TEHRAN – The traditional costume in each region reveals facts about the lifestyle and belief of the residence. People in each part of Iran have different type of clothing during history.

Here is a brief description of traditional costumes of women in Lorestan, western Iran.

There are a variety of traditional dresses of women in Lorestan Province. The styles of dresses are different according to the women’s age, as well as social and economic situation.

The dress is composed of different parts including scarf, dress, coat and trousers.

The main dress of Lorestan’s women is called Keras or Joma. It is a loose, simple and long dress with floral and colorful fabric. The sleeves are long and loose.

There are different types of coats and vests the Lorestan’s women put on their dress named Kolanja, Sardari and Yal.

Kolanja is a knee-length sleeveless side split coat on it. The embroidered coat is sometimes decorated with coins.

Sardari, or balkol, is another kind of coat used by Lorestan’s women. It is a short-sleeved velvet coat usually in black, green and red color. The elbow sleeve coat is also decorated with embroidering and coins.

The new brides and young women in Lorestan also use a kind of colorful vest named yal in weddings and ceremonies.

The trousers used by women in Lorestan are called Shauwal or Papush. The tight ankle pants are made from black fabric and are fixed on the waist with a thick rope made of cotton or wool.

They have different kinds of scarves as well, which are named sarvan and golvani.

Sarvan is a kind of fine silken scarf by which, young women cover their braid and put it on their back. Sometimes the front part of sarvan is decorated with coins.

Golvani is the usual scarf used by Lorestan’s women. The colorful floral scarf is usually made of silk. They tie beautifully the scarf around their neck.

In 3rd and 4th millenniums BC, migrant tribes settled down in the mountainous area of the Zagros Mountains.

The region was invaded and settled by the Iranian Medes in the 2 millennium BC. The Medes absorbed the indigenous inhabitants of the region by the time the area was conquered by the Persians in the 1 millennium BC.

Lorestan was successfully integrated into the Achamenid, Parthian and Sassanid empires. Parts of the region managed to stay independent during the Arab, Seljuk and Mongol invasions.

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