You know when you’re feeling hot in the summer and you throw on some shorts and a tank top? That’s not necessarily a norm. Around the world, peoples’ fashion choices are a statement of style and a reflection of their cultural perceptive.

In comparison to the apparel found on a North American teenager, if you go to The Middle East or north of Africa, you will find females wearing hijabs or Niqāb’s and males wearing bishts. This is because of the religious necessity of Islam. Several countries, including France and Italy, have banned full face-covering scarves and many others have tried and failed due to it being unconstitutional.

Historically, if you would go to a country like China, the most common apparel was the pien-fu (‘be-en foo’), the ch’ang-p’ao (“chang-pow”), and the shen-I (“chenyi”). But, if you were to go there today, you would probably see people wearing clothing that appears normal to us, like a t-shirt (unless it was a holiday).

A chullo is a traditional Andean hat generally made from sheep or llama wool. You may not have known what it was called at the time, but I bet you’ve worn some form of chullo at some point in your life. They are known for their significant earflaps to protect your skin from the cold weather found on the route to Machu Picchu.

Unlike the chullo, popular clothing for other countries in South America is very formal, along with Europe and Australia. Around the world, people modernize clothing based on comfort rather than the practice of past civilizations.

Surprisingly, the majority of the world wears what people in the west wear; some do so more so than others.  Do you wear a pair of leather chaps and a bolo tie to school? Do Scottish people wear kilts to the grocery store? Do French people wear berets all the time? The answers are no. Different styles are shared all over the world, whether it’s Americans wearing chullo hats or Chinese wearing North Face shirts.