dark woolly hats made from sheep’s leather (Duwmme Telpek/دوومه تلپک).

What is the Persian Clothing Style in Current Iran?

Nowadays clothing has changed with time. These traditional clothes are not fashionable anymore, especially in big cities like Tehran city. Iran’s female dress code includes pants. Also, jeans are very popular among women and men. Furthermore, women’s dress contains long robe (manto/مانتو) and scarf.

There are two kinds of scarfs: (rosary/روسری) and (shal/شال). So, The first one is usually bigger while the second one is like a long strip of cloth. Additionally, Iranian men’s clothes consist of a T-shirt or a shirt and pants.

Traditional Style in Modern Iranian Women’s Clothes

Recently, you can see that Iranian designers all around the world have created modern clothes for women using patterns that are rooted in Iran’s customs and traditions like Floral and Paisley (botejeghe/بته جقه).

They are in bright colors that have elements from nature. Nowadays they are used especially in scarves, mantos, handbags, and shoes and are fashionable now among young people.