Fashion 1: Kalash - Traditional Footwear of Men (kalun)

Kalash - Traditional Footwear of Men (kalun) The traditional soft leather moccasins kalun were part of the traditional Kalasha footwear for men, worn on various important and ceremonial occasions. The traditional ornate leather moccasins called kalun were used about 50 years from now (Farman, April 2012).

A good brand was shara (sara) kandali kalun, the decorative moccasins made from markhor leather (Trail and Cooper 1999: 147-287). During death rituals a male dead body is dressed with kalun as well. Ordinary kalun were told to be used inside as well as outside as they were carefully made using layers of raw leather as a base or sole. The moccasins were tied with colorful thin woven tape with colorful pompoms at the ends. Various studies indicate that moccasins were of different colors including red leather watsas (Robertson 2001: 221), prepared in Kamdesh by slaves and some in natural beige and browns with woolen embroidery around the shoes.

A literature review shows that there were many types of soft leather moccasins, having different names, as indicated by Robertson and Darling (Robertson 2001:220-1, Darling 1979: 176). While talking about men‘s shoes and dress in a dancing ceremony Robertson notes: The feet were covered with curiously worked dancing-boots… and that almost everybody wore «watsas»‖ the soft reddish leather boot of the country with red woolen rosettes on the instep while from the long, soft drab-colored uppers, which reached nearly half-way to the knee, there depended a long fringe of white goat‘s hair, dyed red at the tips. The boots were secured to the legs and ankles by narrow tapes of list. Above them appeared Chitrali stockings, into the tops of which the loose, baggy trousers of coarse white cotton cloth were carefully tucked. This, with a dancing-axe, completed the full dress of a swell, but there were all gradations in attire, according to the wealth or position of the wearer. (2001: 220-1)1 There is even a mention of mochost (mocost) or moccasins made of human skin (Trail and Cooper 199: 202).

In 1983 all women were bare-footed during the summer and most of them also in the winter, when walking on the snow and ice. Most women though use these only for walking a long away, whereas at home, in the village, and when working in the fields the women prefer to be bare-footed. Since 1985 due to the gradual transition to money economy more and more now wear cheap plastic shoes or tennis shoes from the shops.2 No use of kalun was observed in May 2011. The KAL’AS’A DUR Museum has some very fine specimens of various types of kaluns at display.

1 Shabnam Bahar Malik, 2015, Traditional Costumes of the Kalasha Kafirs of Chitral, 2 Sperber Glavind, Brigitte, 1990. Kalash: Dresses, Body Decorations and Textile Techniques. In Proceedings of the Second International Hindu Kush Cultural Conference, pp 34