13 Outfits

First off, I apologize for the picture quality on a lot of these shots. When I took them, I was more interested in research than in how it would look. Especially in the museums I didn’t have the best lighting to work with.

1. Some of the historical outfits could be pretty elaborate. This was for the wife of an administrator. The administrator was almost as elaborate, the main difference being the beads across the face from the hat.

2. Speaking of hats, they had some weird ones.

3. More hats. The sash on a woman’s outfit indicated marital status. With sash – single. Without – not.

4. Even the kids could have some fancy outfits. Notice that most of these have a frog closure on the right shoulder. This was the norm.

5. Headdresses could get pretty elaborate.

6. On modern Mongolian women the gold standard seems to be leggings. I saw them everywhere on everything from grandmothers to little girls. Lots of tank tops, too, and frequently a loose blouse thrown over the top.

7. Did I mention from grandmothers to little girls? Though in this case it was more of a jogging pants on the grandmother.

8. Notice the leggings under the traditional coat? She threw the coat on right before going out to milk the horses. I’m not sure if it was for a photo op, or just the way they do things. Several women did it.

9. Notice the bare feet? She threw on the overcoat right before leaving the tipi, and didn’t bother with shoes.

10. Most of the monks in monasteries wore traditional monk robes. Didn’t see too many outside of the monasteries.

11. Velour pants suit with gold embroidery. Kind of half way between modern and traditional. A lot of the traditional outfits were made of satin or brocade. I priced some in a couple of stores. Between $50 and $200 US.

12. Supposedly part of a Korean wedding party, but those white coats look pretty Mongolian to me.

13. Skirts weren’t too common, but boots certainly were. That and sandals.

The traditional outfits turned up randomly in both countryside and city. I’d guess about ten percent of the population wore them. The men looked pretty much like guys everywhere – jeans, slacks, and work pants with T-shirts, or button ups.

My dd claimed leggings are coming in fashion here and are all over the place, but I’m just not seeing it like over there. They show up over there like Jeans do here.