I agree with you rosa. A lot of imagination/inspiration can come with something else than Kaftan ... I saw some which are far away from the formal one.
What I know also is that not all people in the world like to modernise their traditional dress. I read an article about this subject, I post it down with the link :)
Traditional Dress
Despite these and other pressures to adopt Western fashions, many people throughout the world have either maintained or readopted Traditional dress in everyday use, or for selected occasions. Very often Traditional dress has gone through a conversion process from everyday attire, to a fixed formal dress for weddings, government functions, traditional dance, or religious celebrations. Many styles of Traditional dress throughout the world also were, and are, assimilated into Western fashions. Traditional dress is enjoying a "comeback" in some areas of the world, (for example in
many Moslem countries) even while losing ground in others. However, numerous examples of Traditional dress have survived into the 21st Century either in their original form, or in modified versions
The reasons for preserving Traditional dress are as various as the reasons for abandoning it. Traditional dress tends to be durable and slow to change, so it discourages consumerism and a need for constant new clothing. Traditional dress reinforces the values that the originating culture holds towards the body and gender, and therefore, is usually consistent with the indigenous religion's teachings on that subject.
.....
Traditional dress is used, even in Western culture, when a statement needs to be made about what the culture regards as unchanging values. This is why traditional dress is used in coronations, investitures, graduations
, weddings, funerals, social and religious rites, and why even minor changes to items of dress in these cases can cause serious controversy.
Traditional dress also usually emphasizes the Aesthetic of a particular culture, and tends to best fit and flatter the typical body types of people of that ethnic heritage.
Western fashions typically are designed to flatter usual European body types, and often look clunky on people who have different proportions. Traditional dress is also, often, designed for practical use in the climate and conditions of it's area, and may be retained by locals, or even adopted by visiting Westerners because of it's obvious comfort or utility.
.....
From
http://www.costumes.org/classes/fash...itiondress.htm