FolkCostume&Embroidery

Hello all,
Today I will venture into dangerous waters, discussing Scottish Highland attire. There are many dearly held beliefs concerning the kilt and tartan, not all of which are correct. First to establish my own credentials; I am of Scottish descent [Murray, Lindsay, and Kelton] on my mother's side, and have a direct ancestor who fought at Culloden, was taken prisoner by the English, and later exiled to Boston. The photo above is of our local Scottish Country dance group here in Omaha.
This brings up a point which i have not yet addressed, which is the use of the word 'costume'. I have chosen to use this word because in many languages it is neutral, but there are those, the Scots among them, who object to it. This is because 'costume' can also have the meaning of dressing up in a way which is not usual. Clowns wear costumes, people who act in a play or movie wear costumes, sometimes those who participate in a traditional ritual [Halloween, Carnival, mummers, brides, etc] wear costumes. Many people, and not just in English, prefer to speak of folk or traditional dress or attire. This emphasizes that they are referring to a normal type of dress. In this usage, 'folk costume' would refer to carnival dress, or someone dressing up as 'the Green Man', or other attire which is only worn for specific occasions, of which there are many examples around the world.

The Scots are very unusual in that the traditional woman's attire has been lost, and the men's has been retained and is in widespread use. It was banned for a time by the English government, but kept in use by the Scottish Regiments in the military. That law has since been repealed, The tradition of the kilt was saved by the military, and the kilt remains a very strong part of Scottish national identity.
There is a belief that the kilt is an ancient garment, but this is not the case, it dates back only to the 16th cent. The ancient Celts wore trousers, but they had stopped being worn at some point both in Scotland and Ireland before the 16th cent.The Kilt began in the scottish highlands as a cloak, worn over a linen shirt which stopped above the knees. It became larger, and began to be belted in pleats around the waist, with overlapping flat areas in front, and the upper part either tucked into the belt, or worn over the shoulders and head, It was also used as a bedroll, and folds could be used to carry various items. This is today referred to as the Breacan an Fhéilidh, Breacan Feile, or the Great Kilt. This was worn both as everyday and formal garb, but was generally laid aside for battle.

Somewhere around the year 1700 or so, the Great Kilt was cut in half horizontally, the top half being retained as a cloak, or plaid, and the bottom part having the pleats sewn in at the top and being set into a waistband. This is known as the fèileadh beag, or phillabeg, the small kilt.

There are various competing stories as to how this happened, I will let you read about it elsewhere.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_kilt

The modern kilt is deceptively complex in its structure, which is why it is usually made by professional tailors. I had mine let out once, and the tailor told me she never wanted to see one again. [Folkwear does indeed have a pattern which explains in detail how to sew one, so you may try if you wish]. The pleats are only on the back and sides, and the front part, the aprons, wrap over each other, the left side overlapping the right. It is never pleated in front. The pleats are sewn down to the point where they hang freely, and are gently curved to fit.

One important point is that the kilt is worn at the natural waist which is higher than the hipline where pants are worn. This is a common mistake made by men who are not used to wearing the kilt, especially outside Scotland. Likewise, the hem of the kilt should not fall below the middle of the kneecap. Compare the two images below who are making this mistake with the two above, who are wearing the kilt properly.

The kilt is normally sewn of Tartan, although solid color kilts are known. Plaid fabrics have been woven by Celts for two thousand years or more. Today's tartans are exactly prescribed as to pattern, many have a long history and strong association with a particular clan or other group, and new ones are being designed all the time. The most famous is the Royal Stuart, which technically belongs to the Royal Family, but is used in many places.

There are tartans associated with particular Scottish clans, there are others which are associated particular districts or Scotland in general, There are yet others which were designed to represent Ireland, Wales, Cornwall, Military Regiments, American and Australian States and Canadian Provinces, among others. One of my favorite tartans belongs to the US Marine Corps.

A Clan may have more than one tartan, and a tartan may have more than one form. For example the Royal Stuart tartan has a 'dress' form. In the 'dress' tartans, the background color is generally replaced with white.

A particular clan may also have a 'hunting' tartan, which has more subdued colors, so as not to frighten the game. It may be a variant of the same tartan, or it may have a very different sett. Here is the 'hunting Stuart'.

Many tartans have a rich history, and are considered today to be a symbol of a particular clan or other group. Each clan also has a crest, which is worn on the bonnet, and a plant badge, which is the oldest symbol of the clans. A sprig of the appropriate plant was worn in the bonnet for clan identification.
In addition, every tartan is potentially available in three color schemes, the 'modern', the 'ancient', and the 'weathered' sometimes called 'muted'. The 'modern' is the older type, consisting of darker colors. The 'ancient' is a newer type, consisting of lighter colors, and the 'weathered' is an attempt to copy old faded tartans, blue being replaced by gray, green by brown, etc. In actual fact, colors do not fade in this manner, black is usually the first to fade. These are NOT different tartans, they are all the same tartan, just the shades of the colors are different. Here is the green MacLeod in 'modern', 'ancient', and 'weathered' colors top to bottom. Which color scheme you wear is a matter of personal taste, if a tartan has much blue black and green, often they show up better in the 'ancient' colors, but if a tartan has much red, the 'ancient' colors replace the red with orange, which in my opinion is not as attractive as the 'modern', which has a strong red.

When pleating the kilt, there are two options, the more common is 'pleating to sett', in which the pleats are arranged so that the pattern, or sett of the tartan is maintained across the pleats, as in the above two photos and here.

The other option is 'pleating to stripe', which is most common among military uniforms and pipe bands, in which one of the vertical stripes is always hidden in the pleats, and only visible when movement makes the kilt flash the hidden stripe. Here we see both in the same photo.

You can see that the kilt is held closed by one strap and buckle on the left, and two on the right.
A pin is always worn on the bottom right of the top apron. The story is that Queen Victoria was reviewing the troops on a windy day, and insisted that the aprons be pinned down.

Generally however, the pin is only attached to the top apron so as not to hinder the hang and waggle of the kilt. The pin is made in many shapes, often as a sword with a clan badge attached, it may be a simple large safety pin, or it may be quite ornate.

A wide belt is usually worn with the kilt, although it actually plays no part in supporting it. This is required for formal occasions, but may be omitted for everyday dress. The buckle may be ornate or plain. It is often rectangular, but may be round.

Unless participating in Highland games, a sporran is generally worn with the kilt. This is a purse for holding keys, money, etc, because a kilt has no pockets. Most people think of the long-haired piper sporran first, but this is not commonly worn by most people.

For everyday wear, the sporran is generally of leather, and is secured by a leather strap which passes through the same loops which hold the belt.

For more formal occasions, the sporran is of fur, and the sporran is connected by a chain to the strap in back.

In either case, the sporran usually has three tassels hanging in front, the meaning of which i choose not to go into. Commercial sporrans are usually quite narrow and somewhat impractical. More practical are somewhat bag-shaped sporrans, as shown in the third image above, but these tend to be more casual looking. Sporrans come in a wide variety of types, one of which is made from the whole skin of a small animal with the head still attached.

Knee socks, or hose, must be worn with the kilt. They very from utilitarian to dressy, depending on the occasion. They may be in many colors. They always fold over at the top, and are held up by garters, of which only the flashes show beneath the fold.

A small knife, the skian dubh, may be worn tucked into one of the stockings. These come in a wide variety of designs, from rustic to formal.

Shoes of many types are worn, depending on the occasion. As for the upper body, again almost anything may be worn, from nothing to a t-shirt to a formal dress jacket. One word of warning, jackets to be worn with kilts are tailored shorter than 'Saxon' jackets, not falling below the line where the kilt pleats open. You can see this by comparing Charles above to the man next to him in 'Saxon Clothes'. Here is an unfortunate lad wearing a 'Saxon' jacket with a kilt, on the right. The boy in the middle has outgrown his kilt, but they are expensive.

There are two hats traditionally worn with Highland attire, both called 'bonnets'.
Here we see the Balmoral on the left, and the Glengarry on the right. See the other images in this article as well. You will also notice brooches with clan crests pinned to each.

A range of ways of wearing the kilt, from extremely informal to extremely formal.

The garment above is often part of military uniforms and is called the Military or Kenmore doublet, a somewhat similar form is called the Sherrifmuir doublet.

This jacket is known as the 'Prince Charlie'.

The garment in this image below is known as the Montrose doublet, and is worn with the jabot, which includes lace tied around the neck and falling in front. The jabot may also be worn with the other forms of the doublet.

As you can see, Scottish Highland attire is very much alive, and not only in Scotland. The kilt has become such a strong symbol of Celtic identity that tartans have been designed for, and kilts are now worn by,

the Irish,

the Manx,

the Welsh,

The Cornish,

the Bretons,

and even the Galicians.

Tartans and kilts are popular in many former British Colonies as well, the English having sent the Scots off to colonize many places. Here is the Canadian Maple Leaf tartan, with a link to a website which shows the tartans of Canada.

http://www.stonearabie.com/ToC/02Provincial/BritishColumbia808.html

The Australian National Tartan

The American National Tartan.

Here is the website of the official Scottish Register of Tartans, and you may look up whatever you wish.

http://www.tartanregister.gov.uk/index.aspx

A word or two about the ancient woman's highland attire. This was called the Airisaid, about which we have little information. There is a description by Martin, which follows:

"It was made of sufficient length to reach from the neck to the ankles, and being nicely plaited all round, was fastened about the waist with a belt, and secured on the breast by a large brooch. The belt was of leather and several pieces of silver intermixed, giving it the semblance of a chain, and at the lower end was a piece of plate about eight inches long and three broad, curiously engraven, and ingeniously adorned with fine stones or pieces of red coral". There are two prints by McIan, showing his interpretation of this description. He shows the airisaid as being striped, but I suspect they may have been plaid as well. In any case, they were considered to be distinct from the man's kilt, as evidenced by the story of the lady of Lochalsh dressing her husband in one to help him escape his enemies. I disagree with McIans's interpretation of the belt, but these two prints are classic.

A modern photograph of a woman wearing a reconstruction of the Airisaid.

Here is a file which gives someone's reconstruction of how to wear the Airisaid.

http://www.kilts-n-stuff.com/earasaid.pdf

Thank you for reading, I hope that you have found this interesting.

Feel free to contact me with requests for research. I hope to eventually cover all of Europe and the Former Russian Empire/Soviet Union. I also gratefully accept tips on source materials which i may not have. I also accept commissions to research/design, sew, and/or embroider costumes or other items for groups or individuals. I also choreograph and teach folk dance.

Roman K.

Rkozakand@aol.com

email

There are many makers and suppliers of kilts and highland attire and accessories online. Here is the link to one with which I have had dealings, and feel that I can reccomend.
J Higgins, located in Kansas City.

http://www.jhiggins.net/

I hasten to add that there are many other reputable companies which deal in highland attire as well.

Source Material:
J. Charles Thompson, 'So You're Going to Wear the Kilt', Edinburgh, 1979, reprinted several times in various places - an extremely practical and valuable resource.
R. R. McIan, 'The Clans of the Scottish Highlands', London, 1845, reprinted in 1985
Frances Kennett, 'Ethnic Dress', New York, 1995
Dennis Hardley, 'The Secrets of Scotland', New York, 2005
Thomas Innes and William Semple, 'The Scottish Tartans', Edinburgh, 1975 reprint.
Robert Bain, 'The Clans and Tartans of Scotland', Glasgow, 1968
W. & A. K. Johnston, 'The Scottish Clans& Their Tartans', Edinburgh, 1825
Neil Grant, 'Scottish Clans and Tartans', New York, 2000

Hello all,

Today I am one more step closer to my goal of covering all of the nations of Europe.
I will talk about the costume of the region of Gorenjska in Slovenia. In English, this region is sometimes called Upper Carniola. Slovenia is the northernmost part of the former Yugoslavia. The capitol is Ljubljana, and this is their flag.

The Slovenian language has around 50 dialects, spoken throughout Slovenia, and in neighboring parts of Italy, Austria, and Hungary. On the southern border, the Slovenian language intergrades with the Kaj dialects of Croatia. In fact, the Kaj dialects are closer to Slovene than they are to the Shto dialect of Beograd. The Slovenes calle their nation Slovensko, which is confusing, because the Slovaks also call their nation Slovensko. Be careful of this, I have seen Slovaks online identified as Slovenian because of this.

I will be talking about the costume of Gorenjska, which is one of the traditional regions of Slovenia. This is the costume which is most often seen, and is often considered to be the national costume.

The Gorenjska costume falls solidly into the group of Alpine costumes, many of which are strongly celebrated still today. Alpine communities in France, Germany, Italy, Switzerland, and Austriahold onto their costumes with the tenacity of mountain people everywhere. Gorenjska simply means 'the highlands'.

This costume has the standard foundation garments of western Europe, bloomers, petticoats, and blouse/chemise.

There are various possible cuts for the petticoat, and usually more than one is worn, first the narrowest, and then the fuller ones. Here are two of the possible cuts. They are often ornamented with tucks and lace. The tucks help to shape the skirt.

The blouse, bluza, is white linen, and the cut includes shoulder yokes set into the sides of the body piece, which is typically slavic. This is more tailored than the ones found in Eastern Europe, however.

The collar and cuffs may be a narrow band, possibly of a colored cloth. Or, the collar may have gathered lace attached, and the cuffs may be wider, with white embroidery and cutwork.

There is a full skirt, sewn onto a bodice, which is unusual for Slavic costumes, one example of the Alpine influence. Some of the older known pieces have short bodices, influenced by the Empire period; subsequently they have returned to the longer form at the natural waist. The neckline varies. Often ribbon is sewn onto both the skirt and the bodice. Note the very practical pocket sewn into the skirt.

This garment is often sewn of heavy silk, or other material with a sheen, of various colors, usually solid.

For everyday, or less festive wear, it may be made of calico. In some communities, such as Rateče, the skirt has become pleated, but mostly it is just gathered into the bodice.

The everyday or less festive apron is of white linen or cotton print, as we see here. The festive apron is of brocade, damask or silk in various colors, very often black. It is more or less full, depending on the material, brocade aprons being less full than the others, so as to show off the design, and because it is expensive. Often there is a wide band of black lace sewn around the edges.

For festive occasions, a shawl is worn around the shoulders, this may be cotton print, but more commonly is of silk, with designs woven in. Some are very beautiful.

As you can see in a couple of the photos above, sometimes an ornamental ribbon is tied around the waist and tied in a bow behind.
One distinctive feature of the festive costume is a metal belt, called sklepanec or kositar. This was made in the form of a chain with large ornamental links in various shapes. It often had a bow of large ribbon tied to it, and was worn at an angle on the hips.

You will notice a U shaped link at the top of the above image. This is specifically designed as a place to tie the ribbon.

As is so often the case, for cooler weather, for church, or for women 'of a certain age', a jacket may be worn with this costume.

For everyday or less festive occasions, kerchiefs were worn on the head.

For dress occasions, a unique headpiece is worn, the Tjehl. This comes in two forms, small,

and large.

The large headdess is reserved for married women, but as it is harder to make, it is seen less often these days, even on older women.
Both are based on a rectangle of black velvet which is richly embroidered with gold thread and spangles.

For the small version, zavijačka, a triangle of linen is folded over, [note the two little tucks on the sides], the folded edge is embroidered in white on white, the black rectangle is attached just behind the embroidered zone, and the back is gathered in the middle. This is then tied on rather like a kerchief. Here is a schematic, with an example of the white embroidery for the edge. This is sometimes replaced by lace today.

I have found no instuctions as to how to make the large version, the avba, but it is obvious that there is much more material in it, and it is gathered in a particular manner. Sometimes it seems to be mounted on a form to hold its shape, but this is a modern simplification. There is a large ribbon bow on the back.

In some regions, a large white starched kerchief is worn instead. This is embroidered in white on white, and tied in such a way that there is a standing knot on top of the head.

Often a handkerchief trimmed in lace is tucked into the waistband.

Generally black shoes are worn with white stockings knitted with a texture.

Just a few more images of this costume.

Thank you for reading. I hope that you have found this interesting.

A slide show from a children's group in Toronto
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v5Lgn_OWr8Q&feature=endscreen

The Croatian National Ensemble performing wedding dances from this region.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TW1pMcLcltM

A dance concert in Ljubljana, showing dances from this region. Both the music and the dances are typically Alpine. This group is wearing costumes from the area of Rateče, which is distinct in some details.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EraeEqKuYU4

Here is a website, in Slovenian, that has many images of individual costume pieces. These mostly seem to be of recent make, and are sometimes simplified.
http://www.trigo.si/portal.php

Roman K.

Rkozakand@aol.com

email

Source Material:
Marija Makarovic, 'Narodna Nosnja Gorenjsko - Ratece', Zagreb, 1988
Nikola Pantelic, 'Traditional Arts and Crafts in Yugoslavia', Belgrade, 1984
Leposava Zunic-Bas, "Yugoslavia - TenVoyages', Beograd
Vladimir Salopek, 'Folk Costumes and Dances of Yugoslavia', Zagreb, 1989

Hello all,
Today I will continue speaking about the costume of Gorenjsko, talking somewhat about the men's outfit.

This is at least as much in the Alpine Tradition as the woman's. It is only very slightly different from that worn in parts of Austria.

The base is a linen shirt with full sleeves, as is true for almost all folk costumes.
The cut is very similar to that of the woman's costume, with a shoulder inset on the sides of the body.

Long linen under-trousers are worn with these, reminiscent of those worn in Spain and similar to those of Croatia.

Over the long linen pants are worn leather knickers, these are knee-length, and are ornamented with green stitching, much like those which are found in Austria. Cloth trousers are worn as well, but leather are preferred. These in the image above are rather short, and are not leather. You will occasionally see men wearing short Bavarian-length lederhosen, but these are not correct. Traditionally they are made of leather from the Red Deer, but in practice, they are made of many types of leather.

I see images on Slovenian websites of suspenders attached to these knickers, but I wonder if they are in fact worn because they are never visible in images of men who are dressed. I suspect that they are simply bought that way from Austria. This garment is very practical in the mountains.

The men wear a silk shawl over their shoulders which are highly ornamented, and very similar to those worn by the women, although often smaller.

Over the shawl they wear a vest. The cut varies slightly, but in general it is made of either a solid color or a material with a small ornament repeated across its surface. It is closed by many silver buttons which crowd the front opening.

Usually the bottom is cut straight across, but occasionally you see the two points which are typical of western vests.

A few more examples. The vest is the main object of ornament which distinguishes one man from another. Since the shawl is only visible on the upper sleeves under the vest, sometimes they cheat and simply sew a corner or piece of shawl to the vest.

Very similar vests are worn by the Bunjevci of Vojvodina.

Boots are worn with this costume. They almost always leave the linen undertrousers visible between the boot top and the leather knickers. The boots may be ordinary, or they may have a cuff at the top, which may be ornamented, or occasionally they may be very tall, extending above the knee.

An Alpine style felt hat and pocket-watch on a chain and fob complete the costume.
Oh, and the red umbrella, can't forget that.

Just a couple more images of this costume.
Thank you for reading, I hope that you have found this interesting.

A slide show from a children's group in Toronto
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v5Lgn_OWr8Q&feature=endscreen

The Croatian National Ensemble performing wedding dances from this region.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TW1pMcLcltM

A dance concert in Ljubljana, showing dances from this region. Both the music and the dances are typically Alpine. This group is wearing costumes from the area of Rateče, which is distinct in some details.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EraeEqKuYU4

Here is a website, in Slovenian, that has many images of individual costume pieces. These mostly seem to be of recent make, and are sometimes simplified.
http://www.trigo.si/portal.php

Roman K.

Rkozakand@aol.com

Hello all,

Today I need to make myself clear. I am NOT going to talk about the Native American nation known as the Comanche, but a Lemko village and region which is currently within the borders of the Polish State. In Polish it is spelled Komańcza, in Ukrainian and in Lemko it is written
Команча or Команчe.
Ethnic identity of the Lemki is somewhat controverted. Ukrainians consider them to be a branch of the Ukrainian Nation with very distinct dialects and customs. The Polish have at various times tried to alternatively suppress, cleanse, or assimilate them. Some insist on calling them Carpatho-Russians. Some claim that they form a micro-nationality who call themselves Rusyny, usually translated into English as Ruthenian. You will find individual Lemki who identify with each of these camps. 'Lemko' is a tern coined by their neighbors, referring to a word used in the Lemko dialect 'lem', which Ukrainians and Poles do not use. Some Lemki have accepted this term. This term is not used by the Rusnaks who live south of the Carpathians or by the neighboring Slovaks.
In any case, they form a distinctive group of people with a distinctive group of dialects, whether they are considered to be a branch of the Ukrainians or a closely related brother nation.
Here is a map showing the historical range of the Ukrainian/Lemko/Ruthenian people in the carpathians. you will notice that they inhabited both slopes of the mid-Carpathians.The white and lightly hatched areas show the historic range of the Lemkos/Ukrainians/Ruthenians, the dark hatched areas show the regions inhabited by Polish and Slovaks.

The line in the center is the current Polish - Slovak border. You will see Komancha towards the right of this map, just west of the Oslava river, which traditionally forms the border between Lemko Land and Boiko Land. The costume of the Komancha region is perhaps not the most characteristic of the Lemki, but it is the one which is the best documented, and which is widely copied. the costume in the west of this region, and especially south of the border is different. [This map is not current, as most of the Ukrainians and Lemki were forcibly resettled by the Polish government in the years immediately following World War II.] The Ruthenian settlements in Slovakia are still intact, however.

This article will be about the eastern Lemko costume. The costume of central and western Lemkovyna are disttinctly different.

The painting at the top of the article was made by O. Kul'chytska, an artist who went around in the 1930's painting the traditional clothing of villagers in many parts of West Ukraine. Her work has been invaluable for those of us who came after. Here is a photograph of the same costume taken more recently, on the left. The woman on the right is wearing a costume from central Lemkovyna.

The basic garment for the women is the chemise, sometimes separated into two garments, the shirt and the underskirt. It is made with a standard Slavic cut, with a shoulder piece sewn to the top of the body fields, front and back. This example shows the basic cut, even though the fold-down collar and the embroidery are not used in Komancha.

Often the shoulder piece and the sleeve were made in one piece.

In this area a narrow band of embroidery, perhaps an inch or so wide was done on the top of the sleeve, or the bottom of the shoulder piece. Most of the time this was in cross-stitch in red and blue. Minimal embroidery or hemstitching was done on the collar and cuffs as well. Here are some typical designs.

Here is one design from this area which i did on a sampler.

According to my friends who are experts on Lemko costume, cross stitch was a relative latecomer to this region, and was originallydone across two threads and up only one, which resulted in the design being 'stretched' laterally. I have to wonder if originally the weft was heavier than the warp. Of course, when such designs were charted by collectors, they were made into the standard squares.

Occasionally a third color was added.

These charts were first made available in black and white, which resulted in the designs being copied in black and red, which Vasyl' assures me was not done in this region.

Later on, the embroidery was made more extensive and colorful, as happened in many areas, especially when DMC floss became available, but the old embroidery is still widespread.

The skirt was originally made of linen, from flax for dress and hemp for everyday. In the Komancha area the skirt was finely pleated.

Later the dress skirt was made of linen which was block-printed by hand, as in Boiko and Halychyna costume.

This was early on replaced by commercially available cloth. Cloth with woven-in damask designs were popular, as was printed cloth with fine designs.. Rows of ribbon were added above the hem.

In this region the skirt is called kabat.

The apron was likewise made of commercial cloth, and finely pleated. It had ribbons sewn on, and often a panel of contrasting material, as here. In this region the apron was long, sometimes as long as the skirt, or just slightly shorter.

The vest for the Komancha costume is called the Leibek. This is made of wool, usually of bought blue material, sometimes of black homespun for those who could not afford to buy, and is embroidered on the front with red spirals and floral motifs, and often has brass buttons. The motifs in the corners and on the pockets vary.

The sides are cut square, but the back is somewhat fitted.

This example is from the village of Dolzhyca in Krosno district.

Some images show the men wearing the same vest. But Lemko experts say that instead they wore a vest with a much simpler design, with one branch as seen on the man in the first image above, by Kul'chytska. Here is an image of a man in such a vest. The second image shows a woman posing in this type of men's vest.

some detail, front and back.

Similar vests are worn to the east, by Boikos.

And to the west, by some of the Polish Góral groups, but only by the men.

This man is wearing an embroidered blue leibek and matching cuffs. I have seen very similar vests presented in Ukrainian publications as being Lemko, without any exact provenance given.

A broad collar-shaped necklace strung of seed-beads is often worn with this costume, this makes up for the modest extent of the embroidery. The Lemki call this kryvul'ka, but in Ukrainian books it is referred to as sylianka.

This is much larger than similar beaded necklaces worn by the Boikos, Hutsuls, and Bukovynians.

Girls wore a ribbon tied to their braids, or a simple kerchief. Married women wore a cap with ribbon sewn around the edge, or embroidered, this is called Chepets. This is in keeping with the old European tradition that a married woman must keep her hair covered.

When going out, a white linen kerchief with embroidered ornament was worn over this.

Here are two sketches by Kul'chytska showing how she observed the kerchief being tied and some details of embroidery from her trip to Lemkovyna. The drawing in the upper left is a wedding wreath. The second sketch shows embroidery on the kerchief, the leibek and the blouse.

Short sheepskin vests, similar to those worn all through the Carpathians were also worn. These are called kozhushok. The fleece is worn to the inside, the edges trimmed in lambs wool, the suede colored yellow, and a floral motif was embroidered on the two front fields. These were more common in Eastern Lemko Land.

A cloth imitation called kozhushanka was also worn.
Here is an image of one.

On more formal occasions, women would wear a long linen shawl around the back and over the arms. This was folded lengthwise and was called plakhta, obrus or rantukh.

Many people, especially women and children went barefoot, as so many peasants do. Othewise footcloths were worn, later replaced by knitted stockings, over which were worn moccasins, here called khodaky or kerptse. These were later replaced by shoes or boots by those who could afford them. Here is a pair shown with some boy's linen pants.

The men's costume tends to be quite plain, the summer outfit consisting of plain white linen pants and shirt. A blue vest which resembles the women's is worn. Notice in the first image of this article different embroidery on the men's vests. The most distinctive garment is the chuhania, which resembles nothing else worn by either Ukrainians or Poles. It is reminiscent of the Hungarian szűr. Similar garments are also worn by Slovaks and Croatians. It consists of a coat-shaped mantle, with a flap on the back in place of a hood, and short sleeve-shaped pockets attached at the shoulders. Here is a scene from a Lemko wedding, followed by a couple more images of the chuhania.

Wool pants, either light or dark were worn in cold weather. As you can see from the images, sometimes the cuffs were loose, and sometimes the laces of the moccasins were tied around them.

Just a few more images of the Komancha Lemko costume.
One note, all of the images in this article are of costumes from the north of the Carpathians. I would love to find enough material of the Rusyn costumes in Slovakia to do another article. If anyone has information please let me know. Thank you.

Thank you for reading, I hope that you have found this interesting.

Roman K.

Rkozakand@aol.com

email

Here is an interview with an old lady from Komancha, telling how things used to be. She is wearing a modern Ukrainian blouse, but has Lemko embroidery and costume pieces around and shows them off towards the end
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XXcny2TvtZg

Here is a link to a website showing various Lemko costumes made by Vasyl' Jula
He has asked me to point out that these were made for the stage and real costumes would be somewhat more subdued.
http://www.lemko.org/art/jula/

Here is a flicker page showing various Lemko garments.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/33381574@N07/5194822145/in/set-72157625438270902/

Source Material:
Bohdan Struminsy, Editor, 'Lemkiwshchyna -The Lemko Land' New York, 1988
Tamara Nikolajeva, 'Ukrajinskyj Kostium, Nadija na Renesans' Kyjiw [Kiev], 2005
Iryna Hurhula, 'Narodne Mystetstvo Zakhidnykh Oblastej Ukrajiny', Kyjiw [Kiev], 1966
Oksana Grabowycz, 'Traditional Designs in Ukrainian Textiles', New York, 1977
Stanislaw Gadomski, 'Stroj Ludowy w Polsce', Warsaw,
Oksana Kosmina, 'Traditional Ukrainian Clothing', Kyjiw [Kiev], 2007
V. Kubijovyc, 'Lemkos', article in Encyclopedia of Ukraine, Toronto, 1993
V. Bilozub et al, 'Ukrajins'ke Narodne Mystetstvo - Vbrannia', Kyjiw [Kiev], 1961
Peter Odarchenko et al, 'Ukainian Folk Costume', Toronto, 1992
Ewa Frys et al, 'Folk Art in Poland', Warsaw, 1988
M. Bilan, H. Stel'mashchuk, 'Ukrajinskyj Strij', L'viw, 2000
O. Kul'chytska, 'Folk Costumes of the Western Regions of the Ukrainian SSR, 1959

Hello all,

Today I would like to present the limited material which I have on the costume of northwestern Zakarpattia, also called Transcarpathia, or, by the people who live there, sometimes Podkarpattia. The girl above is wearing a chemise from the village of Uzhok, but I believe the apron is from futher east. This costume is also worn in the village of Ljuta [Liuta], which in Hungarian was calledHavaskőz, as well as Maly Berezynyj, and I do not know how much more widespread it is. This part of Ukraine was under Hungarian domination for quite a while. The dialect spoken in this area is much closer to that of the Rusyny in Slovakia than to standard Ukrainian.
These villages lie in the valleys of the upper Uzh river, upstream from the town of Velykyi Berezynyi, and are very close to both the Polish and Slovakian borders.

The most distinctive feature of this costume is the chemise. Many regions in western Ukraine have a love of smocking, 'morshchanka', that is gathering the linen into 'tubes'. This is one of the areas which takes it to extremes. The entire front and rear bodice of the chemise is gathered, it may be almost down to the waist, although it is sometimes not as extensive.

Unlike English smocking, the gathering threads are left in place, and the result is not as elastic. A stabilizing stitch is done on the inside which resembles the simplest of the English smocking stitches. Floral embroidery is done on the upper sleeves and the cuffs. A band of ribbon or embroidery is places on the collar. The collar and cuffs are both decorated with bought lace. The opening is along the seam connecting the sleeve to the shirt body on the side. Sometimes there is embroidery on the lower part of the chemise. As in other parts of Transcarpathia and Ukraine, sometimes the chemise is belted and worn alone.

The lower sleeve is smocked in the same way above the cuff, often extending some way up the arm. This cuff has the edge decorated with hemstitching.

Often the front of the chemise is also embroidered, right over the gathers.

More commonly the chemise is worn with an apron, and usually a skirt over the chemise. As is usual, the skirt is gathered on three sides and left flat in the front. It also has floral embroidery. The hem is often also ornamented with bought lace.

The apron is generally dark in color, with a band of floral embroidery and embroidred stripes and/or ribbons on both sides.

As in other parts of western Ukraine, necklaces of seed beads were popular.

As you can see above, girls wore a simple kerchief, or just a ribbon in their hair. Married women wore a cap, chepets, over their hair, and a kerchief over that. The kerchief may be embroidered or it may be of printed cloth.

A sash is tied around the waist over the skirt and apron.
And that is just about all the material which I have on this costume.
I hope that you have enjoyed this and found it interesting.

Here is a blog entry by someone who has family in this region and wrote about their visit there.
I took some of my material from this blog.
http://www.iabsi.com/gen/public/settlements/UK_Ljuta.htm

Roman K.

Rkozakand@aol.com

email

Source Material:
V. Bilozub et al, 'Ukrajins'ke Narodne Mystetstvo - Vbrannia', Kyjiw [Kiev], 1961
Oksana Kosmina, 'Traditional Ukrainian Clothing', Kyjiw [Kiev], 2007

Hello all,

Today i will talk about a new region, Pokuttia. Pokuttia as a culural region is in eastern Ivano-Frankiwsk Oblast, North of the Hutsul region in the Carpathians, and south of the Dnister which forms the southern border of the Podillia region. On the east it borders on Bukovyna. On the west it borders the Boiko lands along the ridge which runs south and a bit west from the city of Ivano-Frankiwsk. Pokuttia means literally 'the land in the corner' or angle, referring to the confluence of the Prut and the Cheremosh, and that this is the eastern 'corner' of Halychyna.
The costume of Pokuttia is very similar to that of both Podillia and Bukovyna in general terms. This is the region of the second type of Ukrainian costume, with a wrap-around skirt known as obhortka. The distinction is in details, especially in the embroidery.
Whitework embroidery is widespread in Ukraine and the rest of Europe. Many Ukrainians think that all white-on-white Ukrainian embroidery is from the Poltava region. But it is found in many places, and there are two noteable centers besides Poltava. One is Vinnytsia in Eastern Podillia, and the other is around Sniatyn.
The image above is of a man's shirt from my personal collection from the Sniatyn area.
This type of embroidery always includes a variety of stitches, verkhoplut, counted satin stitch, faggot stitching and various types of hemstitch are the most common. The most distinctive element are drawn-stitch eyelets, known in Ukrainian as 'Nightingale eyes'. The nightingale may be considered the national bird of Ukraine. There is an old folk saying that nightingales know our language, as Ukrainians consider their language to be especially lyrical and melodic.
In the image above, the eyelets are found singly, but this region is unique in that designs are often based on groups of eyelets, and other elements finish the design around it.
Here is one example which also includes chain stitch.

DMC featured this type of embroidery in their book 'Openwork Embroidery'. They have people copy very clean versions of the original designs, and illustrate their books with these copies. They tend to be less dense than village embroidery. Here is their copy of this same design.

They give very detailed instuctions on how to execute both the diagonal groups and the spot group designs. The diagonal groups are executed one side at a time.

Often the design includes more than one row of eyelets.

The eyelets may be round, as shown above, but are also made with square corners. Another version is to use blanket stitch. Here is a design which uses both of those variants.

The eyelets may define the main element of the design.

When executing small groups of spot designs, individual stitches help to form more than one eyelet.

You will notice various types of hemstitching in the above images. Directions for all of these are also found in this book, which sadly, is out of print, but may be found at used bookstore sites.

One thing i should mention. This book includes images of designs from all over eastern Europe. The Ukrainian designs are shown on plates 1 [Vinnytsia],12 and 13 [Sniatyn]. There is a typographical error which states that plate 7 is also Ukrainian, Plate 7 is in fact Slovak, and is also listed as such. As a result of this typo, plate 7 has been reproduced in at least one Ukrainian book. This is an example of how errors perpetuate themselves.

Some more images of the designs in this book from the Sniatyn region.

Here is a photo of a woman's chemise done in this style from Sniatyn.

You will notice that the sleeves on this chemise follow the three part canon of embroidery which is common also in Podillia, Bukovyna and also Moldavia and other parts of Romania.
See my article on this subject.
http://folkcostume.blogspot.com/2011/01/sleeve-embroidery-podillia-moldavia.html

Here are a couple examples of the embroidery from the lower part of the sleeves. In the second image the top of the sleeve is towards the left.

A chemise which is a masterpiece of this type of work is illustrated in Tania Diakiw O'Neill's book 'Ukrainian Embroidery Techniques', pages 82 -85. This remains the best book on the subject in English, and I heartily recommend it to anyone who wishes to learn more about Ukrainian Embroidery. Unfortunately, it also is out of print. I hope that she will be able to put out a second edition.

A third book which gives instructions on this type of embroidery is 'Ukrainian Whitework' by Gay Eaton. This book is still in print and I also recommend it. She gives very good detailed instructions. She also provides quite a few designs which she invented using the traditional elements of this embroidery, as Ukrainian embroiderers have always done. I personally think that some of the designs have too much plain cloth in between the elements, but that is a matter of taste. You will see echoes of the designs which I have included in this posting. She also includes designs from both the Vinnytsia and Poltava traditions. Here is a sampler showing some of her designs.

Many of the chemises from this region do not have embroidery on the lower sleeves.
Many also use a variation of this technique which uses larger eyelets. These are made by cutting one intersection of the ground threads and proceeding as for the above designs.

These large eyelets, sometimes called dowbane, may be grouped horizontally and vertically as well as diagonally. Whitework designs in Ukraine may use threads of different shades. Some threads may be unbleached, or coated with ash, which gives a grayer tone, and some may be rubbed with beeswax or other substance to give a yellower tone. Here is a woman's chemise from the village of Rusiv near Sniatyn.

Here is a modern copy of one of the sleeve designs using only one shade of white.

Otherwise, these large eyelets participate in the composition much as the smaller eyelets do.
Here are several examples.

Some of these are taken from old publications and the quality may not be that good, I apologize.

Here is another chemise from the Sniatyn region, with a second design.

As you can see, the whitework is sometimes combined with other colors. In this case the shoulder inset is framed with polychrome embroidery which is also used in Pokuttia.

Here is a photograph of a man's shirt. This photo was taken by a woman who calls herself 'Mawka Lisova', which is a traditional Ukrainian Forest nymph. She has graciously given me permission to use her photographs.

And a couple more photos of women's chemises by Mawka.

You can see the traditional woven overskirt and sash on the left of these next two images.

You can see more of her photographs here.
https://plus.google.com/photos/115068169732517408090/albums?banner=pwa

Here is a photograph of the costume in Pokuttia. You will note that polychrome embroidery is also done in this region. Tunic shaped, knee length shirt for the men, narrow linen trousers, boots, shoes, or moccasins, and wide sash or belt. The girl is wearing a wedding wreath.

The women wear a long chemise, heavy wrap-around overskirt called obhortka and a wide sash.

Here is a somewhat out of scale drawing of the basic Pokuttia costume. This drawing shows a married woman with a peremitka wrapped around her head and neck.

The overskirt may be left down, or one or both corners may be tucked up into the sash. A narrow apron may be worn with it as well. Where the obhortka in Podillia is basically black, in Pokuttia the main color tends to be a brick or rust red.

Sheepskin vests somewhat similar to those worn by the Hutsuls may also be worn.

Here are two sketches made by Kul'chytska when she visited the Sniatyn area, the first of the embroidery, I think that what she drew as small eyelets is actually faggot stitching. The second is a woman in costume.

In general, the costume is very similar to that worn in the Horodenka district which lies just to the north. One last old photo of a couple from Pokuttia, exact district unknown.

Thank you for reading, I hope that you have found this interesting and inspiring. I encourage you to do a project using this type of embroidery. Enrich your surroundings with a bit of the white embroidery of Sniatyn.

Roman K.

Rkozakand@aol.com

email

Source Material:
DMC library, 'Openwork Embroidery' France, 1970
Tania Diakiw O'Neill, 'Ukrainian Embroidery Techniques', Mountaintop, Pa, 1984
Gay Eaton, 'Ukrainian Whitework', Dunedin, New Zealand, 2005
Olena Kulynych-Stakhurska, 'The Art of Ukrainian Embroidery', L'viw, 1996
Tamara NIkolajewna, 'Ukrainian Costume, Hope for a Renaissance, Kyjiw [Kiev], 2005
K. I. Matejko, 'Ukrajinskyj Narodnyj Odjah', Kyjiw [Kiev], 1977
Tamara Nikolajewna, 'Istoria Ukrajins'koho Kostiuma', Kyjiw [Kiev], 1996
Oksana Grabowicz et al, 'Traditional Designs in Ukrainian Textiles', The Ukrainian Musem, New York, 1977
M. C. Bilan and H. H. Stel'mashchuk, 'Ukrajins'kyj Strij', L'viw, 2000
Lubow Wolynetz, 'Ukrainian Folk Art', The Ukrainian Museum, New York, 1984

Hello all,

Today I will talk about the costume of a river valley in the south of Carinthia, Koroška [Slovene], Kärnten [German]. Most of this province is in Southern Austria, east of Tyrolia, but a portion is now in Slovenia. This costume is found in the lower part of the valley of the river which in Slovene is called Zilja, and in German is called the Gail, which is found in the southwest of Carinthia, between the towns of Šmohor [Hermagor] and Beljak [Villach].This region was inhabited by Slavs at least since the 9th cent, but Germanization has been going on for many centuries now. The upper valley, west of Šmohor [Hermagor], has been German-speaking since the 15th cent. In the lower valley however, there is still a significant Slovenian-speaking minority, and most of the German speakers are Slovenes which have lost their language. Those who identify themselves as Slovene see this costume as an important part of their cultural identity. Those who speak German also wear this costume, seeing it as part of the heritage of their area. This region is entirely within the present borders of Austria, although barely; the mountain ridge on the south side of the valley forms the border of Austria with Italy and Slovenia. Here is a map of the area which gives place names in both languages.

The festive costume is now only brought out for special occasions, but it is still worn regularly. This costume is very attractive and distinctive, resembling no other costume in either Slovenia or Austria.

The foundation garment is a sleeveless or short sleeved chemise, cut very simply in the Western European tradition. Here are two examples of the cut.

Stockings knitted with a strong texture are put on and secured with garters.

Bloomers are worn, another west European influence. The stockings extend up past the leg openings of the bloomers, which help to hold them in place.

A narrow petticoat is worn over the chemise. A second or third one which are slightly fuller may be added.

If a girl's hips need more emphasis, a very short, very full petticoat may be worn which adds fullness to the hips.

Over this is worn the 'krilo' or wings, which is a very full petticoat, made of thick linen or cotton, and starched so that it stands out from the body in waves.

It may be fastened to a waistband, or it may have its own bodice.

Here is a woman ironing one of these, you can get a sense of its dimensions.

Now comes the blouse. It has sleeves which are very full at the top, smock-gathered into the shoulder, and which taper towards the wrist. There is no cuff, but a portion of the sleeve may be turned back. This is finished with whitework embroidery.

There is a wide fold down collar which has a pleated flounce attached to the back edge. This is short at the edges and long in the center.

The sleeve ends, the body just above the sleeves, and the collar may be ornamented with whitework and possibly lace.

Now we can put on the outer garments.

The skirt and bodice are sewn together, the skirt being very full and pleated all around except possibly for a panel in front. It is made of a single solid color, black, navy, blue, chestnut, etc. usually with a green strip sewn onto the hem. Sometimes it is closed in front with buttons, other times it is left open.
The bodice may be open to the waist or have a panel connecting the front pieces.

This diagram shows one skirt panel. In general, 7 such panels are used to make the skirt. The winter costume, which is now seldom worn, has a petticoat sewn in the same way as this outer skirt.

Each pleat is sewn in by hand, in a technique similar to smocking, and a waistband is sewn over the finished product.

The bodice is sewn of a patterned material, often the same as that used for the men's vests. Generally a solid dark color with a scattered floral pattern, or it may include stripes. The armholes and neck/front opening are bound with a wide band of material, often topstitched, with a secondary edging of rickrack or narrow ribbon, sometimes with small 'prairie points or other ornamentation. Here are some examples.

The apron is sewn in a similar manner, using only one panel. The apron is usually of a printed cloth, in a wide variety of colors and patterns. It may have tucks. Since such an outfit is expected to last many years, the opportunity was taken to show off fine sewing skills. This is typical for folk costumes.

A silk kerchief is folded diagonally and pinned across the chest with a brooch, the ends wrapping around the waist and hanging behind. The kerchief is the same as those worn in Gorenjsko, with fringe. Often a corner is left hanging in front from where it is pinned.

A leather belt is worn with this outfit. It is embellished with the quill and thread embroidery so common in Tyrol, Gorenjsko and other nearby regions. It is unusual to see such a belt worn by women, however. It is made in three parts, joined by a ring. The ring is worn at the hip, one part wraps around the waist from behind, the second, shorter part hooks behind the first in front, and the third hangs from the waist, this hanging part may be long or short. A clump of ribbons generally is also attached at the ring to hang down the hip as well. In keeping with west European tradition, the year of manufacture is often embroidered onto the belt.

Low lace-up boots are worn. These are often highly ornamented.

Low shoes may be worn as well.

Most commonly today, a simple kerchief is tied around the head, but in the past another headdress was worn, quite similar to the zavijačka worn in Gorenjsko. This is called the pintl. The basic form is the same, but instead of an embroidered velvet band being sewn on top of the head, an embroidered white linen flounce is sewn onto the front, being pleated many times so that it frames the face. Here is the structure, and some examples of the embroidery.

Here is a photo of one. If you look closely, you can see the whitework on the flounce.

The pleats to either side may be over or under the central flat portion.

The men's costume is not significantly different from that of Gorenjsko or other parts of Carinthia.

White linen shirt.

A vest is worn, usually sewn of a dark cloth with a scattered spot design, but sometimes of a silk plaid. It is closed with many silver buttons. It is often single-breasted as in Gorenjsko, but may be double-breasted. It extends to the waist and is cut straight across the bottom edge, with no points.

Long linen pants are worn, as in Gorenjsko. For everyday work these are worn alone.

For dress and festive occasions, leather knickers are worn over these. These are often embroidered, as in Gorenjsko and other parts of Austria. When these are worn with the high boots, the linen underpants are not visible.

A colorful silk scarf is tied around the neck.

Most commonly, high boots are worn, which come above the knee. Otherwise, shoes and knee socks may be worn, as in other parts of Austria.

Traditionally, a knit stocking cap is worn, and a felt hat over that. Today, each may be worn alone, as in the above photo, or none.

For full dress, a jacket is worn with this outfit. It greatly resembles the modern day suit jacket, with fold down collar and lapels. These were mostly made by professional tailors.

Thank you for reading, I hope that you have found this interesting and informative.

Slideshow of a festival in this region.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/burschenschaft_poeckau/sets/72157631496607710/show/

A group performing a medley of dances and songs from Ziljska Dolina.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1khZJzettyk

A group of Gailtal men singing in Slovene. they are wearing plain black pants with the traditional outfit.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8By_tkTuNkM

email:
Rkozakand@aol.com

Source Material:
Marija Makarovič, Jana Dolenc, 'Zilja - Slovenska LjudskaNoša v Besedi in Podobi 5', Ljubljana, 1991
Marija Makarovič, 'Slovenska ljudska noša', Ljubljana, 1971

Rudolf Fochler, 'Trachten in Österreich', Verlag Velsermuehl, Wels, 1980
Franz Hubmann, 'Land und Leut', Wien [Vienna], 1979
James Snowden, 'The Folk Dress of Europe', New York, 1979
Maria Rehm, 'Oesterreichs Trachtenbuechlein', Innsbruck, 1981

Hello all,

Today I will talk about yet another costume whose region is bisected by an international border. This is found in a region north of Milan, in the northwest of theregion of Lombardy, Italy called Brianza and the neighboring region of Mendrisiotto in Switzerland. Here is a map of Northern Italy and its neighbors. Lombardy is shown in orange in the middle.

The region of Brianza is more or less centered around the city of Como. Here is a map of Lombardia with Brianza labelled on it. Brianza is a historical region and has no current official boundaries, overlapping several contemporary provinces.

Mendrisiotto is the southernmost part of the arm of Switzerland just northwest of Como, south of Lake Lugano. The traditional language in most of Lombardy and the Swiss Canton of Ticino is Lumbard. This has historicallybeen considered to be a dialect of Italian, but recently linguists describe it as a language of the Gallo-Italic group, along with Ligurian and Piemonteis. The definition of Lumbard as a dialect was based mostly on political grounds, and the fact that it is somewhat similar to Italian, more so than Ladin or Friuli, for example. Lumbard is quickly being replaced by Italian on both sides of the border, a fate which is shared by many of the minority languages and dialects of Europe and the rest of the world. For those who are interested, here is an article about Lumbard written in Lumbard. For English or other language translation, click on the list at the left.
http://lmo.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lengua_lumbarda

We tend to think of languages as being 'divided' into various dialects. In fact, the opposite is true, Dialects are grouped into Languages. Each local dialect exists independently, having Its own history and its own life in its community. Groups of similar dialects are placed under the heading of one language or another, often for political reasons, and some very divergent ways of speaking are often shoehorned into a language for other than linguistic reasons.
This costume is found on both sides of the border, in fact, the only reason why Mendrisiotto is not considered to be part of Brianza is that it is in Switzerland. Switzerland is unique in the world in being a nation that is identified not with one ethnicity, but several. This is actually true of most nations, but most do not readily admit it. Often residents of Yugoslavia, Czechoslovakia, the Soviet Union, etc, were told to take the Swiss as an example. This was not helpful, as there was one huge difference; the Swiss Confederacy was VOLUNTARY.

Let us take a look at this costume. Here is the depiction of the Italian version of this costume by Emma Calderini, an eminent expert on Italian costume.

Here is a photograph of the Swiss version. The costume on the right is the everyday attire. The only significant difference which I see is the collar of the chemise.

Here is my translation of Emma Calderini's description of this costume.

'This costume is worn for grand occasions, composed of a chemise of fine linen, ornamented with lace and silk ribbons.. - The bodice is laced up in front, and the skirt is very full, of heavy silk embroidered by hand. - The sleeves are attached to the shoulder of the bodice by ribbons. - The apron is of fine linen with embroidery, openwork and lace. - The shoulder shawl is in wool of vivid colors. - Knit stockings. - Wooden clogs with leather straps. - Coral necklace, silver spadini in the hair, hanging earrings of gold and coral'.

For comparison, here is Emma's print of the everyday costume of this region.

You can see that it agrees substantially with the Swiss photograph above, chemise La camicia(camisetta), petticoat La sottogonna(suchin), bloomers I mutandoni(moudant), skirt with bodice La gonna con corpetto (soca cul curpet), shoulder shawl Lo scialle (scialet), apron Il grembiule(scusà), clogs Gli zoccoli(socur a la muntagnina), headscarf. [The first of each translation is in Italian, with the Lumbard term in parentheses]. The only differences are the colors used. I am sure that a variety of materials was used for the everyday costume. Red and black checked or striped material was popular in Lombardy among the peasants, here is an example of an apron in the Linen Museum of Lombardy.

The major difference between the everyday costume and the festive is the quality of materials used. I do not have any closeups of the embroidery on the bodice, skirt or apron, but they seem to be standard floral motifs. I am sure that brocade was also used, according to taste and pocketbook. Emma simply says that the festive apron is 'perforated', by which I suppose that she means cutwork. You can see in the print that the cutwork is distributed across the field of the apron.

The separate sleeves are very common in Italian Folk Costumes, In other regions a gap is often left where the sleeves of the chemise puff out, but here they are tied right up to the bodice. Historians say that this was originally a way to circumvent either taxes on clothing or sumptuary laws, which were common in western Europe. The purpose of sumptuary laws was to prevent people from wearing clothing which was, in the eyes of the local authorities 'above their station', or a perceived waste of resources. Such laws were commonly ignored, flouted, or circumvented by those who could afford to do so.

This costume is a survival of the formal costume of the area going back several centuries.

The most distinctive part of this outfit is the formal headdress, called La Raggiera (Sperada), or Guazza (Cuazz). It has a long history in this area, dating back to the 16th cent. [it is obligatory when writing about la raggiera to note that it is explicitly mentioned in "I Promessi Sposi', the third most famous piece of Italian Literature, after Dante's 'Divine Comedy' and 'The Adventures of Pinocchio'. I Promessi Sposi was set in this region].

Originally this was composed of a set of large silver hairpins, a couple dozen or more, of three different types. [The first set includes a pair of matching earrings].

The hair was gathered into a chignon at the nape of the neck, and braids were attached in a circle on the back of the head. The 'spilloni' were arranged through the braid and into the chignon.

There is one large sticklike pin with olive or ball shaped ends, the Sponton, which secures the bun, 1 to 3 pair of larger pins which anchor each end, the Spadine, and the remainder are spoon shaped and usually smaller, the cucchiaini, the concave shape on the ends catch and scatter light.

Here are some drawings of the various types of hairpins used.

This was obviously difficult to assemble, so later on a fake braid was incorporated into the headpiece to hold the spilloni together at consistent intervals, and the ends were then pushed into the bun.

This structure may be embellished with a silk or velvet ribbon.

Some examples look suspiciously like they were made as one piece of metal.

This is so striking and attractive that la Raggiera also forms a part of several other similar costumes in the general region.

Galliate in Piemonte

Germignaga in Lombardy

Locarno in Ticino

Lugano in Ticino

A smaller version of la raggiera also figures in the less bourgious costumes of Parre in Lombardy and Belluno in Veneto, each of which I plan to do a future posting on.

A few photos of performing groups in Brianza wearing variations of this costume.

An informative article about la raggiera, in Italian
http://it.paperblog.com/la-corona-lombarda-597786/

A couple of local performing groupsof the region
http://www.grupporenzoelucia.it/costumi/pagina%20costumi.htm

http://it-it.facebook.com/pages/Gruppo-folclorico-firlinfeu-La-Brianzola/514229308595268?sk=photos_stream

Videos of these groups performing
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xEo8RNIEMFk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oCt6NhwJjQk

Roman K.

Rkozakand@aol.com

email

Source Material:
Emma Calderini, 'Il Costume Popolare in Italia', Milan, 1953
Lotti Schuertz - Louise Witzig, 'Trachten der Schweiz', Bern, 1978
Louise Witzig, 'Schweizer Trachtenbuch', Zurich, 1954
Elba Gurzau, 'Folk Dances, Costumes and Customs of Italy', 1981
Louise Witzig & Edwige Eberle, 'Costumes Suisses', Payot Lausanne

Hello all,
Continuing my series of articles on the minority peoples of Europe, today I am going to do an overview of the folk costumes of the Rhaetian Peoples. The Rhaetio-Romance languages were spoken throughout the southeastern Alps in the middle ages. Since then the various dialects have been in retreat from German in the north, and Italian [Venetian and Lombard] from the south. Today the extant dialects are generally grouped into three languages, Romansh in Switzerland, Ladin and Friuli in Northeastern Italy. Here is a map showing the current extent of these languages. I will do an article on each of these three.

Throughout this region, places tend to have at least three names, in Italian, in German, and in the local dialect. I will try to provide all three, I hope it will not get tiresome.
The costumes of the three peoples do not have much in common.

Romansh

This is one of the four National Languages in Switzerland, but currently is only spoken in the canton of Graubünden [German], Grisons [French], Grigioni [Italian], or Grischun [Romansh].
It was formerly spoken over a much wider area, as far as Lake Constance in the north, and was spoken in Vinschgau in South Tyrol until the 17th cent.
As is the case with many minority languages, several distinct dialects are spoken, a Literary standard exists, but is not popular, the people who speak Romansh tend to be devoted the the speech of their particular area, again, as is typical for speakers of minority languages. Here is a map of the current distribution of native languages in Grischun.
For those who are interested, here is an article on the Romansh language in Romansh.
http://rm.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rumantsch_dal_Grischun

As you can see, the various dialects are no longer contiguous.
The costume of Grisons is quite similar over the entire area, with minor variations. The only exceptions are the costumes of the Italian speaking areas in the south. There is no sharp distinction between the costumes of the German [Allemanic] speaking areas and the Romansh speaking areas, as formerly the entire area spoke Romansh. Elaborate graceful embroidery is worked on the apron, shoulder shawl, and often the plastron over the entire region. Jackets are smock-gathered on the upper sleeve. These are known as Spencers and are common throughout the Alpine region.

Surselva is the region around the headwaters of the Rhine River and forms the largest remaining Romansh speaking community.

Schams / Val Schons is an island of Romansh surrounded mostly by Allemanic speakers. The tiny bridal crown is supplemented with myrtle leaves, and is also found in other parts of the Canton.

The costume of Herrshaft / Signuradi, on the lower reaches of the Rhine, downstream from Chur / Cuira. This and the following regions have only a small percentage of Romansh speakers.

Schanfigg / Scanvetg left, and Prättigau / Partenz, right.

Rear view of the Prättigau / Partenz costume.

Albulatal / Val d'Alvra costume on the seated woman. This is found between the Davos and Oberhalbstein regions on the map above. The standing figures are wearing the costume of the neighboring Oberhalbstein / Surses valley. This has a larger proportion of Romansh speakers.

A couple closeups of the embroidered cap, [biretta] of Oberhalbstein / Surses. This is typical of the satin-stitch embroidery of the Canton.

The most famous variant of this costume is that of the Engadin / Engiadina valley. This is the upper headwaters of the river Inn, in Romansh, En. This is the best known and likely the most elaborate variant of this costume. Older forms of the costume had a long pleated skirt, More recently the tendency has been to shorten the skirt and simply gather it. The wide lay-down lace collar and cuffs are one distinctive feature of this costume.

The Lower Engadine costume has more black than red. This is an older widow, who has completely done away with the embroidery.

Some examples of the shawl embroidery on the upper Engadin Costume.

A dance group from the upper Engadin.

There is one more costume which is a fairly recent innovation, a simplified everyday going-out costume which is meant to represent the Canton as a whole. The linen version of the apron features the cross-stitch embroidery which is a strong tradition on household linens in this region. It may be done in black, blue, red, or a combination of red/blue or red/black.

A couple of prints of Grischun Costumes.

A video in Romansh explaining the Engadin Costume, The cameraman has the unfortunate habit of excessive closeups that hide more than they show, and I don't know why the opening sequence is so dark, but still worth watching.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=15LCsWGN_e0

Thank you for reading, I hope that you have found this interesting and inspiring. The embroidery of this costume could be adapted for any number of interesting projects of your own around the house.

Roman K.

Rkozakand@aol.com

email

Source Material:
Lotti Schurch - Louise Witzig, 'Trachten der Schweiz', Bern, 1978
Louise Witzig, 'Sweizer Trachtenbuch', Zurich, 1954
Louise Witzig & Edwige Eberle, 'Costumes Suisses', Lausanne,
James Snowden, 'The Folk Dress of Europe', New York, 1979

Ladin

Hello all,

This second installment of the series is on the costume of the Ladin people. This is not to be confused with Ladino, which is a language used by Sepharidic Jews. both terms are obviously derived from the word Latin, and both are Romance languages, but other than that there is no connection.
Ladin is spoken in five valleys which radiate from a common center like a star. As so often happens to mountain people, these valleys find themselves in three separate provinces of Italy.
Here is a map showing their location, and the names of the valleys in the Ladin language.

The two northern valleys are in South Tyrol, The third is in the Province of Trentino, and the other two are in the Province of Belluno. The language is found further afield to some extent, but the overwhelming majority of the people in these five valleys still speak Ladin.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ladin_language

Two more maps to show you more detail of the area, how the valleys run and the names of the local communities.

Untill the end of WWI, both South Tyrol and Trentino were part of Austria, while Belluno was already part of Italy. This is reflected in the costumes.

Val Gherdëina,
In Italian, Val Gardena, in German,Gröden

The photo at the top of this article is of young people from this valley. This valley forms part of South Tyrol. In spite of its being currently part of Italy, the overwhelming majority of people in South Tyrol speak German, and consider themselves to be Austrian. The Gherdeina costume is very similar to the costumes worn in the rest of South Tyrol, with some additions. It is generally considered to be the richest and most elaborate costume system in the area.

The young man is wearing an outfit which is immediately recognizeable as being Tyrolean. Leather knickers, wide hat, red vest, suspenders sewn of green ribbon, kerchief around the neck. The major difference between the mens' costumes around Tyrol is in the shape of the hat. If one looks closely at the design woven into the green brocade ribbons which are ubiquitous in the costumes of South Tyrol, you will see the Austrian double-headed eagle woven into the design.

This costume exists in several versions, proof that it is a living tradition. The most famous is the festive costume for unmarried girls.

This includes the typical Tyrolean blouse, laced up bodice with plastron, full skirt, which are all typical of Tyrolean costume, as is the Goller, a separate coller with white embroidery and lace, which sits across the shoulders and is tied under the arms with ribbon, as you can see in this photo above. The metal belt, reminiscent of the ones worn in Slovenia are also worn by older women, but the full lace apron and the headdress are only worn by unmarried girls. Called in the local Ladin dialect a ghërlanda spiza, it is a light-weight dome-shaped crown. The belt traditionally has a pocket which holds a knife and fork, a remnant of the middle ages when tableware was expensive, and if you were a guest in someone's home you were expected to bring your own. [This is also true of the Scottish Dirk, which is worn to formal occasions, but in the dirk, the utensils have shrunk to unusable dimensions]. Here is Emma Calderini's plate of this costume. It is illustrated both in Austrian and in Italian books.

The costume worn by married and older women is also attractive, and still highly ornamented.
Notice that the same blouse can be worn down, or can be pushed back past the elbow.

These above are costumes for festivals. there are also other versions of the costume for less dressy occasions. Older and married men often do not wear the red vest. This couple is from the town of Ciastel, [Castelrotto in Italian, Kastelruth in German], which is lower in the valley.

The winter version seem quite cozy. I cannot figure out how the cone-shaped hat is made.

The everyday costume is a very practical dirndle type outfit.

Many people have illustrated this costume.

And so we say goodbye to Val Gherdeina.

Val Badia
In Italian also Val Badia, in GermanGadertal

This valley is also part of South Tyrol, it is a side valley of the Pustertal. The costume is also typically Tyrolean, and similar to that of Val Gherdeina. I have not been able to find as many images of this costume.

Val de Fascia
in Italian Val di Fassa, in German Fassatal or Eveistal

This valley is in the northeast corner of the province of Trentino. Although this province was formerly part of Austria, the majority of the population speaks Italian [Lombard in the west, Venetian in the east]. This costume, while still Alpine, has a less Austrian look.

Val de Fodom
in Italian Livinallongo, in German Buchenstein

This and the last valley are in the northwest of the Italian province of Belluno. There are some Ladin speakers found outside of these valleys, especially in the north of this province, but most people speak Italian [Venetian]. These costumes have a more Italian look to them. The local dance group gives performances up and down the valley.

This photograph is described as showing the costumes of the Ladins in Belluno Province, both valleys.

Val de Anpez
In Italian Cortina d’Ampezzoin German Hayden [These refer to the main city].

I have only found a few images of the costume from this valley.

The modern photos which I have found seem to show a different costume, I am lacking any more information, but here they are. If anyone knows more about the costumes of this area, please let me know. There seems to be some similarity to the Italian costumes found not far to the south.

It is frustrating that sometimes there seems to be very little material available.
There is also an Ampezzo in the Friuli territory, but these do not resemble Friuli costumes.

Thank you for reading, I hope that you have found this interesting. If anyone has more information on this subject, please let me know.

Roman K.

Rkozakand@aol.com

email

Source Material:
Emma Calderini, 'Il Costume Popolare in Italia', Milan, 1953
Uta Radakovich, 'Costume Tradizionali dell'AltoAdige/Suedtirol', Trento, 2009
Hans Von Hammerstein, 'Trachten der Alpenlaender', Vienna, 1937
Rudolf Fochler, 'Trachten in Oesterreich', Wels, 1980
Gertrude Pesendorfer, 'Lebendige Tracht in Tirol', Innsbruck,

Friuli

Hello all, today I will speak about the costumes of the Friuli people, also called the Furlan. This is the third of the Rhaetian / Romanic languages still spoken today. They occupy the northeastern corner of Italy, bordering German speaking areas to the north, Slovenian speaking areas to the east and Venetian speaking areas to the south. Here is a linguistic map of northern Italy. Friuli is shown in turquoise, Ladin in darker blue, German in dark purple, Slovene in orange, Italian dialects in various shades of green.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Friulian_language

The Friuli region is divided into three provinces, Pordenone, Udine and Gorizia. There are some Friuli speakers in the Trieste Region, which is very mixed ethnically.

The best known folk costume in the Pordenone Province is that of Aviano, which is kept alive by the local Folklore Group. In fact, there are two costumes, as you can see from this photo.

The one looks very alpine in character, with soft embroidered slippers and both men and women wearing small shoulder shawls.

The other looks older, with some similarity to balkan costume, being based on homespun wool and having conical straw hats.

The northwestern part of the Province of Udine forms the region of Carnia. This borders on Austria to the north and the Province of Belluno to the west, and lies north of Aviano.

Notice that this woman is wrapping her headdress in the same manner as they do on the Croatian Island of Krk [Veglia], which is not that far away.

One of the local Folkloric groups is Sot la Nape.

There are several groups from around Udine, Often the scarf here is folded or pinned back onto the head forming wings.

Here is the costume of Ciconnico.

This is the Folklore Group Pasjan de Prato.

There is a significant Slovene Population in the eastern valleys of Udine province, Most famously in Val Resia, [Rezijanska Dolina]. The Slovene groups also participate in the local festivals. The dialect spoken in this valley is so distinctive that it is sometimes considered to be a separate language of its own.

In the Province of Gorizia [Gorica] there are also many Slovenes. The costume here shows influence from Venice and the coastal regions.

One of the local groups is Lucinico. They do presentations in the everyday work costume as well as the dress up version.

Another group in this region is Santa Gorizia. They are well known for their elegant costumes and dancing.

http://www.santagorizia.it/costumi/index.php?action=costumi

On the borders of Trieste is the town of Monfalcone.

Thank you for reading. I hope you have enjoyed this overview of Furlan Costumes. I feel like I need more information to do a more systematic job, but this is the material which I currently have. You can see more images and local groups on this website which shows pictures taken at a Friuli Folklore Festival.

http://www.folklorefriulano.it/9giornata.html

Here are a couple of videos of Friuli groups dancing.

This is the group Pasjan di Prato doing Torototele
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g61PCYYCWy4

Here is the group Santa Gorizia doing La Vinca.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SffVIVAxa64

The same group dancing Mazurka and another dance.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WU91B1X4nM4

A Slovene Group from Val Resia [Rezija] dancing
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=endscreen&NR=1&v=qddorb41XGo

Roman K.

Rkozakand@aol.com

email

Source Material:
Emma Calderini, 'Il Costume Popolare in Italia', Milan, 1953
Most of this material i found on the web, especially on the websites of the various groups which keep the Furlan traditions alive.

Hello all,
Today I will talk about another tradition of whitework in Ukraine, around Vinnytsia in Eastern Podillia. Here you can see a man's shirt embroidered in this technique. As in Sniatyn, the main feature of this embroidery are the eyelets, 'nightingale eyes'. The distinction is that in this region the eyelets are always square, and even when they form groups, they never share stiches. This gives them a distinctive look, quite different from the work of Sniatyn.

As in most whitework, a combination of stitches is used, faggot stitch, reverse faggot stitch, counted satin stitch, hemstitch and others. On men's shirts these were used on the front placket, cuffs and collars.

These make for very elegant designs.

Here you can see the overall cut of the man's shirt.

Usually the composition is based on diamonds, some larger, some smaller.

As in Sniatyn, different subtle shades may be used. Yellow is often added. This collar and cuff feature a surface stitch which in Ukrainian is called Verkhoplut.

Women's chemises were also embroidered using this technique. Here is a shoulder inset from one such chemise.

Here is an example of a chemise made with the sleeves and shoulder parts cut out of a single piece of cloth.

Another chemise with much yellow in the embroidery and scattered motifs down the sleeve.

Some of these are made with an unusual cut, A rectangular yoke, called koketka forms the top of the chemise from shoulder to shoulder, with a circle cut out for the neck opening.

These not only have a wide band of embroidery across the end at the shoulder, but often a narrow band the length of the yoke from side to side.

A darker color may be added, as in this man's shirt.

Or this yoke of a woman's chemise.

Perhaps the most unusual variant is adding beads of various colors as accents.

This is found on men's shirts as well as on women's chemises.

One of my readers in Ukraine wrote in to share a couple of photos which she took of this type of embroidery. She goes by the name of 'Mawka Lisova'.

You can see more of her photography at her website.
https://plus.google.com/photos/115068169732517408090/albums?banner=pwa

This is not the only kind of embroidery found in this area, and eyelet embroidery is also found in other parts of Ukraine as well.
Thank you for reading, I hope that you have found this interesting and inspiring. This kind of embroidery could be used for many different projects of your own. I will close with some closeups.

Roman K.

Rkozakand@aol.com

Hello all,

Today I will return to Spain. I have found more materials, and am glad to offer more information on its rich culture.
Montehormoso is found in the northwest of the province of Cáceres, not far south of the border with Salamanca province, whose Charro costume I have already written about. It is part of the traditional region of Extremadura. Here is a closeup map of the region, You will find Montehermoso in the northwest.

This area is home to the Extremaduran language, a descendant of the Language of Leon, which has slowly been displaced by Castillian since those two kingdoms were joined in the 1300's.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extremaduran_language

This region is very rich in folklore. In the 1940's the costume was still in everyday use by most women, and is still retained for special occasions.The photo above is of a modern Folk-dance group, showing how the festive costume is usually worn today.

The most noticeable part of the costume is the Gorra, the straw bonnet. Straw hats, of course, are worn all over Europe and Asia, especially when outside in the sun, but the gorra of Montehermoso is exceptionally colorful, being decorated with straw braids, ribbons, colorful applique, buttons, pompoms and mirrors.

Although you will see the gorra worn as part of the festive costume today, this was not originally the case. It was a sunbonnet, and was only worn when working or traveling outside in the sun. We have photos taken in the 1940's that show this.

The gorra was worn by women from Montehermoso when selling or shopping in nearby towns, thus being immediately identifiable.

You will notice that these women are wearing the gorra tipped forward, as the woman in the yellow kerchief above does not. This is a result of the traditional hair styling of the town, which involves a topknot at the back of the head. This is why the gorra developed without a brim in the back. Since this hairstyle has since been abandoned, it is now difficult to wear the gorra at the proper angle.

The gorra comes in three types. The one shown above in the color photo is the gorra galana. It is characterized by puffs of mulitcolored yarn and a mirror on the front of the crown. This is traditionally reserved for single girls.

The second is the gorra mora. This is still brightly colored and highly ornamented, but lacks the pompoms and mirror. This is the normal bonnet worn by married women.

The third is the gorra de viuda. This is worn in times of mourning and by widows. It is still highly ornamented, but the applique is restricted to black cloth.

As you can see, the gorra is always worn over a kerchief. The everyday costume consists of a chemise, white petticoat, a blouse with many pleats and tucks, a minimum of two skirts, a full apron and a shawl wrapped around the shoulders and tied around the waist. You can see this in the photos above.

The newer festive costume is shown in the first photo. The everyday kerchief tended to be plain black, but the festive kerchief is in bright colors, preferably of silk. There is a bodice with sleeves worn over the chemise. The sleeves are long, and the ends are folded back to make a cuff. This is faced with fancy cloth, and ornamented with ribbon and embroidery.

When a shawl was not worn, a dengue similar to that of Salamanca was worn over the shoulders, around the waist and tied. In this area it is called esclavina. It may be plain black, it may have a colored edging, and for gala occasions a red ribbon was appliqued in a zigzag pattern a short distance from the edge.

Occasionally bought trim was used instead of the ribbon gathered into a zigzag.

For the newer festive costume, a chemise, petticoat and at least two wool skirts are worn. The skirts are laid out, pleated, tied, left to dry, and then the pleats are sewn together with a herringbone stitch in a couple of rows at the top of the skirt, as you can see in the above photo. A flat front panel is then sewn on, and the entire skirt has a number of tucks sewn into it not far from the bottom edge. The number of tucks varies from 4 to over 20. This results in the skirts standing away from the body and in being rather shorter than is usual for Spanish Folk costumes. For some reason the skirt in this area is called mantilla, likely a diminutive of manteo, the word used for the overskirt in old Leon to the north. Two ribbons are sewn on to use as ties. There is a facing in a contrasting color sewn to the inside of the hem.

The topmost skirt is black for everyday, and for holidays is traditionally mulberry colored. The underskirt is of a brighter color, but is sewn the same way.

In the older ceremonial costume the tucks were not made, which made the skirt longer. Fullness was achieved by wearing 6 or 7 such skirts, in a traditionally determined order of colors. You can see here the fine silk of the kerchief, as well.

For less important occasions a full gathered apron was worn. For festive wear the mandil was a single panel of cloth, with a ribbon sewn near the bottom edge. The ribbon is traditionally woven in stripes of blue and red. The top was folded over, and two more ribbons were sewn on as ties.

A loose pocket, the faltriquera is worn on the side, as it is in Salamanca. It is made of black or mulberry wool, and may be edged with applique. Formerly it was usually ornamented with cut loop or punch-needle embroidery, forming three dimensional flowers.

Today it may be embroidered in the same manner as the women's cuffs and men's lapels.

Four streamers hang in back over the top of the skirt. These may just be brocade ribbon, or patterned ribbon sewn with trim, or they may also be embroidered.

Medium blue stockings are worn for both everyday and festive wear. They are held up by garters made of the same ribbon which serves as ties for the skirts and aprons.

The knees were traditionally left bare.
Shoes may be plain black, or more or less ornamented depending on the occasion. Women would sometimes have the shoemaker cut out velvet or other cloth for the shoes, embroider the pieces and then have them assembled.

When in mourning or widowed, the costume is the same, except that the colors used are restricted to black, violet and dark blue.

The kerchief may be tied in many ways, but often it was just placed on the head, one or both sides folded back, and kept on, as one observer put it 'by force of personality'.

There is one more type of headgear which was worn for ceremonial and church occasions, when the gorra was considered inappropriate, and a kerchief insufficient. This is a mantle which was worn over the head. It is a half circle of black broadcloth, with a lining of challis along the front edge and on the top where it sits on the head. On the facing side it is edged with a deep border of velvet all around. It is stored folded, so there is a crease on top of the head.

The costume is finished off with locally made gold jewelry, especially earrings and a large cross.

One reason that the local costume tradition has survived so well in this locality is that in Montehermoso they do not have the tradition of burying people in their best traditional attire. They consider that to be a waste, and I wholeheartedly agree.
Just a few more images to close the article.

Thank you for reading, I hope that you have found this interesting and informative.

Roman K.

Rkozakand@aol.com

Source material:
I would like to thank Marcos León Fernández for providing me with information and some of these photographs.

Ruth Matilda Anderson, 'Spanish Costme Extremadura', New York, 1951
M. de la Vega Garcia Ballestros et al, 'La Indumentaria Tradicional de Extremadura', Merida, 1998
Jose Ortiz Echague, 'Espana, Tipos y Trajes', Bilbao, 1953
Manuel Comba, 'Trajes Regionales Espanoles', Madrid, 1977
Cesar Justel, 'Espana, Trajes Regionales', Madrid, 1997
Lilla Fox, 'Folk Costumes of Southern Europe', Boston, 1972
R. Turner Wilcox, 'Folk and Festival Costumes of the World', New York, 1965
Robert Lee Humphrey, Jr., 'Spain and Portugal', Broomal, PA, 2003

Hello all,

Today I will talk about another type of embroidery from Eastern Podillia, specifically the southern parts of Khmel'nytska and Vinnytsia oblasts. This is called Nyz, which in Ukrainian means below, and is traditionally worked on the wrong side of the cloth. In English this is generally known as Darning Stitch. This is related to the Hutsul style of embroidery which is called Nyzynka, but is not as developed.
This general technique is very old, which is attested to by its wide distribution, being found in Norway, Spain, Romania, Dalmatia, Voronezh, southeast Asia, and many spots in between, as well as in Podillia.
In Eastern Podillia this type of embroidery is usually done in black, as in the above example. These three photos are of the same chemise, the three part canon of the general region being visible on the sleeves: a wide band on the shoulder piece, a second narrower band on top of the sleeve, this often is of a contrasting color or texture, and then vertical or diagonal stripes down the lower sleeve. This arrangement is found in Podillia, Pokuttia, and Bukovyna, as well as in Bessarabia, Moldova, and parts of Romania.

This stitch is worked by running a thread crosswise across the entire width of the design, running under and over 1 to 5 threads at at time. This results in the clean diagonal lines which are the hallmark of this technique. An even number of threads is only taken when running into a horizontal edge. 7or more threads are rarely taken, as then the surface thread is too long.

This can result in a very elegant overall design.

Here you can see the narrow design on the collar, a narrow design around the front opening just visible at left, a wide stripe down the front and a horizontal design on the shoulder inset. There is also a design below the shoulder seam, which is narrower, and is broken in the center of the sleeve to allow some gathers to be put in.
Sometimes the black design is broken up with red, often in stripes which go all the way across the design. Here is an example, shown first from the front, and then from the back.

Variations on this are possible.This is a piece which I embroidered on a sampler to try the technique.

You will notice on this piece that there actually is no collar. The top edges of the body pieces and the sleeves are either hemmed or selvages, then are smock-gathered with strong linen threads to the desired dimension. Then a narrow design is embroidered with running stitches over and under the 'tubes'. This variation of neckline is widespread in southwestern Ukraine, but is not common.
Sometimes the color composition is a bit more complex.

When a thick strong line is desired for the composition, there are two choices, both of which are visible here above and below. You can go over three threads, under one, and then over another three, which results in a very fine white line in the middle of a wide colored one. The other option is to go over 4 threads, then take a backstitch under one thread, and continue forward over for another 4. This also results in a wide line over 7 threads, but instead of a thin white line there is a bit of a groove down the center of the line. You can see the result of the backstitched nyz in the red line framing the center motif above, and the other technique in the rest of the design. Here is a design done both ways so that you can see the difference.

On the back side, the backstich is visible, so it looks the same either way.

The horizontal gap in the embroidery may be left open, or it may be filled in with braid or herringbone stitch.

The embroidery can also be all in red.
You will notice that while the chemise at the top of the article has sleeves gathered into narrow wristbands, this piece has the sleeve ends gathered a short distance from the ends, forming frills on the wrists. Another noteworthy detail is that while the chemise at the top of the article has a separate shoulder inset, this chemise is cut with the sleeves and inset as one piece. Here the stripes on the lower sleeve have been omitted, and a row of isolated motifs takes the place of the second band.

The red used may be of various shades.

Here is another example of the three part canon all in black. The top and bottom parts are embroidered with nyz, but the second part is worked in a different texture using the same design. This stitch is called by several names, one of which is kafasor. This is very commonly used for this second, contrasting band, but is very rare otherwise. Most often it is worked in a contrasting color, but in this region is sometimes done in black, the only contrast being in texture.

This technique consists of laying horizontal satin stitches across two or more threads, then continuing in columns, leaving gaps which form the design.

These stitches may all be laid in the same direction, as here, or they may alternate direction. This necessitates skipping one or more threads in between, and so results in a more open design. this also tends to pull alternate stitches in opposite directions, which I believe is the case here.

A closeup of the same chemise.

Here is another chemise which uses this technique, in this case the bottom stripes are worked in a combination of cross stitch and holbein stitch.

Here are a couple more examples.

As elegant as the all black embroidery is, sometimes there is a desire to use other colors for accent.

Or even make them a major part of the design.

The chemise in this region is worn with a heavy wool wrap around skirt in the shape of a plain rectangle. This is called obhortka or opynka, and is held in place with a sash. A lower corner may be tucked up for ease of movement. On some of the chemises the lower hem is embroidered, so that means that they were meant to be seen below the overskirt, others do not.

Thank you for reading, I hope that you have found this interesting and maybe inspiring. This technique could be used for interesting projects, owning a piece of old Podillia.

Roman K.

Rkozakand@aol.com

email

Source Material:
Liudmyla Bulakova-Sytnyk, 'Podil's'ka Narodna Vyshywka', Lviw, 2005
Yevhen and Tetiana Prychepiy, 'Embroidery of Eastern Podillia', Kyjiw [Kiev], 2007
E. Hasiuk and M. Stepan, 'Khudozhnje Vyshyvannia', Kyjiw [Kiev], 1986
V. H. Bilozub et al, 'Ukrajins'se Narodne Mystetstvo - Tkanyny ta Vyshywky', Kyjiw [Kiev], 1960
Tetiana Kara-Vasylieva, 'Ukrajins'ka Vyshywka', Kyjiw [Kiev], 1993
Oksana Kosmina, 'Ukrajins'ke Narodne Vbrannia', Kyjiw [Kiev], 2006
E. M. Lytvynets', "Vyshyvannia i Nanyzuvannia', Kyjiw [Kiev], 2004
Olena Kylynych-Stakhurska, 'The Art of Ukrainian Embroidery', L'viw, 1996
Eudokia Sorokhaniuk, 'Nyzynka - Embroidery of the Hutsuls, Pennsauken, NJ, 2002

Hello all,

Today I will talk about an embroidery technique which is an elaboration of the Nyz' embroidery which I spoke of in my last posting. This is called nyzynka. It is most closely connected with the Hutsuls, but is also found in Pokuttia, among the Boikos, and in Zakarpattia. Today it is widely copied in many parts of Ukraine.

The basic technique is the same as Nyz', in that a thread of the background color travels the width of the design crosswise, traveling over and under 1, 3, or 5 threads normally. This is traditionally worked from the back.

Here is a nyzynka design shown from both the front and the back.

So far, this is a straightforward darning stitch which is found in many places. Nyzynka is distinct in that it fills in the design in with different colors, typically yellow, orange, green and red, with blue and violet being added less often.

For the small diamonds and the wide lines, the filling colors are simply laid parallel to background threads in a sort of brick or bargello stitch. For the fine lines the filling colors are laid at an angle over two threads so as to form a solid line, otherwise, you would simply have a diagonal row of dots.Usually, at least one of the major design elements is left white.

The standard composition consists of a wide band in the center, with two border designs which have a toothed or hooked edge. If the embroidery is done on the shoulder piece of a woman's blouse, there may be only one such border, the other edge being at the seam, and often having gathers below it, especially in Hutsul costume.

As you can see, there is usually a gap between the two, which is filled with rows of herringbone stitch, [sosnytsia or snuriwka] or braid stitch, [retiaz' or pletinka] Typically there will be rows of a solid color which frame other rows in which the color changes rhythmically, alternating light and dark as well as warm and cool colors. In some recent embroideries, this is replaced with rows of cross stitch.

For men's shirts, usually there are two rather narrow bands which frame the front opening, with a border on the outside of each.

When used on a pillowcase or rushnyk, a border is placed on both edges.
While the background color is most commonly black, it may be red or maroon.

Hutsuls usually put just one band of embroidery on the shoulder inset.

But in the eastern parts of the Hutsul area, they have been influenced by the three-part canon of the embroidery of Podillia and Bukovyna. They most commonly omit the central band, but will sometimes embroider the lower sleeve in diagonal or spot designs.

Traditionally the motifs used were ruled by the strong clean diagonal lines which the technique offers. These include diamonds, hooks, and teeth, and can be simple or quite complex.

Starting in the 1930's more colors began to be used, as they were newly available from DMC.

More complex motifs also began to be used.

Original compositions on decorative table linens became common.

The eight pointed star, so common in Ukrainian embroidery done with other techniques began to be incorporated, as well as motifs with horizontal lines.

Floral motifs have been introduced, and are now quite popular.

Even curvilinear motifs, which seem to be quite at odds with this technique, may be found.

This last example is a man's shirt, which includes a couple of godawful birds in cross stitch which are absolutely NOT traditional, and which were obviously copied from or inspired by some european woman's magazine.

Conversely, it is common to see what were originally nyzynka designs done in cross stitch.

To me, these look clumsy and coarse by comparison, but it is an easier technique to master.

This design could easily be backformed to nyzynka, but since cross stitch is such a very different technique, new designs have been developed which, while they were obviously originally inspired by nyzynka, have diverged to the point where they can only be done in cross stitch, by introducing large white fields and horizontal/vertical elements.

If a large area of solid color is desired, backstitched nyzynka is used. This is executed in exactly the same way as it is for nyz, four threads are covered going forward, then the thread passes backwards under one thread, and then advances for another 4, one of which is covered twice.

This is especially popular in Pokuttia, where it is often done two or three times in a row, as here, resulting in a solid area of color with diagonal textural lines. Here are a couple of designs from around Horoden'ka. The use of texture to form designs is also done in other techniques in the area.

This technique is also used further west, by some of the Boikos. This chemise is from Transcarpathia, with the typical Transcarpatian/Boiko embroidery over the gathers, which has nyzynka embroidery on the sleeves and cuffs. Unfortunately, I have no information as to the exact provenance of this piece.

I will close with a few more examples of nyzynka embroidery, some of them are only half-filled in, so that you can see the design more clearly. These were done by Eudokia Sorokhaniuk, in an attempt to make it easier for people to continue doing this type of embreoidery.

This is an exceptionally complex design, and is followed by two possible borders. The borders used are always based on the central design.

Thank you for reading. I hope that you have found this interesting and inspiring. Try this technique, bring some of the Hutsul mountains into your home, to wear or to adorn your house.

Roman K.

Rkozakand@aol.com

email

Source Material:
Eudokia Sorochaniuk, 'Nyzynka - Embroidery of the Hutsuls', Pennsauken, NJ, 2002
Olena Nykoriak et al, 'Hutsul'ska Vyshywka', Rodovid, 2010
Olena Kulynych - Stakhurska, 'The Art of Ukrainian Embroidery', L'viw, 1996
Maria Kalyniak, 'Ukrajins'ka Vyshywka, Suchasne Traktuvannia', L'viw, 2004
'Yevhenia Henyk, Embroidery Weaving Album',Kyjiw [Kiev], 2007
'Mykhailyna Sabadash, Album' Kyjiw [Kiev], 1990
K. I. Matejko, "Ukraijins'yj Narodnyj Odiah', Kyjiw [Kiev], 1977
Lubow Wolynetz, 'The Changeless Carpathians', New York, 1995
L.S. Towstukha, 'Handicrafts in the Ukraine', Kyjiw [Kiev], 1979
I. F. Krasychka, 'Ukrajins'ki Narodni Vyshywky', Kyjiw [Kiev], 1961
E. Hasiuk and M. Stepan, 'Khudozhnje Vyshyvannia', Kyjiw [Kiev], 1986
V. H. Bilozub et al, 'Ukrajins'se Narodne Mystetstvo - Tkanyny ta Vyshywky', Kyjiw [Kiev], 1960
Tetiana Kara-Vasylieva, 'Ukrajins'ka Vyshywka', Kyjiw [Kiev], 1993
E. M. Lytvynets', "Vyshyvannia i Nanyzuvannia', Kyjiw [Kiev], 2004
Olena Kylynych-Stakhurska, 'The Art of Ukrainian Embroidery', L'viw, 1996

Hello all,
Today I will take one more step in my goal of covering all the nations of Europe.
The Czech Republic has two main divisions, Bohemia and Moravia, each of which is defined as a river basin. Moravia is the basin of the Morava river [not to be confused with the Morava river of Serbia].

Slovácko is a cultural region in the southeast of Moravia. It is not recognized politically, the current political divisions having nothing to do with traditional cultural divisions, as is so often the case. In English it is usually referred to as Moravian Slovakia. The local dialect and much of the folklore is transitional with those of Slovakia. The center of this region is Uherské Hradiště.
Slovácko has the most colorful and elaborate costumes in the entire Czech Republic, in part due to limited Protestant influence. Moreover, the folk costume tradition here is still very much alive. There are 29 distinct costumes in this region, which form 8 groups, one of which I will cover today.
Horňácko is one of these 8 microregions, being found in the White Carpathians, the westernmost part of the Carpathian range.. At first glace, the costume may not seem to be typical of the area, but Horňácko has preserved an older form of the costume, and has not participated in some of the irrational exuberance which characterizes some of the others. Some of the other microregions preserve memories of older costumes which more closely resemble that of Horňácko than their contemporary versions do.
Velká nad Veličkou is the main municipality of this microregion. Javornik is another well known municipality.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hornacko
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Velk%C3%A1_nad_Veli%C4%8Dkou

The base garment, which i believe is found throughout Slovácko, is called rubáč. This resembles a slip. Here is the cut.

In some of the other regions this garment does not show when fully clothed. In Horňácko the waist has a woven ornament which remains visible even when fully clothed. Here is a girl wearing the rubáč and her boots.

The woven ornament is in black, blue, red, or some combination. Here are some typical designs.

One of my readers asked why the girls were all wearing trousers. They are not. The typical footwear consists of high boots. Those for men and women are very similar. The womens' boots have a higher heel and a more dainty shape [and are generally smaller], The uppers are of soft leather and often have stitched ornament. The legs are hard leather, but the womens' have a soft edge at the very top.

Over the chemise a short blouse is worn. This is called rukávce, which literally means 'sleeves'. This basic idea is also found in parts of Sweden, Finland, Estonia, Russia and other places.
It has a large square fold down collar and short sleeves which are both typical of this region. It does not cover the midriff.

The sleeves are full, but not excessively so. The sleeves extend to the neckline, they are smock-gathered on the shoulder, and a band of embroidery is done either directly on the gathers or on a strip of cloth sewn on top of them. there is usually another band of embroidery halfway down the sleeve as well. The sleeves are finished with homemade lace, and the collar also has embroidery and lace on three sides. There is some variety as to colors and styles of embroidery used.

This following piece is from the collection of Jan Letowski of the online store EasternEuropeanArt. You may find this and other items for sale there. He travels to Europe and obtains very good quality folk costumes.
http://stores.ebay.com/Eastern-European-Art/Czech-Republic-/_i.html?_fsub=3820708012&_sid=239868472&_trksid=p4634.c0.m322

This, along with the traditional headdress, is the main focus of embroidery for this costume.

Over the chemise are worn two aprons, front and back which are about 5 cm shorter. The back apron is called fěrtoch and comes in two forms. The dress version is either white or a golden yellow color, and is crimp pleated with an embroidered edge.

The everyday version is made of printed cloth, is knife-pleated, and has a ribbon sewn on as a waistband and ties. This is called sukňa.

The front apron is called fěrtuška. It is usually made of two panels of printed cloth and can be of various colors. It is pleated, trimmed with lace, and is sewn onto a ribbon which wraps around the waist and is tied in front.

Sometimes for ceremonial occasions the apron is of dark or white cloth with embroidery.

There are two types of vest which may be worn with this costume. Both leave the midriff uncovered. The simpler of the two is called kabatek.It is sewn of red or blue wool, damask or brocade and trimmed with ribbons and cording. It has a point on each side of the front, reminiscent of costumes from the Spisz region.

The more elaborate one is called kordula. It is sewn of white wool, with wide green or blue ribbon applique, as well as wool cording and embroidery.

This first example is also from the collection of Jan Letovsky.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/VINTAGE-PEASANT-VEST-Czech-hand-embroidered-folk-costume-ethnic-bodice-top-KROJ-/360606290105?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item53f5cf50b9

There is a jacket similar to this but with sleeves called lajbl which is worn in cooler weather and by older women.

There are various outer garments which are worn at need.

The head coverings come in two forms. The newer is called Šátek. This is a large kerchief tied over the head in two different ways. The square shape is held by starch and by a newspaper form inside the kerchief. They come in various colors and patterns.

'with corners down'

'with corners up'

The older and far more traditional type is called Šátka. This is a long narrow piece of linen embroidered on the ends, similar to the Ukrainian peremitka and other headpieces used in many places in Eastern Europe.
This also has two variants, 'with corners up', and 'with corners down'.

Single girls start by wrapping their braids with a paired ribbon called Tylo.

Married women, of course, are supposed to keep their hair covered. They first secure their braids with a band called obalenica [on the left], and then tie on a highly embroidered cap calledČepec.

The embroidery on the cap, the blouse, the apron and the Šátka are carefully coordinated. Different colors of embroidery are considered appropriate for different occasions; golden yellow embroidery is considered especially formal.

The Šátka to be worn 'with corners down' is longer, wider, has more embroidery and is pieced and edged with lace. It is considered more formal.

It is placed on the head, a few folds are made at the cheek, tied behind the neck, and both ends are spread out.

The Šátka to be worn 'with corners up' is shorter and narrower on the ends, and has less embroidery.

After it is tied behind the neck, the ends are folded lengthwise, then wrapped around the top of the head and tucked in.

For the most important ceremonies such as Confirmation and Weddings, an elaborate wreath is worn by girls.

The wreath is never worn again once married, but the embroidered shawl is used for other ceremonies, such as baptism and the Churching of the mother and child after 40 days.

There are many small variations which are considered appropriate for various occasions.

I hope that you have found this interesting. The embroidery of this region is rich and very beautiful, and would make for interesting projects.

I will close with some more images of this costume and embroidery.

Here is a video of some girls singing. This is one of the slow sweet songs which are so beloved by the Moravians. You have a good view of their outfits.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2QRQ96aq7IE

A couple dance from this region. This seems to be midway between Goral dance and Csardas.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oi-R--oSS8c&NR=1&feature=endscreen

Another couple dance by the same group. In this one the girls are all wearing the everyday version of the back apron. They are also wearing knee socks and kiepce [moccasins], instead of boots.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CiX_6Ucs5ys

Here is the home page of Jan Letowski's online store including links to his Ebay offerings.
Browse around and look!
www.EasternEuropeanArt.com

Roman K.

Rkozakand@aol.com

Source Material:
Věra Častová et al, 'Kroje Horňácké Obce Velká nad Veličkou', Velká nad Veličkou, 2000
Alena Vondruškova -Vlastimil Vondruška, 'Schatzkammer der Volkskultur', Praha [Prague], 1987
Jitka Staňková - LudvíkBaran, 'Slovenské a České Tradične Kroje', Praha [Prague], 2004
JiřinaLanghammerová, 'ČeskéLidové Kroje', Praha, 1994
JiřinaLanghammerová, 'Lidové Kroje z České Republiky', Vlkova, 2001
Helen Cincebeaux, 'Treasures of Slovakia', Nitra, 1996
Jitka Staňková - LudvíkBaran, 'Lidové Kroje Slovácka', Praha [Prague],
Antonin Vaclavik - Jaroslav Orel', 'Textile Folk Art', London, 1956
Karel Šmirous - BlaženaŠotková, 'Volkstrachten in der Tschechoslovakei', Praha, 1956

Hello all,
Today I wish to continue my last posting with a description of the mens' costume of Horňácko.

There is a white linen shirt with narrow band of embroidery around the neck and on one side of the overlapping front opening. It is held closed with 4 narrow white ribbons. Like the womens' costume, the color of the embroidery varies with the occasion.

For boys and for work, simple linen trousers are worn, such as can be found throughout the Carpathian basin.

An apron with red woven and/or embroidered ornament is part of this outfit. This is a characteristic shared with Slovak and Hungarian mens' costumes. Here is a folklore group from this area posing with some Estonian women.

For festive and ceremonial dress, tighter-fitting blue pants are worn, which are embroidered on the front and around the pocket flap. The narrow belt which goes around the waist twice is also found in Slovakia.

When dressing up, younger boys wear an embroidered kerchief tied around their waists. When they get bigger and start wearing the blue pants, the kerchief is folded and placed behind the front flap of the pants.

The kerchief is embroidered in red cross-stitch, typically including four corner designs, four birds, a wreath a border around the outside and the lyrics to a song.

This is worn by single men. You will rarely see married or older men wearing it. Here is a baptismal photo showing the parents and godparents.

There are two types of vests worn by men. Younger men wear a vest with concave front edges in black or blue wool or damask with embroidered front edges and elaborately embroidered backs.

Sometimes the vests fit normally, but sometimes you see men wearing vests that are very small, as if they were made for them when 10 years old. This is relatively common in this general region for some reason.

Older men wear a white wool vest with straight fronts which is also highly embroidered. Sometimes younger married will wear this as well, especially for important occasions. If you look closely, both the groom and the older gentleman are wearing this vest.

An open fronted jacket of either blue or white wool called Kabat is worn on festive occasions.

The outfit is completed by high boots and a hat with rows of ribbon and multicolored cord. This normally has white rooster tail feathers tucked into it.

At his wedding the groom wears a special ornament attached to his hat. He also wears a woman's head cloth, the longer type worn 'with corners down' around his waist with the embroidered ends hanging in back over his jacket.

Sheepskin caps are worn in cold weather, as in most of Eastern Europe.
Various types of overcoats are worn at need. One of them resembles the Lemko Chuhania or Hungarian Szur. In this region it is called Halena. Unusually, sometimes the arms are inserted into the sleeves.

Thank you for reading, I hope you have found this interesting.

I will close with just a few more images.

A couple dance from this region. This seems to be midway between Goral dance and Csardas.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oi-R--oSS8c&NR=1&feature=endscreen

Another couple dance by the same group. In this one the girls are all wearing the everyday version of the back apron. They are also wearing knee socks and kiepce [moccasins], instead of boots.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CiX_6Ucs5ys

Roman K.

Rkozakand@aol.com

Hello all,

Today I will be entering another new country, Portugal.
This is the most famous costume of Portugal, and the most colorful. You will often see it representing Portugal as a whole. It is native to a number of villages around the city of Viana do Castelo in the the northern Province of Minho [pronounced meenyo]. This city lies on the Atlantic just north of the mouth of the river Limia.

This area has several costumes which differ according to purpose and to social class. The costume I will be speaking of is called 'Traje de Lavradeira' by the local people. In the rest of Portugal it is often called the costume of Viana do Castelo, and outside Portugal it is usually referred to as the Minho costume.

There are minor differences between the various villages, and also, as you can see by the first photo, the costume comes in two color variations: vermelho [red], and azul or verde [blue or green]. The second is also known as traje de do' which can be loosely translated as the sad costume.

The red version is considered to be the 'happy' version, and is worn by younger women. The blue or green versions are worn in times of semi-mourning or other sadness, such as the absence of a loved one, and by older women.

The base layer is a linen chemise, camisa, with blue floral satin-stitch embroidery on the front, the shoulders, upper sleeves and cuffs. There is a band of smocking at the top of the sleeve as well. Here is an old chemise showing the cut.

Today, the chemise is usually made in two pieces, forming a blouse and a narrow underskirt. A full petticoat is worn on top of the first.

There is a separate bodice, colete, which is always sewn in two parts. The upper part is of the major color of the outfit, red, blue, or green, and the lower part is black. The seam between the two is said to follow the line of the diaphram, and therefore promotes healthy breathing. The front is cut rather low, and there is usually an ornament in the shape of a heart.

There is usually a line of embroidery, trim or braid along the seam, and varying amounts of embroidery on the bodice. An amazing variety exists, from quite simple to very colorful and busy.

You will also see examples with debased embroidery, which can be churned out quickly and are intended for the tourist market.

It is easy to see two different styles of embroidery in the above examples. I wonder if they are from two different villages. Here is a third. This bodice is from the village of Areosa.

The skirt, saia, is made of heavy wool or linen. If of wool, it has a background color of either red or blue/green, with narrow stripes of other colors widely spaced. You can see in this photo above that there is a narrow band gathered into the waistband, and then the body of the skirt is gathered into this band. This is how the skirt can be made so full. There is a wide band sewn onto the hem. This is usually black, but in some villages on the seashore it may be red. It may be left plain or it may have embroidery which matches the black part of the bodice.

Here we see several women wearing the Lavradeira costume, and two wearing the Mordoma costume which is also from the same region.

The hem is usually around ankle length, but like in so many places, some dance groups have decided to shorten it.

There is a simpler version of this costume called domingar which is for Sundays and going-to-market. The full costume is for festivals. This has a skirt of plain or striped linen. The top part of the bodice may be made of linen as well.

The apron, avental, is hand-woven of thick wool, designs are formed by pulling small loops of yarn out, so that the design stands out from the background. It is double gathered in the same way as the skirt. Traditionally the motifs were relatively simple geometric designs. In 1918 the painter José de Brito Sobrinho, who was born in this region began to design more elaborate motifs for the aprons which his wife wove. These designs, especially the floral ones became part of the local tradition, especially in his village of Santa Marta de Portuzelo.

The older geometric designs are now mostly worn with the domingar version of the costume. Personally I find them much more attractive than the garish pink roses.

A separate pocket, algibeira, is worn with this costume. It is embroidered and is in the form of a stylized heart. While this is decorative it has a practical purpose in carrying keys, wallets, handkerchiefs, etc. This is a common souvenir which people often bring back from Portugal.

A kerchief is worn on the head. If there was any older headdress it has been forgotten. A similar scarf is worn on the shoulders for the Lavradeira costume, but not the Domingar. They come in various colors, but mostly have the same design.

Backless slippers with a low heel, chinelas, are worn, or like many peasants all over Europe they often go barefoot. These may be plain or embroidered. Knit stockings are worn with the chinelas. There also exist stockings without feet, which may be worn when barefoot or with the slippers, to keep the legs warm, i assume.

Of course, the full lavradeira costume is not complete without an abundance of gold jewelry.

The men's costume is straightforward. Black pants, red sash, black jacket.

The only unique detail is the linen shirt which is embroidered, usually in blue or red cross-stitch.

Sometimes a shirt for special occasions will be embroidered in white on white.

The Domingar costume for the Atlantic coast villages is white, and includes the fisherman's cap which is widespread in the mediterranean.

One interesting fact is that the wedding costume in this area, as in some other places around Europe, is black.

Thank you for reading, I hope that you have found this interesting and informative.

I will close with some more images of this costume.

This seems to be a website where you can buy pieces of this costume. At least there are some good closeups.
http://www.casamartaaraujo.pt/TrajesdeViana/trajesdevianafemininos/trajesdevianafemininos.html

Here is a slideshow of the costumes of this region.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Osf9s0ppzyQ

Here is a dance group from the town of Viano do Castelo. The dancers are all wearing the domingar costume, but the lavradeira and mordoma costumes are worn by those who are singing.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GgIK3bvAAe8

Here is a village folkloric group from this region doing a performance at a festival. It opens with some backstage chatter, but it does show a lot of dancing, including the famous Vira; and shows off both the domingar and lavradeira costumes. This is a longer clip.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&feature=endscreen&v=ZjKh6zuH9bo

Roman K.

email:

Rkozakand@aol.com

Source material:
I would like to thank Marcos León Fernández for providing me with information and some of these photographs.
I obtained some good information from this website:
http://trajesdeportugal.blogspot.com.es/2006/08/trajes-do-minho.html
Claudio Basto, 'Traje a Vianesa', Gaia - Portugal, 1930
Tomaz Ribas, 'O Trajo Regional em Portugal', Braga, Portugal, 2004
R. Turner Wilcox, 'Folk and Festival Costumes of the World', New York, 1965
Robert Lee Humphrey, Jr., 'Spain and Portugal', Broomal, PA, 2003

Hello all,

A while ago I did an article on the white embroidery of the Sniatyn district, and I mentioned that there are other types of embroidery in that area. This is one of them, This type of chemise is called rukavianka-chervonianka, which more or less means 'red sleeves'. There are yet other types of embroidery found in this district, some of them restricted to just one village.

This girl is wearing her grandmother's costume from the village of Pidvysoke.

Some villages in this area have local folklore groups and/or tiny school museums which keep the memory of the local traditions alive. Other villages have lost their local traditions. Many valuable pieces have been bought up by collectors from the west, who often do not bother to note the exact origin of the various pieces, and by the lack of interest of the local people.

[I have heard that some of these collectors, especially from Germany, cut up these items to make boutique clothing, a practice which makes me shudder.]

Here is an example of a wedding also in the village of Pidvysoke. The bride is wearing the traditional wedding outfit of the village, while the groom is wearing contemporary pan-Ukrainian clothing, which, you will notice, still includes a hand embroidered shirt.

You will notice that this is essentially the same costume which I described in my article on Sniatyn whitework. Long chemise with embroidered sleeves, Wrap around overskirt in the shape of a rectangle, black in the center and with red woven stripes at each end held in place by a relatively wide sash, similar to that worn by Hutsuls. For a festive occasion it is accompanied by a wreath and many necklaces.

Here is a variant which is shared by the Horoden'ka district just to the north. A wide stiff sash is held in place by a narrower one. This is also found in the costume of Dubrovnik in Dalmatia.

This girl is only wearing a beaded headband and just one necklace. She is from the village of Rusiw.

In this article I am relying heavily on the work of Iryna Svyontek in her latest book 'Pokuttia Embroideries of Precarpathian Region'. The first of three volumes has just been published, and let us hope that she will able to finish this valuable work.

This exact type of costume is also found in the village of Toporiwtsi, which is technically just over the line in Horoden'ka district, to the north.

Here is an old plate showing the costume of Tulukiw village.

Here is a costume in the collection of Jan Letowski. His information is that it is from the village of Zaluchchya, which is in the Kolomyja district, which lies just to the west. I wonder if it is not actually from the village of Upper Zaluchchya, which is in the middle of Sniatyn district. On the other hand, the two villages are only 30 km apart.

To see more of the exquisite folk art and costume items which he has available, visit his webstore EasternEuropeanArt.

www.EasternEuropeanArt.com

You will notice that these chemises participate in the three-part canon of the general area.

The top part is embroidered onto a rectangular piec which is sewn to the side of the body panel. This is called 'plechyk'. The center band is called 'morshchinka', after the type of embroidery most commonly used, and the bottom part is called 'rukav'. Both the second and third are sewn onto the sleeve itself, which is a separate piece of cloth sewn onto the bottom edge of the shoulder inset. Here is a girl from the village of Hlushkiw wearing a chemise which is a bit too big for her.

Notice that the shoulder inset has a separate border design which goes around three sides. Here is a closeup of the shoulder and sleeve.

The top part is executed in cross-stitch, the second in morshchinka or kafasor, and the bottom in cross stitch and counted satin stitch.

Here is another chemise with a very similar design. This girl is from the village of Pidvysoke.

The embroidery is mostly done in red wool, with a somewhat thick thread which results in the embroidery standing out from the background. Here is a closeup.

The very top band is done in Nyz technique. Here is a schematic made by Ms. Svyontek to show clearly how the embroidery is done. She has done this in thinner DMC thread to show the stitches.[DMC 321, 498 or 816]

This embroidery is done over three pieces of the chemise. The top is embroidered on the shoulder inset, the second band and the diagonals are done on the sleeve, the bottom band is the cuff, and the embroidery just above it is done over the smocking which gathers the sleeve into the cuff.

There are many such examples in Ms. Svyontek's book. This is part of what makes it such a valuable resource.

Here is a closeup and schematic of the chemise being worn in the bridal picture at the head of the article.

Again, this shows the shoulder inset, the sleeve, the smocking and the cuff. The inset design is done in cross stitch, but it looks like it was originally done in Nyz.

Sometimes black is included in the design. Here is another chemise from Pidvysoke with vertical stripes.

Sometimes black takes a more dominant role in the embroidery.

Here is a closeup of the embroidery of the costume shown above in the collection of Jan Letowski.

Sometimes, especially for chemises worn by older women, the third part of the embroidery is omitted. Here is another chemise from the collection of Jan Letowski.

These images help to see the construction of the chemises.

Here are similar designs which were published by Bazaar.

The top left and bottom designs are from the shoulder insets, the middle two are from cuffs, and the upper right design is from the lower sleeve.

One more image of a chemise from Rusiw village.

The cuffs on this chemise are executed in Nyz. Here is a closeup of another such cuff, courtesey of Vasyl Jula. This cuff is on a chemise embroidered in white.

Thank you for reading, I hope that you have found this interesting and inspiring. Maybe you will use some of these designs in your projects.

One last photo of a wedding from 1936.

Iryna Svyontek's book on Pokuttian Embroidery is available from this website.

http://karchadm.com/

For other books and many beautiful costumes, visit the website of Jan Letowski.

www.EasternEuropeanArt.com

Roman K.

Rkozakand@aol.com

email

Source Material:
Iryna Svyontek, 'Pokuttian Embroideries of Precarpathian region', L'viw, 2013
Tania Diakiw O'Neill, 'Ukrainian Embroidery Techniques', Mountaintop, Pa, 1984

Olena Kulynych-Stakhurska, 'The Art of Ukrainian Embroidery', L'viw, 1996
Tamara NIkolajewna, 'Ukrainian Costume, Hope for a Renaissance, Kyjiw [Kiev], 2005
K. I. Matejko, 'Ukrajinskyj Narodnyj Odjah', Kyjiw [Kiev], 1977
Tamara Nikolajewna, 'Istoria Ukrajins'koho Kostiuma', Kyjiw [Kiev], 1996
Oksana Grabowicz et al, 'Traditional Designs in Ukrainian Textiles', The Ukrainian Musem, New York, 1977
M. C. Bilan and H. H. Stel'mashchuk, 'Ukrajins'kyj Strij', L'viw, 2000
Lubow Wolynetz, 'Ukrainian Folk Art', The Ukrainian Museum, New York, 1984

Hello all,

Today I will do an overview of the costumes of the Saami people. Previously they were called Lapps, but this is not what they call themselves, and they consider the term to be pejorative. The origin of the word Lapp is controverted, but it may be from Old Finnish/Estonian for a place far away.

The Land of the Saami; Sápmi, Sábme, or Saemie, depending on the Dialect, is split between four nation-states, Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Russia. It consists of the northern part of the Fenno-Scandian peninsula.

The Saami do not have political recognition as a people, but they do have a flag.

The colors of the flag are the same colors used in Saami costume, for the most part.

Linguists group the various Saami dialects into 9 Languages, of which 3 are moribund. These languages are completely unrelated to Norwegian, Swedish or Russian, and only distantly related to Finnish. There are about 160,000 Saami worldwide, of which maybe 20,000 speak one of their native languages. In spite of this linguistic diversity, they do indeed think of themselves as one people, and recently have been very active politically. For more information see these articles.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sami_people

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sami_languages

There are a large number of blogs and articles online as well.

I will be following the linguistic groups in my discussion of the costumes. Here are two maps which show the different groups. The second one omits the three moribund languages, but has many useful place names. I will be referring to both groups and locations throughout the article. Saami languages were also once spoken much further south.

This second map lumps some of the groups together:
1 Southern Saami
2 Central Saami
3. Northern Saami
4 Inari Saami
5 Skolt Saami
6 Kola Saami

The term which the Saami use for their costume is Gákti. This has been borrowed into Norwegian as Kofte, into Swedish as Kolt, and into Finnish as Takki. There is no equivalent in Russian.

The couple at the head of the article are wearing the costume which is the most famous, from Kautokeino (Guovdageaidnu) in Norway. [Throughout this article I will give the internationally recognized name of a location first, followed by the Saami name in parentheses.] This is undoubtedly the poster child of the Saami group, being one of the most colorful and impressive. Most of the Gákti have the same basic construction, however. The main part of the costume consists of a pullover, which is basically the same for men and women, the mens' version hangs about mid thigh, while the womens' hangs to the knee or mid calf, depending on the local variation. The following drawings by Max Tilke show the basic cut. The first is a woman's garment from 'Tornelappmark', which is an old name for far northern Sweden.

This is a man's garment, place of origin unspecified.

This shows a pair of pants and a variety of different hats and bonnets used by the Saami.

The basic garment is belted with either a woven sash or leather strap, which may be variously ornamented.

Men wear pants, and women also in cold weather; low boots with woven straps are worn, some of plain leather and others of reindeer fur. Reindeer fur leggings are worn in winter over the pants, these sometimes have 'wings' attached to the upper edge. Hats and bonnets vary greatly according to location. The basic color of the cloth is usually the blue of the Saami flag, but it may be black, off-white, or sometimes green. Garment pieces may also be of leather. The trim is almost always red and yellow, with some green added at times. Overgarments of reindeer fur are worn in winter.

DMC has put out a book titled 'Lapland Embroideries', but NONE of the embroidery designs pictured in the book are Saami. There are a couple of designs from the woven sashes on p. 40, but the rest of the designs are from various other northern peoples ranging from the Icelanders to the Nanai.

The Saami do not traditionally do embroidery as such. They do a lot of applique and patchwork on their costumes, and they do a type of metal couching using pewter wire. This is commonly done on belts, and on the bags which hang from the belt, and are also done on the dickey which is worn under the main garment in many Saami costumes. Here are a couple examples of this work,

In the eastern parts of Sabme, beadwork is also done. In this image, the two woven sashes are Northern Saami from Enontekiö (Eanodat) in Finland, and the beaded one is Skolt Saami.

I will now give short illustrations of the costumes of the various groups. This will by no means be exhaustive, as there are many regional types, and detailed information is difficult to find on some of them. Please refer to the above maps.

SOUTH SAAMI

There are about 2000 South Saami, of whom perhaps 600 can speak the language.

Here is the costume from between Femunden and Saltfjellet in Norway.

A closeup of the dickey, pin, purse and belt of this costume. Notice the pewter wire couching.

This costume is from around Idre in Dalarna, Sweden.

This young man is also South Saami from Sweden, from around AmmarnäsTärnaby, VilhelminaÅsele.

CENTRAL SAAMI

The central Saami traditionally spoke the Ume, Pite and Lule languages, going from south to north. Ume Saami currently has about 10 speakers, and Pite Saami has between 25 and 50. There are more who no longer speak the language.

So many good sources of images do not bother to record the exact origin, so many of the images which I have are simply marked 'Sweden' or 'Norway'. I have not been able to find many images of these people.

Ume Saami
This is the only image which I have been able to find which is unequivocably Ume Saami. This woman is LenaMaria Nilsson who is active in Saami politics.

Pite Saami

Lule Saami

Lule Saami is still spoken by perhaps 2000 people, the second largest of the Saami languages.

A Lule Saami couple from Tysfjord Norway

Lule Saami from Jokkmokk (Jåhkåmåhkke or Dálvvadis) in Sweden

NORTHERN SAAMI

The Northern Saami are found in the northernmost parts of Norway, Sweden, and Finland.Theirs is the largest of the Saami languages at 15,000 or more speakers. There are districts where they are still the majority population.

There are a dozen or more very colorful costumes worn by the Northern Saami I will highlight just a few.

Sweden:

Jukkasjärvi (Čohkkirasjávri)

Karesuando (Karesuanto, Gárasavvon or Karasavvon)

Norway

These are some of the Northern Saami costumes found in Norway.

Troms (Romsa)

Varanger (Várnjárga)

Karasjok (Kárášjohka)

The same basic costume is also worn in Tana. You can see the 'wings' on the fur leggings on the man.

Kautokeino ( Guovdageaidnu)

This is often described as 'embroidered', but in fact the ornamentation consists of rows of appliqued patterned ribbon.

Finland

The costumes of Enontekiö (Eanodat) are basically the same as in Kautokeino (Guovdageaidnu)

Sodankylä (Soađegilli)

Utsjoki (Ohcejohka)

INARI SAAMI

The Inari and Skolt languages are each highly divergent from the other Saami languages.
About 300 people currently speak this language, although there is a movement to start teaching it to younger people. The Inari only live in Finland.

SKOLT SAAMI

The Skolt Saami number about 1250 and live in Norway, Finland and Russia, although most of the 400 speakers of the language live in Finland.Some of them abandoned the Gáktii for chemise and Sarafan as worn by their neighbors, The Karelians and the White Sea Russians.

The women wear beaded caps which are similar to the Sorokka worn by the Karelians.

KOLA SAAMI

These only live in Russia. Of the three languages, Akkala is extinct, and 2 people still speak Ter. Kilden Saami is still spoken by perhaps 600 people. It is not used much in daily life, and most Saami in Russia do not speak it.

I have found several images of Saami from Russia, but I do not have information as to which costume comes from which location. Some of these may be Skolt.

Here is one blog which is devoted to Saami culture. This is well worth looking over for more information and links.

http://saamiblog.blogspot.com/

Thank you for reading. I hope that you have found this interesting. The circumstances in which the Saami find themselves, being split by political borders, having local ways of speaking which are unintelligible to other communities, having no common language of their own, Identity at best ignored or often suppressed by the governments of the majority people are not unique. They are unfortunately similar for many indigenous people around the world. Each culture is a unique treasure which in a sense belongs to humanity at large. We should at least be aware of them.

I have pieced this article together from many sources, and while I have caught some obvious errors, there may be others which have found their way into this article. I am particularly unsure concerning the material from Sweden. If anyone, Saami or otherwise notices such errors, I apologize and would greatly appreciate better information and images. Thank you.

Roman K.

Rkozakand@aol.com

Source Material:

Ulf Hård af Segerstad, 'Dakkan En Bok om Samernas Slöjd', Malmö, Sweden, 1971RolfKjellström et al, 'Saami Daaidda', Helsinki, 1981
Heidi Fossnes, 'Norges Bunader og Samiske Folkedrakter', Oslo, 1994
Liv Trotzig et al, 'Sockendräkter Dalarna', Dalarna, 1976
Natalia Kalashnikova et al, 'National Costumes of the Soviet Peoples', Moscow, 1990
L. N. Molotova, 'Folk Art of the Russian Federation', Leningrad, 1981
Max Tilke, 'East European Costumes', London, 1926
Charles Holme, ed., 'Peasant Art in Sweden, Lapland, and Iceland', London, 1910
Much of this material I found online, I thank all those who make such information available. Upon request I will include explicit sources of the images. Thank you

Scottish Highland Attire

Costume of Gorenjska, Slovenia

Men's Costume of Gorenjska, Slovenia

Costume of the Komanche region, Lemkovyna

Costume of western Transcarpathia, Velykyi Berezynyi region, Ukraine

Whitework embroidery of Sniatyn district, Pokuttia region, Ukraine

Slovenian / Austrian Costume of Ziljska Dolina or Gailtal, Carinthia, Austria

Costume of Brianza, Italy, and Mendrisiotto, Switzerland, and La Raggiera

Rhaetian Costumes, part 1, Romansh Costume

Rhaetian Costumes part 2, Ladin Costume

Rhaetian costumes, part 3, Friuli or Furlan

Whitework embroidery of Vinnytsia region, East Podillia, Ukraine

Costume of Montehermoso, Cáceres Province, Extremadura, Spain

Nyz embroidery of Eastern Podillia, Ukraine

Nyzynka embroidery of western Ukraine

Velká nad Veličkou, Horňácko, Slovácko, Moravia

Men's costume of Velká nad Veličkou, Horňácko, Slovácko, Moravia

Lavradeira Costume, Viana do Castelo, Minho province, Portugal

Red sleeve embroidery of the Sniatyn district, Pokuttia, Ukraine

Overview of Saami costume