Fashion Around the World

Research on Asia:

East Asia- East Asia consist of countries such as Japan, Mongolia, China, Hong Kong and Macau, territories of China, Taiwan, South Korea, and North Korea. Some of the major religions that are followed by the people in this region is of Shinto Buddhism, Confucianism, Taoism, Shamanism. The East Asian culture has been called in many different ways, and some of the common names it has been called are Sinic World, Confucian World or the Chinese culture sphere. The East culture started at the yellow and the Yangtze river, and from there it moved to the other regions through migration of people to other regions, and through communication. Chinese's dynasty had a huge influence on the rest of the East Asian countries, and most this countries have their writing system derived from the Chinese languages, Mandarin. Other than the culture and the writing system, their traditional clothing is also similar to china's in a way. In East Asia, the traditional clothing are known to conceal the body shape. The dresses are usually T-shaped garments, and the garments generally open down the front. It takes almost 34 to 35 cm of fabric in order to make the garments, and the garment contains beautiful patterns of flowers and traditional looking rich embroidery on the edges of the garment.
Japan- The traditional clothing of Japan consists of Kimono, Yukata etc. Kimono literally means 'the thing worn', and it is worn by both men and women.
Korea- The traditional clothing of Korea is called Hanbok, in South Korea, and in North it is called Joseon-ot. The top part of the clothing is called jeogori, and the sleeves are very long and it contains complex yet beautiful embroidery throughout the blouse.
China- Chinese traditional clothing are mainly known as "Han Fu", and the clothing that are mainly worn today are mainly from the Manchu era, late 17th century. The garment for the men and the women are made the same way, but women's rob are a little longer than men with a fluffy skirt.
South Asia- South Asia consist of countries such as India, Bhutan, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Maldives. Some of the major religions that are followed by people living in this region are Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, Sikhism, and Islam. Countries such as Sri Lanka and Bhutan, the dominant culture that is followed is Buddhism. While followers of Islam in a large unit can be found in countries such as Afghanistan, Pakistan and Bangladesh as well as islands of  Maldives. Believers of Hinduism and Jainism are mainly found in Nepal and India, however in India consists of people with all this religions as well as a wholesome amount of believers of Christianity. This part of the world contains the three main branches of the Language tree, which are the Indo-Aryan, Dravidian, and the Sino-Tibetan. Draped and wrapped garments are the most common clothing in South Asia. In olden time, the clothing were threaded with real gold which showed the superiority of the person. One of the oldest empire in South Asia, Gupta Empire which is more specifically in India, the king was married to a Greek woman, and her clothing significantly influence the traditional clothing in that region. A single piece of chiton draped around her body, with some pleats going down in the center, can  be considered the ancestor of most of the traditional clothing which later diffused in countries such India, Nepal, Sri Lanka etc.
India- India consists of numerous ethnicities, languages as well as different kind of clothing. However, India is very well known of its silky, gorgeous Saree or Sari, which are worn by women with a choli, blouse. In olden time, men were likely to wear dhoti or lungi, a wrapped skirt with a kameez, a long tunic.
Pakistan- Because they share a long history with India, a lot of their dressing seems to be similar to them. Men and women both wear Salvar Kameez, and women usually wear a duppata, which goes around their neck or lays on the side of their shoulder.
Bhutan-  During traditional days, people tend to wear woven dress instead of the regular machine milled clothes. Traditional clothing for women in Bhutan are called Kera, ankle length dress, and under it they wear a blouse. Traditional clothing for men are called gho, tied around the waist which secured with a belt, and over the belt they wear a large pouch which contains traditional items such as betel nut, bowl etc.
Southeast Asia- Southeast Asia consists of countries such as Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, Singapore, Malaysia, Philippines, Cambodia, Myanmar, Laos, Brunei, and Timor-Leste. In ancient period there were a lot of maritime trade happening in this region, so due to that it is influenced by many religions. Some of the major religion in this region are Islam, Buddhism, Christianity as well as Hinduism. In this region, they give very importance to art, more specifically dancing, and they also have a common feature of stilt housing.
Cambodia- The traditional clothing for women in Cambodia are very similar to the ones that are for men. The both wear a sampot, a long skirt folded in the front and it mainly looks like a trousers. On the top of it, they usually wear a white shirt or blouse. Men also wear a sampot, specifically one made out of cotton, with a white shirt of long sleeves.  
Vietnam- The traditional clothing for both gender in Vietnam is called Ao dai. However, men don't choose to wear Ao dai, but they do during traditional events. Women are usually known to wear Ao dai, which basically is a long blouse with a slit on the side which are wore over silky pants.
Brunei- The traditional clothing of Brunei are very similar to the traditional clothing of Malaysia. The clothing is called Baju Melayu, and the clothing is very colorful which is mainly made out of rich, pure silk. The dress covers the whole body from neck to toe, and men usually wear a long sleeve shirt with trousers and sarong.
Central Asia- Central Asia consists of Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstani, Turkmenistan.
West Asia
North Asia
Cite:
http://www.lifeinkorea.com/culture/clothes/clothes.cfm
http://fashion-history.lovetoknow.com/clothing-around-world/south-asia-history-dress
http://www.bhutan.com/culture/traditional-dress
http://english.vietnamnet.vn/fms/art-entertainment/97197/traditional-costumes-of-ten-southeast-asian-countries.html

Fashion around the world

Background information about the Genius Hour project:

For my Genius Hour project, I decided to research about different culture's traditional clothing and the significance of the clothing in that specific culture or region. After researching, I am likely to create a book about it, and that is mainly because I want to spread awareness of the significance of that traditional clothing to the young adults and the coming generation. In the book I will be sketching the traditional outfit of a specific region into something more modern yet still not losing the traditionalism, which can be wear by the young adults today and the future generation. The reason I want to do this project is because, since I was little I always enjoyed fashion, in general, and if I have to choose a career other than in Health-science then its likely to be related to fashion designing. Because of such reasons, I want to do create this book and I will give my all efforts in to create this book.

Research:

North America:
Native American-
There are many different clothing styles in North America according to different tribes, and many times looking at the accessories and clothing helped them tell apart the difference between people of different tribes.
In most of the tribes men wore breechcloth and most of the of time it was made out of leather, because of the cold climate. Men didn't wore shirts back then, and the only exceptions for that were the soldiers. The soldiers wear special war shirts which were decorated with feathers, hairs, beads as well as intricate quillwork. Most of the women would wear dress in most of the tribes, and in some such as tribes they would wear shirts. The shows were common for most of the genders, which were heavy moccasin, leather shoes, or mukluk , heavier boots. In some tribes they would prefer they would prefer bare foot. Over time feather headdresses and woven blankets started to get really popular among the Native American tribes. The word that is used by natives Americans for their traditional clothing is Regalia, which are mainly used in their ceremonial occasions.

Types of Native American cultures (North America):
The Arctic- It is the present day Alaska, Canada and Greenland, and the people there mainly use seal and otters skins to make warm, waterproof clothing.
The Subarctic- Mainly composed of piney forests, waterlogged Tundra and it stretches from Alaska and Canada. It was very hard for the people in this region to travel, so they created the snowshoes and warm yet light weighted clothing out of animal's skin.
The Northeast- This is the present day Canada's Atlantic coast and stretches all the way to Mississippi river region. Their clothing were mainly made out of fox's skin, and this helped them have a distinguish them to other tribes.    
The Plains- This the vast prairie region from the Mississippi river to the Rocky mountains. They mainly created their clothing out of buffalo's skin and most of the women wore dresses.

https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/originals/88/65/13/886513b7a15bc66de066933e56b62009.jpg

https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/originals/47/f8/d9/47f8d901072b42976deafcee4fbab958.jpg

 Citations:
http://www.history.com/topics/native-american-history/native-american-cultures
http://www.native-languages.org/clothing.htm




The Alchemist

Sign Post: Part Four

Word of the wiser- Santiago was on his way to pursue his personal legend, and on his way, he earned many wise advices from the alchemist. Specifically in the last few pages of the novel, the alchemist tells a story about the Emperor Tiberius of Rome, and this was something very significant he told the boy before them separating apart on their different ways. The story was mainly about the angel telling the emperor that how his son's poetry will be very well known for generations; however, when the emperor dies, he meets the angel again and thanks him for making his son's poetry immortal. The angel says, "The words you're hearing right now are those of your son in the military", and his son went on for looking a cure for his servant. This is very significant because it provides Santiago with lesson of even if one does not have a destiny, they can truly have a desire and work hard in accordance to their desire which can lead them to achieve their desire or personal legend in their life. This is one of the most important piece of advice that Santiago receives, because it is likely to help him in future when he is doubting himself after coming all the way to the Egypt, and being unsure about the path he decided to choose.

Aha Moment- One of the most important yet very surprising aha moment occurred at the end of the novel. When Santiago decides to dig up the specific place where he thought he might be able to find the treasure from, he confronted some refugees. The refugees "As the sun rose, the men began to beat the boy...", and the reason for that was mainly because Santiago was not able to find any gold. The refugees atlas decided to leave Santiago alone, but before leaving, the leader of the group told the Santiago about how similarly he often had dreams about the finding the treasure in Spain, where the shepherds and their sheep sleep near the church. This was a very big aha moment for the boys as well as the readers, because all the journey he did from all the way from Spain to Egypt was only hearing to this. However, this gives the idea of how the universal language works, like how all the elements of the world, for example: people, wind, sun, desert etc., helped Santiago to achieve his personal legend. So overall, the universal language as well as the strong desire of Santiago played a huge role in him achieving his personal legend.

 

Reflection:

I was surprised how the author added numerous different religions which all connected internally throughout his novel. During the beginning of the novel, I saw many religions being represented in many ways, but near the end of the novel when Santiago was asking the wind and the sun to change himself into a wind; I saw the representation of the religion of Hinduism. More specifically when the boy was having conversation with the Sun about him changing into the wind, and the sun wasn't able to do it, the wind "Was listening and wanting to tell every corner of the world that the sun's wisdom had its limitations...". In Hinduism, there are actually many deities, and there is one which represents the sun called "Surya", and the other one which represents wind "Vayu". This two deities are known for having a very tensed relationship due to many conflicts happening between them, and the Surya god, sun, is considered on of the major influential figure over the other deities. But due to some incidents, Vayu god, wind, always tend to go against his ideas in general, and we can see that representation being shown in The Alchemist, with the wind being the very gossiping towards the sun.

Questions:

1. Do you think that Santiago will reach safely back to Fatima?
2. What do you think will after when Santiago meets Fatima? 

The Alchemist

Sign Post: Part Three

Contrasts & Contractions- Since when Santiago decided to go to Egypt after listening to the gypsy woman and also to pursue his personal legend, he was always very unsure about him choosing a right path or not. Santiago also started to think "It seemed as if what the old king has called "beginner's luck" were no longer functioning" and this shows the insecurity that lies within himself after al this hard work he did to pursue his personal legend of finding the treasure. This started to contradict as soon as Santiago encountered one of the woman of the desert, "Was not dressed in black", Fatima. "At that moment, it seemed to him that time stood still, and the Soul of the World surged within him...he learned the most important part of the language that all the world spoke...the language... capable of understanding in their heart", this shows the affection that Santiago had towards Fatima and this really contradicts with him before meeting her; it is mainly because he understood that the reason he was able to meet her was with the help of the universe, and his hard work paid off. Their love symbolizes the trust between two people, and it is very significant that Fatima lets Santiago go follow his personal legend which gives the idea of how Santiago have something to return for after achieve his personal legend, finding the treasure.

Contrast & Contradictions- At the beginning of the novel, Santiago met Melchizedek, the king of Salem, and one of the most significant advice from him to Santiago is that the fate doesn't rule the person and the destiny can be change by the person. Later in the novel, Santiago met the crystal merchant, and he later used the word "Maktub", meaning "it is written". The word "Maktub" repeats throughout the novel by different character, and that really clashes or contradicts with the idea of the Melchizedek. Then later when Santiago met Fatima, he said "Maktub", which goes back to the idea of him believing that it was destined for him to meet Fatima, and the universal force helped them meet. However, Santiago struggles to choose whether the fate rules the person or it doesn't. This also foreshadows how Santiago, in future is likely to be struggling with the idea of faith and destiny, in general.

Reflection:

The meeting of Santiago and the Fatima, in The Alchemist, reminds me of the meeting of the Ram and Sita. Ram and Sita, are the married couple and they are the part of a very significant epic story called "Ramayan", and they are also one of the of the deities in Hinduism. Ram was the king of the Ayodhya but due some circumstances, he was told to leave his position of being the king and spend 14 years surviving in the forest. Ram agreed to do that because of his respect towards his dad, and Sita also decided to spend 14 years with Ram in the forest, and this shows the loves and trust between the Ram and Sita, which they are also known for. This is very similar to the case of Santiago and Fatima, because Santiago was unsure about whether to follow his personal legend or not. Fortunately, Fatima ensured him that she will  happily yet desperately wait for him, like his mother waited for her father, and she will have trust in him, because she knows that he will surely return someday to her. "Now it will be the hope... I'm a woman of the desert... but above all, I'm a woman...".

Questions:

1. Is meeting with Fatima will make Santiago want to achieve his personal legend even more than before?
2. Was meeting with Fatima considered to be the "Beginner's luck", or is there something more to come?  

The Alchemist

Sign Posts: Part Two

Contrast and Contradiction- After Santiago's wealth were stolen, he decided to work at the crystal merchant's place. There he came across that the merchant also has a dream, to visit the Mecca, but he doesn't want to achieve it. "All I wanted to do was put together enough money... and could go to Mecca..." the merchant said, and then Santiago asked why he wasn't able to do so and his reply was, "Because it's the thought of  Mecca that keeps me alive. That's what helps me face these days that are all the same...". This shows how the different the paths of Santiago and the crystal merchant's are, and this creates an obstacle for Santiago to pursue his dream. Merchant's way of thinking is very different in compare to Santiago's. The merchant particularly wants to avoid the dream because of his fear and complacency, and he thinks that after achieving his dream he won't have anything to live for; while Santiago is very open-minded, and he clearly wants to achieve his dream and pursue his personal legend. Because of the way the merchant thinks, it makes Santiago unsure about pursuing his dream, and he questions himself to go back or not and to live the way he normally did or just go on with the journey. But later in the novel, Santiago realized that it is okay to let go the normal and comfortable life in order to achieve something significant, and that was mainly because he thought of how the merchant earned a huge profit by taking a risk, which could possibly change his lifestyle, of serving tea in the glass as well as putting out the glass piece to attract customers similar to his situation. Another thing which affected Santiago to pursue his personal legend and dream was when he and the merchant had a conversation while smoking, and the merchant gave him blessing as well as used the word "Maktub", which can be considered as that it is already decided for him to go or it is his fate that will make him go.

Memory moment- After talking with the merchant about whether or not to pursue his personal legend and achieve his dream, Santiago had a memory moment. He thought about the sheep and how they taught him, "Language in the world that everyone understood, a language the boy had used throughout the time he was trying to improve things at the shop", and this shows how he was able to achieve a part of his dream with the help of sheep, and this foreshadows that in future he is likely to be using what he learned from the sheep to achieve his dream and pursue his personal legend. He also thought about the merchant, and for a second he wanted to be like him and avoid his dream, but then he thought "I can always go back to being a shepherd... I'll never have another chance to get to the pyramid in Egypt", and this proves that at this point he was able to overcome his obstacle and he regained his confidence, which makes him prepared for his journey to Egypt.

Reflection:

I was surprised when Santiago met the Englishman, and the reason for that is he mentioned and talked about "Alchemy", which basically is related to the name of the novel The Alchemist. The Englishman's character can be considered a little self-centered, because at first he wasn't very talkative when Santiago approached him, but when "He took Urim and Thummim from his pocket, and began laying with them... The stranger shouted, "Urim and Thummim!"; this shows how he did paid attention to others, but only talked when it was something that concerned him. The Englishman also used a biblical allusion while he was having a conversation with Santiago, more specifically when Santiago mentioned about the king, "Not at all. It was shepherd who were the first to recognized a king that the rest of the world refused to acknowledge .... ", and this tells about the Englishman representing as an educated person in the novel.

Questions:

1. Is the Englishman going to influence a change in Santiago in anyways?
2. What is the significance of the word "Maktub" ?