Clothes in Uzbekistan are eclectic to say the least. While some the older people look as though they have stepped straight from a silk road camel caravan, many of the younger people appear to have stepped straight out of a Moscow night club. Whatever the variation in style, however, all agree that looking good is important and most people get dressed up whenever they leave the house. No matter how poor a person's economic status, they have one or two 'good' outfits for wearing to work or social events, keeping their old clothes for wearing inside the house.

'Dressed to go out'	'Uzbek girls ready for partying'

What people wear also depends on where they live and there is even a difference between Khiva and Urgench. Whilst in Khiva the population is largely made up of conservative Uzbeks, Urgench contains many more russified Uzbeks as well as Russians and Koreans. Women in Urgench often favour trousers, mini skirts, skimpy tops and short hairstyles. These clothes are frowned upon by most women in Khiva, who opt for long dresses which cover the shoulders and legs. These modest dresses can be either western in style or follow the typical loose and flowing Uzbek design made from atlas silk or the bold synthetic fabrics imported from China and the Middle East. While ready-made clothes are available in the bazaar, most women make their own dresses or have them tailor-made by dressmakers who usually do a roaring trade.

'Seductive eyebrows'

The fashion-conscious Uzbek woman wears a stylish dress or matching skirt and jacket along with high heels, handbag, gold jewellery and sometimes a head scarf if she's married, although this is not as obligatory in Khorezm as in other parts of the country. She'll also hanker after a curvaceous figure, long hair which has a rich red henna sheen and is worn in a bun plus well defined eyebrows which are sometimes painted to meet in the middle. For doing the housework and relaxing at home, most women don more traditional clothing such as a 'khalat' (a wrap-over dress which looks rather like a dressing gown), traditional trousers and old slippers) for outdoors.

'An umbrella is an essential accessory in the summer sunshine'

Older folk tend to dress more traditionally and you can often see grizzled old men in shaggy fur hats, striped 'chapons' (robe) and high black boots. In Khiva women over sixty exchange their colourful head scarves for large white silk scarves which covered their heads on their wedding day and which will be used to wrap their body after their demise. White is also the colour of mourning and white headscarves are worn by widows and other women who have been bereaved within the previous year. All the women in a house in which a close relative has died will wear specially made clothes of white and light blue patterns. They should not wear nice clothes for a year, and at the end of the first year of mourning they burn their white clothes and resume the current fashions.