magid

I saw this photo of men in traditional Circassian* garb, and immediately wanted them. Awesome knee-length coats with an interesting design on the front how it would look on a woman's shape, I'm not sure: I can't tell if it's a raised pattern or not), fancy striped pants, and collarless shirts: what's not to like? Though it might not look right without a dagger, which I read is integral to the costume, and I don't own (either). (The guy on the right is likely an actual fighter, since he also has a sword and his sleeves are shorter, to stay out of the way when fighting.) Sadly, when I went looking for the comparable women's clothing, the call was not nearly as loud. I mean, it's pretty, and the dresses are nice, but they're just not as interesting to me, another variation on an ankle-length dress. I suppose technically it would be cross-dressing if I wore the men's outfit (assuming I could get my hands on it in the fist place, of course), but the coat is basically a knee-length dress, and the rest of the outfit is very body-covering; I could likely wear it even in Mea Shearim without difficulties unless it were seen to be male-only clothes. (Which is technically possible: Israel has a small Circassian population, around 3,600, though I'd be more likely to run into a someone of that group there than here, where there are apparently only 9,000 in the whole USA.) (And if I did wear it, would it be seen as cultural appropriation/misuse, since I'm not of the appropriate heritage? I have other obviously-not-my-heritage-but-someone-else's garments, and I rarely wear them out, partly because I think about this; I don't want to be someone who causes problems like that, if those are indeed caused. Thoughts, anyone?)

* According to Wikipedia, that oh-so-definitive source, I should use "Adyghe" instead of "Circassian." I don't know how to pronounce that, and in my head, Circassian has associations of exotic north-of-Middle-East-ish areas, resonating history, that Adyghe just doesn't, since I saw it for the first time today. So, Circassian it is.