Traditional Tibetan clothing compromises the robe, belts, the felt, hats, boots, aprons and jewelry or metal adornments. Although they may not be what people normally wear everyday in other parts of the world, but their dress codes have to be adapted to the different tasks that the people do during their time. For example, herdsmen working in pasture farms wear welts, together with black velvet clothing. They also use corduroys or woolen cloth at their fronts. When the weather changes to a cooler temperature, the herdsmen usually wore furred clothing and during the night time, they would double its coverings.
The traditional Buddhist clothing on warmer areas includes robes and shirts with long sleeves. The clothing was usually longer than the person's height. Women usually wore fitting robes with bright colored aprons at their waists. It is believed that aprons are worn only by married women and that it is not worn by the single girls.
When festive events come, Tibetan Buddhist clothing at its best is worn by men and women who attend the festivities. Typically, the males wore long furry robes that are black, blue or yellow in color. They would attach their elegantly decorated knives at the waist level, together with some bottles and some fine silver coins.
The females would be visually appealing to the men. They wore garments all the way down to their boots. They wore hats when they attend celebrations of a festive nature. On their braided hair, they would attach silver, copper and gold adornments. They decorated their ears with beautiful and large earrings. They would wear necklaces and strings of coins on their waists. These coins would produce a tingling sound as they dance to the music.
With this kind of dressing style, it is apparent that Tibetan people fancy jewels. In fact, having different apparels attached to their clothes portrayed wealth and beauty.
Because they were influenced by Buddhism, the Tibetans give significant meaning to the clothes they wear and to their colors as well. According to culture, when people wear white, it usually symbolizes holiness and purity. The colors yellow, red, dark green, blue and orange reflects some divine personalities. Guru Rinpoche, who is regarded as the second Buddha, wears a red hat. Master Tsongkhapa also wears a red hat. Yellow has been depicted in Sakyumuni's kasaya. These examples of colors which are used by Buddhist personalities signify the influence of Buddhism in them.
Because of the visually appealing and elegant style of the traditional Tibetan clothing, the concepts that it carried throughout history reached today's fashion world. This is very much evident especially when you see large bracelets and jewels that women wear around. Designers always seek out inspiration through them and they always try to get the best concepts in them.
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