This page is a picture essay on traditional Buryat clothing. Buryat clothing reflects a greater Central Asian and Siberian tradition of ethnic costume and it is no coincidence that it resembles Mongol, Manchu, Tuvan, Altai, Tungus, and Yakut traditional dress. Buryat clothing most closely resembles Mongolian traditional dress, which is no surprise since the Buryats are a Mongolian people.
Mongolian dress consists of a long robe, known as a deel , which is worn over trousers.
The Buryat word for this robe is digil , which is the ancient Mongolian word for this item of clothing. The digil is perfectly adapted to the Siberian and Mongolian climates, which has below freezing temperatures at least at night for all seasons but the summer. It is also well adapted for riding horses, which is the reason why it was traditionally worn with trousers by both sexes. At the above right are a pair of traditional Buryat dancers from Mongolia, wearing summer costume. Note that the woman wears a vest over her digil , while the man wears a behen , sash.