Looking at recent photographs of Taliban leaders who are now in charge in Afghanistan, there is one specific garment that is conspicuous by its dullness. I am not referring to the voluminous turbans, but to their dark coloured, undecorated waistcoats. Waistcoats have been worn in Afghanistan for quite some time, but many of them are far from dull and often decorated with colourful embroidery and metallic braids.

A Kandahar waistcoat recently given to the TRC by Marjan Brandsma (1970s, TRC 2021.2551).

Back of Afghan waistcoat TRC 2021.2551.

The TRC has just received an Afghan waistcoat that was bought in Breda in the Netherlands in the 1970s by the mother of Marjan Brandsma, who kindly passed it on to the TRC (TRC 2021.2551). The garment is made from red cloth and embellished with an ornate foliage design using an applied, gold coloured braid. The waistcoat also has a back made from a printed cotton cloth with a floral motif and a white cotton cloth lining. There is a large pocket on the inside of one of the front flaps. There are various ways of looking at this object.

A Kabul waistcoat from the 1970s (TRC 2005.0173).It can be looked at as being a typical item of Afghan men’s wear that is often worn with a shalwar kameez (to use the general term), an outfit that consists of a long tunic and a matching pair of baggy trousers. The waistcoat may change its form depending on where it is made and when it is being worn (daily, festival, etc), and by whom. The Afghan term for this garment, waskat, hints strongly at its English origins: was-kat = waist-coat.

So although often regarded as being ‘typical’ for the region, this garment was actually inspired by European waistcoats for men that initially appeared in India in the 18th century via the British East India Company and similar European trading companies.. The wearing of waistcoats gradually moved northwestwards to Afghanistan in the 19th century; photographs of Afghan tribesmen living along the borders with the Raj, from about 1880, show men wearing a waskat.

C.1973 ‘Afghan’ hippy trail dress (TRC 2007.0876).Another way of looking at Afghan waistcoats is by inspecting this particular example. Where was it made? Well, there are various forms of decorative waistcoats associated with this country but the two main forms are from Kabul and Kandahar. Kabul forms are usually short and relatively simply decorated with geometric shapes (although it should be added that there are some exceptions!)

In contrast Kandahar waistcoats are normally longer and flamboyantly decorated with applied braids in more organic forms. So it is likely that this new addition to the TRC Collection came from Kandahar or thereabouts. In addition, when looking at the cloth itself, it seems that the red material and the metal braids came from India, while the printed material originates from Russia. The garment would have been assembled by a local tailor.

Postcard of a young Dutch girl wearing an Afghan (Hazara) style dress (TRC 2020.0008). The card was posted in 1993.Yet another way to look at this garment is trying to find out how it got to Breda. It is very likely that it was one of thousands of new and used Afghan garments that were sold in bulk in Europe and other Western countries in the late 1960s and early 1970s as part of the Hippy Trail and the hippy fashion trend.

Fashionable men and women from the Western world were often seen in Afghan garments or Afghan inspired items. John Lennon is a good example. Compare an 'Afghan’ dress bought in c.1973 in the Netherlands, and now in the TRC Collection (TRC 2007.0876). The garment has a dress bodice popular among the Hazara population in Afghanistan and a skirt made from an Uzbek suzani needlework.

There is more to Afghan dress than 'Taliban dull'. 

See also the TRC online exhibition: Afghan dress

Gillian Vogelsang, 4 September 2021