This location makes a mixed condition of the mountainous, desert and temperate weathers in the hillsides. Now, Semnan people rarely use the traditional clothing in everyday life, but Sangesar ethnic group that is of the greatest nomads of Iran and its main habitat is Sangesar, or the current Mahdishahr city, has still maintained its special clothing. Sangesar women wear a dress named Kezhin Shoy made of Kezh. This fabric is created from the remains of the silk and the whole process is carried out by the local women. Red is the dominant color in the clothing of the tribe’s women that is beautifully patterned by a special kind of embroidery named Sakhteh. This dress is completely long and the embroidery works decorate some parts like the lower margins and the sleeves. Their skirt is called Qerdar Sheval; it is long and black and its lower parts are sewed together again to give it a puff. The older women use the plain fabric with patterned strips only in the margins and the younger ones wear the flowered skirt. The special shawl of Sangesar women is Makneh that is highly embroidered. It is three meters of length and sixty-five centimeters of width. This shawl provides a whole coverage for the head and chest and two sides of which are hung down from back so that they reach to the legs. They sometimes use a Chador named Sargira, with checkered pattern. Karti is a fabric made of the sheep’s wool that is used for sewing the coat, pants and upper body clothing of the tribe’s men. The men in tribe wear some woolen pants and use a strip that is made of a woolen fabric called Pepich to tighten around the leg in order to keep it warm in desert. Another popular upper body clothing among these men is Lam Cheqa made of felt because felting is one of the special handicrafts of this province. The shoes of them are named Dobandi (two-strip), handmade of leather. They use the cold Giveh in the summers. Pash Kalaf is from the wool of camel that men use it as their headdress. They wear a clock named Chookha.
Colorful Felts of Semnan Province
