The dress of Mongolians displays national peculiarities being very much suited to the cattle-breeders’ nomadic way of life, economic features and the country’s natural climatic conditions.
Historical sources give evidence of many kinds of dress that Mongolians wore. For example, during the Mongolian Empire period, married women wore hats called “Bogtoga”, which were very tall and slender and made out of bark. They were covered with silk, which was decorated with valuable pearls, precious stones and feathers on top. Archaeological findings reveal many such hats.
The Mongolian deel of the past was quite different from that of today. It reached almost to the ankles and had no collar. Although some details changed, the national costume retained its original style until the beginning of the 20th century, when it assumed some characteristics of Manchu clothing.
The deel varied in style and purpose. There were everyday costumes for men and women, for summer and winter, as well as special clothes for holidays and ceremonies. In olden times, the Mongols had a great variety of street-clothes, headgear, and ornaments. These all revealed to what ethnic or social group the wearer belonged. The rules for wearing each style of dress were dictated by ancient traditions and customs.
Married women’s costumes and ornaments varied depending on the area of Mongolia from which the women came. Generally, wives wore a “uuji” (something like a long waistcoat without sleeves) over the traditional deel. Women from western Mongolia had a large white collar on the deel and their costumes were very free and loose. However, the women of central and eastern Mongolia wore a deel with high shoulders, and the collar, hem, and sleeves were decorated with intricate designs. Great attention was paid to the ornamentation of the headdress. In the past, it was believed that the hairstyle should resemble the wings of a garuda, (the mythical king of the birds). Silver barrettes were also used to keep hair in place.
In winter, Mongolian men usually wore deel made out of sheep or lamb’s skins, as well as lynx, sable and fox pelts. In summer, men preferred deel of cotton fabrics.
The Mongolians wore many kinds of hats decorated with fur: sable, silver fox, red fox and others. In summer, the Mongols wore both malgai (a hat with velvet upturned brim and pointed crown) and tortsog, a hat consisting of six gores. Mongolian boots vary from one ethnic group to another. There are many kinds of boots, called mongol, tookuu, kanchin, buriat etc. and some of them are worn even today. Today, especially in the city, Mongols prefer to wear European dress. The national costumes of the small ethnic groups of the past are almost forgotten now, and the clothes of Central Mongolia are most popular.
Mongolian hats and headdresses differ in shape and purpose. Hats vary from group to group, with further variations for the young and the old, for men and women, for special occasions and everyday wear, and for the seasons.
The cone-shape of Mongolian hats symbolizes a yearning towards heaven and prosperity and abundance. Every Mongolian hat is symbolic of the sun, the moon, fire, and friendship. According to Mongolian tradition hats are highly respected objects, therefore in ger Mongolians place their hats facing toward the south on a trunk in the northern section of the ger. There are also certain places where you cannot place a hat, you should never point your feet toward a hat, and you never place a hat with its opening upwards. Mongolians don’t exchange hats with one another, nor do they throw them away.
Traditional Mongolian clothing reflects both the origin of the Mongols and the various influences of outside groups. Most Mongolians wear a deel that buttons on the right, with a high collar, the latter of which is an influence from the Manchu Chinese. The top section of the deel slants across the chest; the lower portion is rather loose. Traditionally, the majority of deel had long sleeves (again a Chinese influence) ending in wide cuffs (sometimes referred to as horse-hoof cuffs.) The gender and age of the wearer exerted stylistic control on the deel.
Ceremonial deel and those of wealthy people were made of fine silk or golden or silver brocade. Their winter deel would be lined with valuable furs or skins. The edges would be of the best brocade and the buttons of silver.
Ordinary Mongolian men wore dark blue, black, brown, and green deel with blue cuffs. There were two kinds of deel for women; one for young girls and one for married women. Traditionally a married woman wore a red, pink, green, blue, or light blue deel with a long vest over it. Bright colors were preferred for special occasions. The collar, front flap, and edges of the deel were bordered with trimmings or braids. Married Mongolian women preferred sheep skin deel in the winter and cotton or silk deel during the rest of the year.
The khalkha and myangad ethnic groups had deel with raised shoulder pads. Married women in western Mongolia wore deel similar to these but with bigger sleeves, smaller cuffs, and a white, pleated collar. Married women in eastern Mongolia did not have the exaggerated shoulder pads of the Khalkha and Myangad.
Mongolian nomads have been making and wearing different styles of leather, felt and skin boots for many years. Mongolians prefer boots with turned-up toes, worn with cotton socks in the summer and thick felt in the winter.
Mongol Gutal - boots made of buligaar (a type of thick Russian leather) with the characteristic turned-up toe, are very common amongst Mongolians. These boots are most often made of black, brown, yellow, and green leather. Mongol Gutal consists of felt soles, leather boot tops and vamps, and cuffs. Patterns such as the Ulzii (symbol of longevity) often adorn the boots. The number of patterns on the boots is significant. For example, men would have 8, 12, 14, 16, or 33 patterns on their boots. Patterns called zuu orooh are found on boots made for kings and queens.
Married Mongolian women received jewellery as their dowry and enjoyed wearing a profuse collection. They often had gold and silver hairpins, rings, bracelets, and other ornaments, often encrusted with semi-precious stones such as pearl, turquoise, and coral. Coin-shaped, hoop, or leaf-shaped earrings were also popular. Rings with and without stones were also worn and often the owner would have a matching bracelet.
The married Khalkha woman’s headdress consisted of a skullcap, four to six hair clips and another pair of hair clips worn at the base of her elaborate wing-like projections of hair. Usually made of silver, these items would also be encrusted with semi-precious stones.
Mongolian men also wore richly decorated objects. Often they had fancy silver or brass buttons on their deel and hung pipes, tobacco pouches, and snuff bottles in a special pouch on their sashes. Generally, the pipes were made of silver, sometimes with inlaid stones. Snuff bottles were made of precious materials such as chalcedony, jade, jasper, agate, turquoise, rock crystal, topaz, ebony, porcelain, or rare wood. The snuff bottle pouches were made of silk, with beautiful embroidered or appliqued designs. Gold or silver rings, worn on the ring finger of the left hand were popular. It is believed that wearing a diamond shaped ring is good for a man’s spirit.
Mongolian men hang a knife set on the right side of his sash. These sets were made of redwood, bone, leather, and silver and were prized possessions. The exchange of snuff-bottles was one of the most important gestures of a traditional welcome. When greeting a person one held his snuff-bottle to ones nose before returning it.
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