What is Georgian national dress called: chokha, papakha, nabadi?
Men's and women's costume and what is in the chest pockets.
Short answer
The men's national costume is the chokha, a long coat with cartridge pockets across the chest, worn over an arkhalukhi undershirt with a papakha hat; in bad weather a felt cloak called a nabadi goes on top. Women wear a long belted kartuli dress with a white veil called a lechaki. Today the chokha is worn at weddings and celebrations.
Why
- The cartridge pockets on the chest once held gun charges and are now decorative.
- The nabadi is felted from wool and keeps out rain and wind.
- The chokha has come back as festive wear and is tailored to order in workshops.
Details
You can see national costumes at dance ensemble performances and at the National Museum. Tbilisi has studios that rent out a chokha for photos.
People also ask
- What is a chokha?
Sources
Information checked on October 3, 2026.
Georgian national costumeRelated questions
-
What are Georgian musical instruments called?
The best-known Georgian instruments are the three-string panduri and four-string chonguri, the salamuri flute, the duduki, the gudastviri bagpipe, the doli drum and the bowed chuniri.
-
What to give a Georgian, and what gifts to bring from Russia?
When visiting Georgians, sweets, good tea or coffee, flowers for the host or a gift for the children are appropriate.
-
What should tourists, including women, wear in Georgia?
In Tbilisi and Batumi people dress in a relaxed, urban way, as in any European city, and there are no strict rules for visitors.
-
What are Georgian traditions, and how should you behave as a guest?
The core Georgian traditions are hospitality and the supra feast, where the tamada leads the toasts and the guest is offered the best of everything.