Pakistani clothing

Pakistani clothing refers to the ethnic clothing that is typically worn by people in the country of Pakistan and by Pakistanis. Pakistani clothes express the culture of Pakistan, the demographics of Pakistan, and cultures from Punjab, Sindh, Balochistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Gilgit-Baltistan, and Kashmir regions of the country. The clothing in each region and culture of Pakistan reflect weather conditions, way of living, the textiles and embroidery used and its distinctive style which gives it a unique identity among all cultures.

Pakistani national dress

The Shalwar kameez, Achkan, Sherwani and Kurta shalwar Kameez are the national dresses of Pakistan^[1]^[2] and is worn by men and women in all five provinces of Punjab, Sindh, Balochistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and Gilgit-Baltistan in the country and in Azad Kashmir. Shalwar refers to loose trousers and kameez refers to shirts. Since 1982, all officials working in the secretariat are required to wear the national dress.^[3] Each province has its own variant of salwar kameez such as Sindhi Salwar Khamis, Punjabi shalwar kameez, Pashtun shalwar kameez, and Balochi shalwar kameez. Pakistanis wear clothes ranging from exquisite colours and designs to various types of fabric such as silk, chiffon, cotton, etc.^[4]^[5]

Traditional Khet partug. (Traditional loose shalwar worn in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) (1842)
Girl from Karachi, Sind, in narrow Sindhi Soossi suthan and cholo. c. 1870.
Balochi traditional dress
Balochi male shalwar kameez, Quetta.1867
Pakistani dress

Men's clothing

Men wear shalwar kameez, kurta, Pakistani Waistcoat, achkan and sherwani, churidar, or pajama. Other items of clothing include the jama and the angarkha. Headgear includes turbans, the Jinnah Cap, also called Karakul, Fez, also called Rumi Topi, and Taqiyah (cap). Peshawari chappal and Khussa are popular foot wear. Other items include traditional shawls made of Pashmina or other warm materials especially in the Northern regions of the country, mainly, Khyber Pakhtunkhwans usually wear the Pakol hat,

Every province has a different and unique cultural dress.

Ethnic & Regional clothing

Balochistan

In Balochistan, traditionally a long jama (robe) like a smock-frock is worn down to the heels, loose shalwar, a long chadar or scarf, a pagri of cotton cloth, and mostly shoes that narrow at the toe.^[6] The material is thick cloth with a very wide shalwar to protect against the hot winds of the dry Sulaiman Range and Kharan Desert.

Elders of Kirani Quetta in turbans and hats
Pakistani Baloch
Traditional Balochi suits

Sindh

Sindhi style Salwar Khamis are common everyday dress nowadays,^[7]^[8] Sindhi Salwar/Suthan is wider at waist and gets narrower below knees till ankles where it is loosely fitted, second style of salwar is Kancha which has very wide (Pancha) ankle-cuffs, used to be worn back in time, the third style of Shalwar has very less pleats or no pleats at all but is loose like pajamo. Sindhi Khamis is usually shorter, before the adoption of Khamis, Sindhi men used to wear Short angrakho called Angelo, later Sindhi Pehran/Pehriyan (a collarless Kurta tunic) tied at one side or in center resembling Sindhi Angelo was common, both Angelo and Pehriyan were sometimes embroidered with Sindhi embroideries and mirrorwork, Sindhi men also wear embroidered vests under the Khamis called "Ganji", while the different waistcoats (Koti, Sadri, Gidi, Kaba) were worn over tunics.^[9] Some men in rural areas wear Sindhi lungi (only muslims) called "Godd", whereas hindus wore Dhoti or Treto while others wore tight fitting pajamas and a long Jama, the rich men wore Sherwanis with gold buttons. With clothes Sindhi men wore Sindhi Patko, Pagg or Phento (turbans), youngsters wore Sindhi cap, men carried Ajrak or any other locally made shawls/handkerchief were carried on shoulders.

Two Sindhi muslim men in Sindhi Salwar/Suthan and Pehriyan with Sindhi Patko (turban) and Loi (winter shawls)
Two Sindhi men in Sindhi Kancha, Patko and Ajrak.
A Sindhi hindu banker in long Jama and Dhoti.
Sindhi man in modern style Sindhi Khamis and Kancha in Karachi.
Two Sindhi muslim men wearing Sindhi Salwar Khamis and Godd with Sindhi rumals (handkerchiefs)
Sindhi ajrak and Sindhi topi.
Sindhi topi (cap)

Punjab

Punjabi men wear the straight cut Punjabi shalwar kameez, kurta, or shalwar. Dhoti, lungi, or tehmat are often worn in rural areas.^[10]^[11]^[12] Other Punjabi shalwar styles include the Pothohari shalwar,^[13] Multani shalwar, Dhoti shalwar, and the Bahawalpuri shalwar which is very wide and baggy^[14] with many folds. Turban of a thin cloth is also worn especially in rural areas of Punjab where it is called pagri. Footwear include the khussa and Peshawari chappal, which is also widely worn.

Punjabi kurta and tehmat
Punjabi clothing of Lahore, 1890s
Saraiki Turban
Bhangra Dance performers in Punjab wearing Kurta and Tehmat.
Saraiki Kurta
Prince Suba Sadiq Abbasi, Bahawalpur in Bahawalpuri shalwar
Men in Attock in shalwar kameez

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa

Pashtun dress differ according to region but usually people wear traditional Peshawari chappal^[15] as footwear and a Pakol or turban as headwear. The traditional male Pashtun dress includes the Khet partug,^[16] Peshawari shalwar, and the Patke tunban. Males usually wear kufi, Peshawari cap, turban, or Pakol as traditional headgear.

Clothing worn by most Pashtun males in Afghanistan and Pakistan
Amir Chand Bombwal, Peshwar editor wearing a Peshawari Turban
Man wearing pakol

Gilgit-Baltistan

A Gilgiti man wearing the cultural "Khoi" cap of Gilgit-Baltistan

Azad Kashmir

The clothing of Azad Kashmir includes various styles of the shalwar kameez. It is called Pheran.

Women's clothing

Shalwar kameez

Pakistani women wear the shalwar kameez which is worn in different styles, colours, and designs which can be decorated with different styles and designs of embroidery. The kameez can be of varying sleeve length, shirt length, and necklines. The drawers can be the straight-cut shalwar, patiala salwar, churidar, cigarette pajama, tulip trouser, samosa pajama, or simple trouser

Dupatta

The Dupatta is treated just as an accessory in current urban fashion. Most women who carry it nowadays wear it just as a decorative accessory; it's usually worn wrapped around the neck or hanging down the shoulder. [Dupatta] is also used by some women when entering a mosque, dargah, where they cover their head with a dupatta while entering such places. It is widely worn by women in weddings and other parties out of choice and fashion. On such occasions, mostly it is wrapped around the waist, neck, or just draped on a shoulder. It is used with different embroidery designs of Kamdani and Gota.

Burqa

In Pakistan, upper and middle-class women in towns wear burqas over their normal clothes in public.^[17]^[18] The burqa is the most visible dress in Pakistan. It is a garment worn over the ordinary clothes and is made of white cotton. Many upper-class women wear a two-piece burqa which is usually black in colour but sometimes navy blue or dark red. It consists of a long cloak and a separate headpiece with a drop-down face veil. Some educated urban women no longer wear the burqa, while some of them wear Hijab as an alternative. The burqa is also not worn by rural peasant women who work in the fields.^[19] In rural areas only elite women wear burqas.^[17]^[18] Purdah is still common in the rural elite and urban middle class, but not among rural farmers.^[20]

Bridal dresses

Pakistani brides traditionally opt for lehengas, anarkalis, or shararas and ghararas. Most wear lehengas, popularly either with short lehenga cholis or a longer shalwar top. Lehengas are long skirts usually paired with a short blouse known as a choli, but can be paired with a long shalwar kameez. Anarkalis are also an option, imitating gowns. Shararas consist of a blouse or shalwar, with loose pants. Ghararas, are similar, except the pants are tight at the thighs and flare from the knee. All these options are normally intricately embroidered, and are moderately popular with Indian brides too.

Other traditional dresses

On special occasions such as Eid more heavily embroidered iterations of the shalwar kameez are worn by Pakistani women.

Farshi Pajama is an old traditional dress which is worn occasionally. Laacha is worn in Punjab,^[21] the lower part of which resembles the dhoti.