Inuit woman wearing an amauti and carrying a child on her back (graphic material): N.W.T. (Nunavut), ca. 1926 - 1943.

Copper Inuit Clothing, Front View (Diamond Jenness/CMC/51234)Copper Inuit Clothing, Back View (Diamond Jenness/CMC/51235)

Copper Inuit Clothing, Back View (Diamond Jenness/CMC/51235)

This Inuit woman, photographed by the Scottish botanist-explorer Isobel Wylie Hutchison in the 1920s, is dressed in her colourful traditional national costume. The most characteristic part of this outfit is perhaps the "kamiker", or heel-less sealskin top-boots, which reach up to the knee in the case of men, but well above that in the case of women, as illustrated here. The outer surface of the women's boots is dyed white, scarlet, or blue, and decorated with abstract geometrical patterns of brightly-coloured leather strips. There is a removable inner lining which keeps the feet and legs warm. Hutchison found that such footwear was essential, not only for negotiating the slippery rocks and shingle, but for protection against insect bites.

Berber Mother and Daughter, Morocco Photograph by Carol Beckwith and Angela Fisher. Conveying blessings and bittersweet good-byes, a Berber mother in Morocco plants a kiss on her daughter’s knee as she gives her in marriage to a man more than twice her age. Days of feasting will weave into nights of singing and dancing for the bride, who has captured the liver—the Berber embodiment of love—of the man sworn to protect her.

Maasai Wedding Day, Kenya Photograph by Carol Beckwith and Angela Fisher. A single tear marks the moment of farewell for lavishly beaded Nosianai as she leaves her family home in the Loita Hills of southern Kenya. Wedding-day tears may express true sadness among Maasai girls, who submit to arranged marriages with much older men whom they barely know.

Rashaida Bride, Eritrea Photograph by Carol Beckwith and Angela Fisher. Veiled behind an elaborate mask called a burga, a Rashaida bride stays in seclusion before her wedding. The Muslim Rashaida are Bedouin merchants and camel breeders, originally from Saudi Arabia, who keep to themselves and marry only their own.

Anishinaabe outfit collected by Andrew Foster ca. 1790 Fort Michilimackinac, Michigan Birchbark, cotton, linen, wool, feathers, silk, silver brooches, porcupine quills, horsehair, hide, sinew The Andrew Foster Collection

Inuit amauti or tuilli (woman’s parka) ca. 1890–1925 Iqluligaarjuk (Chesterfield Inlet), Nunavut, Canada Parka: caribou skin, glass beads, stroud cloth, caribou teeth, and metal pendants; needlecase: ivory, seal hide; carrying strap with toggles: caribou hide, ivory 143 x 65 cm

Cree misko takiy (hide coat) ca. 1780–1820 Alberta, Canada Moose hide, paint, porcupine quill, hair 125 x 160 cm

Kenneth Kaiona (Copper Inuit, ca. 1850–d.?), dance cap ca. 1920 Coronation Gulf, Alaska Caribou hide, ermine fur, yellow-billed loon skin, sinew, wool, cotton fabric 20 x 23 x 32 cm Gift of John D. Ferguson

(1) and (2): Zeı̈bek; and (3): Artisan of Aı̈din (Aydın). Studio portrait of models wearing traditional clothing from the province of Aı̈din (Aydın), Ottoman Empire

(1): Peasant woman from the environs of Damas (Damascus); (2): Druze woman from the environs of Damas (Damascus); and (3) married woman of Damas (Damascus). Studio portrait of models wearing traditional clothing from the province of Surı̈yè (Syria), Ottoman Empire

(1): Kurdish woman from the area of Yuzgat (Yozgat); (2): wife of a Christian artisan of Angora (Ankara); and (3): wife of a Muslim artisan of Angora (Ankara). Studio portrait of models wearing traditional clothing from the province of Angora (Ankara), Ottoman Empire

(1) Married Muslim woman of Skodra (Shkodër); (2) Married Christian woman of Skodra (Shkodër); and (3) peasant woman of Malissor. Studio portrait of models wearing traditional clothing from the province of Skodra (Isķodra), Ottoman Empire

(1) Resident of Mostar; (2) bourgeois of Bosna-Seraı̈ (Sarajevo) ; and (3) married woman of Bosna-Seraı̈ (Sarajevo). Studio portrait of models wearing traditional clothing from the province of Bosna (Bosnia), Ottoman Empire

(1): Bachi Bozouk (mercenary soldier) of Angora (Ankara); (2): Muslim peasant from the area of Angora (Ankara); and (3): Muslim peasant woman from the area of Angora (Ankara). Studio portrait of models wearing traditional clothing from the province of Angora (Ankara), Ottoman Empire

Kimiko Yoshida - 04 The Golden Yoruba Bride, Nigeria. Self-portrait, 2005

Kimiko Yoshida - 23 The Blue Wari Bride with a Mortuary Head of a Pre-Columbian Mummy with Human Hair, 1,400-1,100 years before present, Amazonia. Self-portrait, 2005

Kimiko Yoshida - 32 The Yanomami Bride with a Tembe Neck Ornament and a Kayapo Headdress, Amazon, Brazil. Self-portrait, 2005

Kimiko Yoshida - 34 The Karaja Bride with an Urubu Kaapor Labret Ornament, Amazon, Brazil. Self-portrait, 2005

Kimiko Yoshida - 42bis The Palestinian Bride from Hebron, Self-portrait, 2005

Kimiko Yoshida - 43 The Berber Bride, Morocco, early XX th Century. Self-portrait, 2005

Kimiko Yoshida - 43bis The Golden Bride from Fez, Self-portrait, 2005

Talisman of a magic square and patterns to enable a woman to control her husband, from 'Persian Charming Talisman Genie White Magic Book'