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Gallery of European
traditional costumes & uniforms
by James Mayfield (Chairman, European Heritage Library)
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this Article • About
the Author • Bibliography/Sources
This article shows a variety
of cultural dress and traditional costumes from distinct European
nations. Note that there are too many varieties to possibly
delineate, so this article emphasizes the cultural and ethnic
traits of these peoples overall. Please wait for the
images to load; there are hundreds.
Croatia:
The Croatian costume reveals
in some cases a middle point between their ethnic Slavic customs
and the Hungarian & German authority that ruled Croatia
for nearly 1000 years.
Spain:
The famous Spanish costumes
are unique to the Iberian peninsula, expressing the Portuguese'
and Spaniards' distinct heritage and sovereignty.
Portugal:
Portuguese costume reveals
a cultural and ethnic link to their Spanish brothers, with
slight divergences to reflect Portugal's longer and distinct
history. It is, interestingly, similar in many ways to Basque
dress.
Basque:
The Basques attempt to use
their bizarrely unique national dress as an outlet to express
their unique history, customs, and tradition as the only surviving
Spanish community free of Latin historic influence.
Germany, Netherlands, Austria, Switzerland:
Germany's costumes are slightly
diverse. The major costume for men in Germanic countries (Norway,
Denmark, Austria, Germany, etc.) is a form of the Lederhosen.
For women, the dress varies broadly. In Brandenburg (the state
housing Berlin), traditional dress may bear a slight Slavic
influence because of the presence of Slavs there today and
before the German empire conquered the region from the broken
Polish state under Heinrich the Lion. In Switzerland, where
the Germans are the majority population, the German-Austrian
costume is generally worn. The French and Italian minorities
wear their respective dress. The Netherlands has famous distinctions
of their own, derived largely from German tradition because
of a shared ethnicity and history. Belgium, having broken
from the Dutch only in the 19th century, is largely indistinguishable.
Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Iceland, Finland:
All of Scandinavia, wear
a common or similar dress largely influenced by Denmark and
Germany, because of centuries of rule of all Scandinavia by
the former and a common ethnic heritage with the latter. Finland's
dress is related to the Swedish because of a common cultural,
ethnic, and religious heritage springing from nearly 600 years
of Swedish rule.
The Saami tribes of northern
Scandinavia have a very unique dress of their own because
of their isolation from Germanic culture to the south. Their
ethnicity is the same.
Greece:
The Greek costume is highly
unique, with no other country similar to it.
Italy:
Italy's costumes are diverse,
reflecting Italy's history as a nation seldom unified throughout
its history, though its regions retain the same ethnicity
and culture.
Ireland, Scotland, Wales:
Irish, Welsh, and Scottish
costumes are unique in its attempt to praise its Celtic heritage.
The Scottish costume has more northern English influence.
Scottish costumes are famous and unique from Irish ones.
Welsh costumes are unique as a Celtic-rooted uniform with
a unique hat.
Slovenia:
Slovene costumes are unique
in their own, though very similar to their Slavic cousins
in Croatia to the southeast. There is a presence of German
influence in the male legging, a legacy of Austrian rule for
centuries.
Malta:
Maltese costumes are incredibly
unique, reflecting the island nation's distinct history as
a unique people. They are an ethnically-Italic people speaking
an Arabic-derived language due to the long history of Islamic
conquest in the region due to its close proximity to Arab
Tunisia. We see some Italian, Greek, and Turkish influence
in their dress.
Bosnia:
Bosnia's costumes are unique
among Europe due to their unique history. They are a Slavic
people speaking a Slavic language, though some 40% of their
population is nominally Islamic due to nearly 500 years of
Turkish rule and often forced conversion. Thus, we see a Muslim
style in their clothing.
 
Albania:
As Europe's sole Islamic
culture and nation (Albania is 70% Muslim, though highly nominal),
Albanian clothing are surely derived largely from Turkish
influence following nearly 500 years of their Jihad. We see
some Greek and Slavic influences also, preceding the Islamic
assault.
Serbia:
Serbia as one of Europe's
proudest Slavic peoples has a distinctly Slavic traditional
dress generally free of foreign influence, reflecting Serbs'
historic resilience to foreign conquest even during hundreds
of years of Islamic Jihad.
Macedonia:
Macedonia as Europe's youngest
nation (having broken from Yugoslavia by 1992) has a unique
dress of its own. Due to its geography, we see Greek, Albanian,
and Turkish elements alongside their native Slavic heritage.
It is among the most encumbering of European costumes.
Bulgaria:
Bulgarian traditional dress
is unique in its own, but strongly Slavic like its people.
There is a wide diversity in their costumes for men and women,
reflecting a proud and long familial Slavic tradition in Europe's
oldest Slavic nation.
Romania, Moldova:
Romanian dresses are highly
unique, presenting a variety of influences from the Turkish
Muslim, Slavic, and even Gypsy occupations in Romania throughout
its long and unique history. Moldovan costumes are highly
similar (though also diverse) because of the common history,
culture, and language Moldova and Romania (Wallachia) have
shared, with the two countries only dividing because of Cold
War politics.
Czech, Slovak:
Czech and Slovak traditional
Slavic costumes are similar because of the fact that the two
groups have had a shared history and Slavic culture for almost
all of their long history as Bohemians. The two groups split
into two nations only because of political disputes following
the Cold War in the Velvet Divorce of 1993. Because the Bohemians
have been under German and Austrian authority for most of
their history (though often with autonomy), we see a strong
German influence.
Poland:
Polish costumes are unique,
though distinctly Slavic. Poland as one of the oldest and
proudest Slavic countries delivered influence on many of the
neighboring Slavic cultures.
Lithuania:
Lithuanian costumes are unique
and divergent from nearby costumes in their historic effort
to promote and create a distinct culture seeking freedom from
Soviet and Polish influence.
Latvia:
Latvian costumes are relatively
simple and warm due to their very cold climate. We see many
influences in their national dress, including those reflecting
historic occupant nations (Poland, Russia, Sweden, Germany),
and also unique characteristics in their attempt to build
a unique culture to encourage their independence from Russia.
Their culture is largely Finnish (including their adoption
of Lutheranism), so we see Finnish influences strongly.
Belarus:
Belarusian costumes are largely
derived from Russian and other regional influences, reflecting
their strong Slavic heritage.
Hungary:
Hungarian dress is unique
because of the long history of Hungary as a major European
power. Despite its long subservience to the Germans in the
Austria-Hungarian empire, their culture remains strong and
distinct.
Estonia:
Estonian dress is unique
despite their cultural, religious (Lutheran), ethnic, and
linguistic homogeneity with their Finnish brothers to the
north. Their distinct features in their dress reflect Estonia's
struggle against foreign occupants (Russians, Poles, Lithuanians,
etc.). Naturally, there is some Scandinavian/Germanic influence.
Ukraine:
Ukrainian costumes are closely
linked to other Slavic ones, particularly Russian, but their
distinct hardships faced in history due to their geography
causes a slight divergence.
Russia:
Russian traditional dress
are unique, but closely linked to other Slavic cultures' national
costumes.
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ABOUT
THE AUTHOR:
James Mayfield is the owner
and Chairman of the European Heritage Library. I am working
for a doctorate in history, with a specific emphasis on Islamic
and European histories. I am well versed in all world cultures,
ethnicities, religions, languages, politics, and historical
evolution in relation to and against each other.
BIBLIOGRAPHY/SOURCES
USED:
The images are scattered
all throughout the internet, with many being from government
sites about culture, with others being from blogs, and others
from photographers. Due to the wide circulation of these images,
it is almost impossible to give credit to the original sources
of the works. None is the property of the European Heritage
Library.
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