Georgian national clothes, an extraordinary style

One of the main reasons why people travel is that they want to learn about the culture and traditions of different countries. If you think the same, this is the story for you, as I am going to tell you about the Georgian national clothes that created a very extraordinary style. Each region has it own national dresses, which might be interesting to discover.

History

The first researcher who studied the traditional Georgian clothes Vakhushti Batonishvili. He lived in the 18th century and started describing our national clothes not only in his century but also in the 11-13th centuries. Also, the Georgians have an exciting recordings from the foreign travelers. They could not hide their emotions and admiration for our clothes. They were trying to compare the Georgian style to the European costumes.

Picture © Credits to Kisa_Markiza

So, all of them - Georgians, foreign researchers and travelers, wrote about the diversity of the Georgian national clothes. Some of them explain its diversity with our history of never-ending invasions. They believe that the invaders were spreading their own costumes, type of clothes and their own colors, tissues and hairstyle, which influenced traditonal Georgian clothes to some extent.

A famous Georgian Scientist Ivane Javakhishvili has a very important contribution to the research of the Georgian national clothes. He described the national costumes and dresses from the 6th century to the end of the 18th century. In the 16th century, there was a big influence from Turkey and Iran, and it partially changed the Georgian lifestyle and the way Georgians dressed. As Javakhishvili stated, despite these facts and influences of other countries, we still kept our “special Georgian clothes”, which means that we managed to keep our traditions and culture.

National clothes today

The location of the country, its relationships with the neighbor countries, and the climatic peculiarities of the West and East Georgia caused the formation of different styles of clothing. Each region has its own national clothes that are unique and differ with its style.

In this respect, the clothes of the mountainous regions are different, especially the dresses for women, as the main dress for the men is Chokha. The traditional costumes in Georgia were formed by the influence of the nature and the lifestyle of this country, as every man was a warrior, a shepherd and a farmer at the same time. As for the women, their main job was to stay at home and take care of their children and the household.

Traditionally, women could not show their body to the strangers, that is why the national clothes for men are comfortable and warm, while the female costumes are very beautiful but modest. Nowadays, these rules are not that strict, but the national clothing still shows Georgian traditions and laws.

The best place to see these traditional clothes is to visit the Georgian National Museum, that is located on one of the most famous streets in Tbilisi, on Shota Rustaveli Avenue. The national museum includes ten different museums, the National Gallery, research centers, and it is the biggest complex in Georgia. Apart from the different collections of art and exhibitions, you can see different kinds of Georgian National Clothes in the section of the ethnography. There are represented the national costumes for men as well as for women from the different regions of Georgia.

Georgian National Museum

3/10 Shota Rustaveli Ave, T'bilisi 0105, Georgia

This is how Georgian national clothes look like. It was developing and changing over the centuries and finally formed the real traditional dresses. The Chokha for men and the national dress for women are still used in the weddings and different national events. When you arrive in Georgia, don’t forget to check our national clothes by yourself. You will understand that it really was an extraordinary style.

Video © Credits to GeoMartial