Palestinian traditional costumes

Palestinian traditional clothing are the types of clothing historically and sometimes still presently worn by Palestinians. Foreign travelers to Palestine in the 19th and early 20th centuries often commented on the rich variety of the costumes worn, particularly by the fellaheen or village women. Many of these handcrafted garments were richly embroidered, and creating and caring for them played an important role in the lives of many women in the region.

Experts believe the origins of Palestinian clothing go back to ancient times, though no surviving clothing from that early period exists to compare with modern items. Influences from many empires that ruled Palestine, such as Ancient Egypt, Ancient Rome, and the Byzantine Empire, can be seen in the designs and styles, based on art and literature from those times.

Until the 1940s, traditional Palestinian clothing showed a woman's economic and marital status and where she came from. People who knew these clothes could tell these details from the fabric, colors, cut, and embroidery designs used. In 2021, the art of embroidery in Palestine and related traditions were added to the UNESCO Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, recognizing its importance to the culture.

Origins

Geoff Emberling, director of the Institute for the Study of Ancient Cultures, says that Palestinian clothing from the early 1800s up until World War I shows styles that look like clothes from over 3,000 years ago.

Hanan Munayyer, a collector and researcher of Palestinian clothing, points to old pieces of clothing from around 1500 BC. She notes that from 1200 BC to 1940 AD, Palestinian dresses were made from natural fabrics and had a similar shape with triangular sleeves. This style is known to archaeologists as the "Syrian tunic."

In a book called Palestine: Ancient and Modern from 1949, Winifred Needler explains that no real clothing from ancient Palestine has survived, and there aren’t many details in old writings. However, the way these modern clothes look is similar to what people in West Asia wore, as seen in old pictures from ancient Egypt and Assyria. The Bible mentions the clothing of women in old times, which may look like modern Palestinian rural dresses.

Needler also talks about well-preserved clothing pieces from Roman-Egyptian times. These include loose linen clothes with patterned wool bands, shoes, sandals, and linen caps, which are similar to modern Palestinian styles.

The change from woven designs to embroidered ones happened in the 8th century because of skilled needle making in Damascus. Embroidered parts of Palestinian dresses, like the square chest piece and decorated back panel, are also seen in clothes from 13th-century Andalusia. Each village in Palestine had special patterns that helped local women identify each other. Common designs included stars, the moon, birds, palm leaves, stairs, and diamonds or triangles, which were thought to protect against bad luck.

Social and gender variation

Palestinian society traditionally had three groups: villagers, townspeople, and Bedouins. Their clothing showed these differences. Village women, called fellahin, often wore older, traditional styles because they lived far away from others. You could often tell which village a woman was from by the designs on her dress.

Townspeople (Arabic: baladin) had more contact with outside ideas, so their fashion changed more often. By the early 1900s, wealthy people in cities often wore Western wear. For example, Ghada Karmi wrote about how in the 1940s in Katamon, Jerusalem, only the maids—who were village women—wore traditional Palestinian dresses.

Bedouin clothing showed their tribe instead of a specific place. Like in most of the Middle East, men’s clothes were more similar to each other than women’s.

Weaving and fabrics

Woolen fabrics for everyday use were made by weavers in Majdal, Bethlehem, Ramallah, and Jerusalem. The wool came from sheep, goats, or camels. Women among the Bedouin traditionally wove items like tents, rugs, and pillow covers. They spun thread from sheep's wool, colored it with natural dyes, and wove it into strong fabric using a ground loom.

Linen and cotton were important fabrics for embroidered clothes. Cotton became more common at the end of the 19th century when it was imported from Europe. Fabrics could be left plain or dyed different colors, with deep blue being very popular using Indigo dye. Other colors included black, red, and green. In 1870, Jerusalem had ten dyeing workshops employing about 100 men.

The village of Majdal, though no longer exists, its weaving craft lives on through cultural preservation projects in Gaza City.

Palestinian embroidery

See also: Tatreez

Palestinian embroidery has many different designs because Palestine has a long history and was visited by many cultures. In the past, people used natural colors like red from insects, blue from plants, and yellow from flowers. These colors came from the land and plants around them.

Women in villages used embroidery to show where they came from and their family. They started learning to embroider when they were about seven years old, often learning from their grandmothers. Their embroidery included special shapes like squares and triangles, which were thought to protect them from bad luck. They made beautiful clothes for special occasions and everyday wear.

Later, new ideas from Europe brought in different designs like flowers and birds. But many places still kept their own special geometric patterns.

Men's clothing

Some jobs had special clothes. For example, horse or mule drivers wore a short jacket with long sleeves that were split open on the inside, red shoes, and a small yellow woolen cap with a tight turban.

History

Pre-1948

In a book from 1921, a writer described the traditional clothes worn by Palestinian farmers. Men wore a long tunic called a dîmâyeh or ḳumbâz, along with a vest and a woolen overcoat. Women wore an embroidered dress called a Khurḳeh, often with a long veil over it. Their head-dresses were decorated with coins and ornaments.

Post-1948

After events in 1948, many people could no longer make or wear these detailed clothes because they had moved and had less money. New styles started in the 1960s, like a dress with six wide bands of embroidery. These new styles came from places where people had to leave their homes. Today, groups in these areas make beautiful embroidery on bags and other items, and sell them around the world.

Geography

• Jerusalem: The people in Jerusalem followed styles from Damascus, which were influenced by the Ottoman court in Istanbul. They used fabrics from Syria, and special shops were on the Mamilla Road. Wedding dresses came from Aleppo and Turkey. By the early 1900s, richer people started wearing styles from Europe.
• Galilee: Women in the Galilee had their own special style from the mid-1800s. They wore a coat, tunic, and trousers. They liked patchwork designs with diamonds and rectangles instead of cross-stitch. By the early 1900s, styles from Turkey and the Ottoman Empire became popular, with loose trousers and cord edges. They used silks from Damascus. Before European dyes, the Galilee grew plants like indago and sumac to make blue and red colors.
• Nablus: Dresses from villages around Nablus had simpler designs than elsewhere in Palestine.

• Bethlehem: Bethlehem was known for its beautiful stitching work, like the nearby town of Bayt Jalla. They used this stitching in special wedding dresses called malak, which were popular with brides near Jerusalem. Wealthy families often had the groom pay for these dresses, showing off their status.

• Ramallah: People in Ramallah had very unique and carefully made patterns in their clothing.

• Lifta (near Jerusalem), and Bayt Dajan (near Jaffa) were among the richest areas, and their embroiderers were very creative. Majdal (now part of Ashkelon) was a place known for weaving.

Garment types

Basic dress

The Palestinian thobe was a loose-fitting robe with sleeves that varied by region. It often featured a square chest panel called a qabbeh, decorated with beautiful designs. Women also wore side panels called Banayiq. Other clothing included Libas pants and Jubbeh jackets, worn by both men and women. Special embroidered jackets called Jillayeh were often worn at weddings. In some areas, women used a large veil known as a Shambar.

Headdress

Main article: Palestinian keffiyeh

Women in different areas had special headdresses. They added gold and silver coins to show their wealth. In Bethlehem, married women wore a cone-shaped hat called a Shaṭweh. In Ramallah, women wore a decorated cap called a Smadeh with coins around the top. In Hebron, women wore an embroidered cap called an Araqiyyeh that they would decorate with coins during their engagement.

Men’s headwear also showed their status and group. A turban was worn by town men, while a kaffiyeh was common in the countryside. A white turban showed a judge, while other colors showed different groups. Over time, the tarboush or fez became popular, and later the kaffiyeh replaced it.

Shoes

People in towns like Jerusalem and Hebron wore soft white sheepskin shoes with the front turned up. Village men wore stronger shoes to protect their feet in the fields. Bedouin people wore sandals made by wandering shoemakers. On special occasions, some wore long red boots with blue tassels and iron heels, made in Damascus.

Collections of Palestinian costumes

Examples of traditional Palestinian clothing and related items are kept in many museums and private collections around the world.

Public collections include the British Museum in London, which has over 1,000 items from before 1948. The Israel Museum in Jerusalem also has a large collection. The L. A. Mayer Institute for Islamic Art in Jerusalem and the Museum of International Folk Art in Santa Fe hold important pieces as well. The Palestine Costume Archive in Canberra, Australia, and the Tareq Rajab Museum in Kuwait also feature significant collections. The Olana State Historic Site in Hudson, New York has one of the oldest collections, gathered in 1868–1869.

Private collections include the Widad Kawar Arab Heritage collection in Amman, Jordan, and the Abed Al-Samih Abu Omar collection in Jerusalem. The Palestinian Heritage Foundation in Bethlehem and the Palestinian Heritage Center also hold notable private collections.