What is Costume?
[[Image: Belarus-Minsk-Russian Exhibition-Woman in National Costume-1.jpg|thumb|250px|right|Woman from [[Minsk]] wearing national costume of [[Belarus]].]] A '''costume''' is a set of [[Clothing|clothes]] that someone wears to look different from what they normally wear.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/costume |title=costume |access-date=2016-05-29 |work=Oxford Dictionaries Online |publisher=Oxford University Press |archive-date=2016-05-31 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160531022355/http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/costume |url-status=dead }}</ref> Some costumes are special to [[country|countries]] or [[region]]s. Some [[people]] wear them because they are proud of their country. Actors in [[theatre|theatres]] wear costumes because they are [[wikt:pretend|pretending]] to be a person in a [[Play (theatre)|play]] or [[ballet]]. Costumes can also be worn for [[carnival]]s or [[party|parties]]. ==National costume== [[National]] or regional costume is worn to show that people come from a country or region. Int the past, many groups of people wore national costume every day. Today, most people do not wear costumes. Usually people dress up in national costume for special [[celebration]]s or for national [[dance|dancing]]. Some well-known examples of national costume are the [[kilt]] which is worn by people in [[Scotland]] and the [[kimono]] worn in [[Japan]]. ==Theatrical costume== [[Image:yakshagana_vesha.jpg|thumb|left| Costume used in yakshagana theatre art from [[India]].]] When actors perform in the theatre they usually wear a costume. These are the special clothes they wear to pretend they are a particular character in the story which they act out. They might be pretending to be any kind of person: a [[beggar]], [[king]], [[business]]man, ancient [[Deity|god]], etc. Some theatrical costumes stretch the truth about characters. Examples are Harlequin and Pantaloon in the [[Commedia dell'arte]]. ==Carnivals and festivals== [[Image:Purpledo