Dress
The traditional dress in Belarus is rarely seen today, but can still be found in
some villages. For women this dress includes smock called a kashulya, over
which is a skirt that is traditionally pleated or striped, an apron, a belt, and
generally also a waistcoat. Women also usually wore a bonnet and unmarried girls
wore a light scarf on their heads. However, the styles and designs of these items
vary by region and over time. Men generally wore a simple collared shirt with pants
and perhaps also a short coat called a kamiselka. Men often also called
bags and wore hats on sunny days. Again, the designs of these clothes varied, but
for both men and women white, black, and red were common colors for clothes.
Today few people still wear this traditional dress, but it can be found in some
places and is also worn by many people on some special holidays. It is more common
for the people of Belarus to wear modern western-styled clothing today. This is
the result of the Soviet rule as well as globalization as today all sorts of clothing
is worn, essentially based on personal tastes and preferences.
As a visitor to Belarus you are free to wear nearly anything you want, but try to
dress for the weather and the occasion. Entering churches requires long pants and
preferably also long-sleeved shirts, but going out dancing seems to require little
of anything at all for many women, although to avoid the attention that comes with
this it's better to dress more modestly.