1 of 15
Cultural RepresentativesGirls pose at Don Muang Airport for aviators, who visited Thailand for the 1921 National Geographic story, “From London to Australia by Aëroplane: A Personal Narrative of the First Aërial Voyage Half Around the World.”
Photography by Theodore Macklin, National Geographic

15 Pictures of Traditional Dress Around the World

Carnival-goers wear powdered wigs, a couple performs a courtship dance, and a rodeo clown relaxes in this collection from our archives.

Photo gallery by Whitney Johnson
ByBecky Little
October 24, 2015

Around the world, traditional dress serves a variety of purposes. Whether it’s a way of remembering your ancestors, performing a religious ceremony, or marking an important event, almost every culture has types of clothing that carry more meaning than others (think wedding dresses, or the Shriner fez).

To give a sense of the variety and history of ceremonial and cultural clothing, here are pictures from 1913 to today.