Kurds prepare for Kurdish Clothes Day

Kurdish people in the Kurdistan Region are preparing to mark March 10, Kurdish Clothes Day. It is not a holiday, but everyone goes to work and school, wearing typical Kurdish local outfits.

Each area in the Kurdistan Region has its unique design, such as Mradkhani, Hawrami, Kurmanji, Sorani, and many more. Locals revere March 10, viewing the occasion as a way to celebrate and maintain their culture and heritage.

“March 10 is important because it is the way to keep our clothing heritage alive,” said Kurdo Karzan, a local Kurdish language teacher in Erbil. “I wish that we could wear Kurdish clothes every day to work.”

March is the busiest month for dressmakers and tailors because of Kurdish Clothes Day and Newroz, the Kurdish New Year.

“March is our busiest month of the year,” said Twana Ali, a local tailor in Sulaimani. “It is not only March 10, but it is also about Newroz. Most people want Kurdish outfits for both. So each one will buy more than one outfit.”

Young people in Kurdistan are increasingly wearing traditional clothing amid growing awareness of the importance of preserving Kurdish culture and heritage and reducing the consumption demanded by the modern Western style of attire.

Men usually wear a combination of loose, baggy pants (sharwal) that taper at the bottom and a matching jacket (kurtak), with a dress shirt (kras) under it.

The outfit also needs a long belt or sash, which is tied around the waist. Hawrami men’s attire has an extra piece: a felted wool vest called Faranji in Kurdish, which warms the wearer in winter and cools them in summer.

Women typically wear a long dress (kras), often made of light sheer fabric, with long sleeves, ending in a flared, dangling triangle (faqiana), which can be knotted together behind the dress or wrapped and knotted individually around each arm. Over the kras, they wear a short jacket (salta) or a vest (helak). Sometimes, they wear a long coat (kawa) over the Kras instead of the vest. Under the Kras, women wear a long camisole (zher krass) with bloomers (darpe).

“I bought fabric in early January for four outfits,” said Sazan Abdulla, a local employee in Erbil. “I wear one on March 10, and the rest for Newroz.”

“Every year, I buy new ones. I love Kurdish clothes so much.”