The exquisite culture of Lebanon is the product of its diverse population belonging to different ethnic and religious groups who have inhabited over here for thousands of year. Lebanon is considered the gem of the Middle East and it has been dominated by the greatest human civilizations of the lovely planet like the Roman, Persian, Greek, Arab, Ottoman and the most recent French. Currently the people of Lebanon are very modern and perhaps Lebanon is the most fashionable country of the Arab world. The traditional and cultural clothing in the daily lives is very hard to find these days in the modern Lebanon.
In the urban areas, the people are usually seen in the Western outfits of the latest fashion, however, in the countryside, women sometimes wear traditional colorful skirts and men wear a traditional serwal or sherwal (baggy trousers).
The sherwal is the existing and the surviving traditional dress of Lebanon which is the most prevalent and practical garment among villagers and mountain people. The common people of Lebanon also use the labbade, an ancient headdress which may have been worn as long ago as Phoenician times. The women of Lebanon traditionally used to wear the headdresses like the woolen scarf, silky veils or silver coned tantour. The scarf and veil can be observed today but the tantour has become obsolete.
Other traditional Lebanese outfits include Kurban, Abaya, Abba, Jubbe and Gambaz. The Kubran was an ancient Lebanese dress and lost its existence today. On the other side the Abaya cloak has maintained its significance being utilitarian. The abaya is a rectangular overcoat worn by men, or it may be the outer garment of certain Muslem women.
The Druze people of Lebanon used to wear which a short sleeved and a knee length coat that was particularly used by men. Similarly Jubbe was the most common among the Bedouin community of Lebanon which is a hip length jacket with no collar and no fastenings.
Gambaz is an ornamental dress which is prepared with the expensive materials like velvet, brocade and shiny silk. The gambaz often has a low neckline for décolletage which is accepted among married women since the bosom is considered the symbol of maternity. Kab Kab is the traditional footwear of Lebanon; a simple clog shoe which is commonly in use even today.
Due to the multiple cultural dominations, the people of Lebanon are suffering from the exact national identification. Apart from this issue, the traditional and the cultural values of this country are awesome that can be observed in the festivals, ceremonies and folk presentations. The traditional dress of Lebanon is used mostly by the people belonging to the performing art and nowadays it is the integral costume for the folk singers and dancers.
