Mongolian Clothing:
Traditional and Modern

These public domain photographs of Mongolian clothing show a range of styles from the traditional colourful robes to modern clothing you might see in any Western country.

To the left you see a couple at a traditional Mongolian wedding. You see that both man and women wear robes. These robes are called "deels". A deel can be ordinary and dull, or can be quite ornate and full of colour.

You can see several aspects of traditional Mongolian clothes here. The old deel usually has long sleeves, which can cover the hands in cold weather.

The colourful sash is important not just for looks but also for stashing things in. They can also be a great help for abdominal muscles bouncing around on a horse for long periods of time - sort of an outer girdle!

The Buriat people (or "Buryat") are one of the Mongolian ethnic groups. There are 76,000 of them in northern Mongolia and across the border in Russia.

In the picture above you see a Buriat family. The grandparents are in traditional plain deels. The parents are dressed in a modern style, as are the kids in their track suits.

It's not unusual to see a mix of modern and traditional together in Mongolia.

This public domain photo (all of the photos on this site are public domain) shows a nomad family. Here again you see the mixture of traditional and Western clothes.

As you can see from the two photos above, kids also wear traditional Mongolian clothes. From the wear on the boy's outfit, you can tell it's an everyday robe, not some special occasion get-up.

For the girl, it's not so certain. The pretty bows may mean she's dressed up specially for some occasion but it may be that the robe is not so special since, after all, she's wearing it in a corral (notice the horse?).

On the other hand, this boy's outfit is certainly not daily wear. His name is Bymba and obviously this is a special occasion.

This little girl, named Ichka, is also dressed up in a fancy traditional Mongolian robe. The embroidery work and colourful sash indicate this is an outfit for special occasions.

This couple (above) is also celebrating a special occasion with traditional fancy deels. As you can see, some of them get quite ornate and look like they're made of silk. Deels are made of various materials, depending whether they're made for warmth or for show.

It is safe to assume that these examples of traditional Mongolian clothing were made for warmth, although the child's hat does look rather festive!