Symmetry in European Regional Folk Dress: A Multidisciplinary Analysis

Designs on folk dress form an expression of artistic import within a culture. A 2017 ethnomathematics paper to which the authors contributed concludes that the designs on European regional folk dress are highly symmetric and analyzes the symmetry in the costume designs of 73 European cultures. Also examined are which symmetries are favored by, for instance, Catholic cultures or mountain cultures. In this article, two of the study's coauthors summarize its key points and go on to explore the neurophysiologic, aesthetic and ethnographic reasons why humans display symmetry on their regional dress.