Interested in the Belgium national costume? Find out about the unique traditional clothes of Belgium.
The country of Belgium consists of people from different ethnic groups. You have the Flemish from Flanders and the local Dutch speaking crowd. Both these groups combined give color and character to the traditional clothes of Belgium.
Belgium National Costume for Boys
When it comes to the Belgian dress sense for the boys we find the Belgian style to be modeled upon French styles. This is true to quite an extent at least amongst the French speaking part of the Belgian population. The French occupation of Belgium has left permanent influences on the dress sense of the Belgians.
Smocks and berets are extremely popular amongst the Belgian men. This trend was picked up from the French during their reign over the locals. Young boys could actually be seen wearing dresses all the way up to the 20th century. Up until the 19th century the use of tunics also flourished amongst the masses. The boys could be seen sporting pantalettes with their tunics as well as their dresses.
School going children would make regular use of smocks. By the late 19th century a new trend of tailor suits came into fashion in Belgium. The rise of this fashion however had nothing to do with the Belgian Navy at all.
Knee pants were popular amongst the boys which later transformed into short pants during the early 1900s. By the middle of the 1950s berets and smocks were quickly getting old fashioned. The Belgians however have a tendency to stick to their traditional dress sense even when the world around them was taking to new fashion trends. It is only in recent years that the Belgians have started to adopt modern westernized clothing.
Traditional Clothes for Women
Traditionally Belgium has a history of making use of special gowns for the ladies. These gowns are quite intricate and unique in nature. The different ethnic groups and time periods had their own version of the national costume. Some of the most prominent styles to float over time are as follows:
The Huntress
This is perhaps one of the most popular all time classic Belgian costumes. Today it is popularly worn as a wedding dress in Belgium. The Huntress dress has a lot of character with Celtic trimming on the edge of its sleeves and contrasting bias edging.
The dress has ties which have been given a trimming with colorful beads. Fashion designers that produce this Belgian costume for today’s masses offer an opportunity to choose your own trims and make the huntress dress with detachable sleeves. The dress is worn with a special chemise which is usually white in color.
The Eponin
This is one of the most attractive national dresses of Belgian. It is known as a slimming dress and belongs to the romantic era. Traditionally the dress was always made using a fully lined cotton twill.
One of the most attractive features of the Eponin was the square neck. The unique shape of the neck was further accentuated with a matching trim. Each side of the Eponin is laced up with grommets. This gives the wearer the opportunity to alter their dresses according to their changing sizes.
Another unique thing about the Eponin was the fact that one gown could be shared by a number of women having different sizes. The dress has a very narrow waist and as such it flatters the natural feminine form of the wearer.
