FolkCostume&Embroidery

Hello all,

Today I will do a short partial overview of the peoples and costumes of Transylvania. Much silliness has been written about this region in pop culture and movies. This resulted from the identification of Prince Vlad III Drăculeşti [the impaler] with the fictional character Dracula. In fact, Vlad III was ruler of Wallachia [Oltenia and Muntenia], although he was born and spent part of his childhood in Sighişoara in Transylvania. Vlad's castle, where all the nastiness took place, is actually south of the montains, and NOT in Transylvania.
Transylvania has natural borders in the Carpathian mountains on the east and south, and the Apuseni mountains on the west. The northern border is less well defined, but is generally not considered to include the Tisza river valley. Thus Transylvania is a basin mostly surrounded by mountains. [Btw, the map above is of 'Greater Romania' and does not show the current borders, especially on the north and east.]

Since the Maramures vally and Banat are not technically part of Transylvania, The traditional population consists overwhelmingly of 4 nationalities: Romanians, Hungarians, Germans and Romany. [There were also colonies of Jews and Armenians, mostly in the cities.] Here is an ethnographic map of the Austrian Empire in 1910.

This is an extremely large subject, so this overview will be far from exhaustive.

ROMANIANS

The name Transylvania, which is used by the Romanians, comes from Latin, and simply means 'The land beyond the forest'. The Romanians trace their ancestry back to the native Dacian tribes of the area, mixed with Roman settlers, especially Legionairies whose pension included a parcel of land somewhere in the empire. The Dacian language has completely disappeared, being replaced by Latin, and only contributing a handful of words to the modern Romanian Language, which is derived from Latin.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romanian_people

The women's costume is fairly uniform over this area, consisting of an embroidered chemise and double apron, differing only in details of ornament. The mens' varies even less, consisting of a tunic and narrow pants, either linen or wool, having a very medieval look to it. Romanian Embroidery is extremely rich, but is more modest in this region compared to some others.

Bistrița-Năsăud

Mureș

Sibiu

Târnăve

Romanian young people performing a folk dance from Transylvania.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_3m6dLA0iVs

HUNGARIANS

The Hungarians, who call themselves Magyar, arrived in this area about the year 895. They call this region Erdély. They originated in the area around the Ural mountains, and their closest linguistic relatives still live along the Ob river. They form several groups in Erdély, the most numerous being the Székely. Transylvania was long part of the Hungarian Empire, and they live scattered in several different parts of it.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magyars
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sz%C3%A9kely

The costumes tend to be very colorful, and rely more on bought cloth than those of the Romanians do. The skirts of the Transylvanian costumes are much less full than they tend to be in Hungary proper.

Székely

Mezőség

Szék

Torockó

Kalotaszeg

This first image is taken from 'Ethnic Dress' by Frances Kennett, where she implies that it is Romanian. You will see it posted online in many places as a Romanian costume, but it is in fact Transylvanian Hungarian. Her skirt is shorter than is normal for this area.

Hungarian folk dance from Kalotaszeg. I love the music of this region, sometimes called Europe's answer to the Blues, although, of course, this music is older.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2rvhH2lSPn4

ROMANI

The Roma, or Romani are a traditionally nomadic people who left northwest India about 1500 years ago and arrived in the balkans roughly 900 years ago. They may originate from the Doma caste or the Rajasthani region. In English they are often called Gypsies, short for Egyptians, but this term has derogatory connotations, and they do not use it themselves. They do not have formal folk costumes, but have retained some of the dress habits of Rajasthan, including very full long skirts, a love of bright colors, and a love of jewelery, especially hoop earrings and bangles. Apart from being known as entertainers and sharp traders, they are renowned as metalworkers and musicians. They are only a small percentage of the population, but they have left an indelible stamp on the musical traditions of this area.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romani_people

Many dance groups have made up 'Gypsy' dances; here is some of the real thing.
Roma dancing on stage
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3YwogmBz51k

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2GF7jY0YJyc

Roma dancing in the village
https://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&v=Pyt9pAS8AiQ&feature=endscreen

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Ka289l3W0Q

GERMANS

German Settlers began to colonize Transylvania in the mid 1100's. They call this regionSiebenbürgen, which means the Seven Cities [or citadels]. They were mostly Franconian in origin, but are traditionally called Saxons. They formed a significant portion of the population in Transylvania until 1989, when under the reign of Nicolae Ceaușescu they began a mass exodus because of conditions under his dictatorship, and the willingness of Germany to pay ransom for them. Out of perhaps 200,000 Transylvanian Saxons, perhaps 15,000 remain in their homeland. They lived mostly in southern Transylvania, where 6 of the 7 cities are found. The 7th is further north, and that population is separated from the others. I have not fully figured out the differences between the costumes of the different city areas, but here is a taste.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transylvanian_Saxons

North Transylvania; Bistritz orNösnerland

South Transylvania

Grand March and street dance of the Transylvanian Saxons. Several different costumes are highly visible. This event took place in Dinkelsbühl, Bavaria among the emigre population.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bt7DaSZRLak

Thank you for reading, I hope that you have found this interesting and informative. This is obviously just the barest taste of the richness of this region,; made all the richer for having a diverse population.

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

Source material is too numerous to list here. I thank all those who keep the tradition of this region alive to enrich the culture of the world. I will likely add to this later.

Hello all,

Today I will be talking about the Krakowiak costume. This is often considered to be the national costume of Poland, Krakow having always been the cultural capitol of Poland. . This is the center of the region called Malopolska, and the most copied costume by Polish dance groups, and of course the Krakowiak is one of the 5 National Dances of Poland.
Here is a map of the Krakow region.

There is much more variety to this costume than most people realize. I will be focusing on some versions of the West Krakow costume, with emphasis on the Bronowice variant. The girl above is basically wearing the Bronowice costume, while the man's has some elements of the East Krakow costume.

The chemise has white embroidery and usually some cutwork. Today it is mostly cut short and the bottom half is made into a separate item of clothing. It is always good to have one narrow chemise/underskirt, and at least one full petticoat over that. This provides for some modesty as well as good movement while dancing. If you look, you can see that this girl has a wide lay-down collar which may be separate from the blouse. The collar may be just a row of lace, or it may be missing entirely. Here is a blouse from the village of Pleszow. Note the white embroidery above the shoulder seam. This is displayed on the upper arm and should not be covered by the vest. The sleeves are always long.

Here is another blouse from the village of Bronowice Wielke. Notice how different the collar is.

I have found evidence for colored embroidery only on blouses from the East Krakow region, which I will cover in another posting.

Here are two possible cuts for the woman's chemise/blouse.

The skirt is full and generally hangs to mid-calf. Most commonly it is made from a rose print material with many possible background colors. There are a few appliqued ribbon stripes not far from the hem, a dust ruffle commonly sewn onto the hem itself, and a facing sewn onto the inside for a few inches above the hem, all of which can be seen in the first image.

This is by far the most common type of skirt in the western Krakow region. However, in the past solid color or damask skirts were sometimes worn, especially in the immediate vicinity of Krakow itself. Here is an old photograph of a woman from Bronowice.

Here is a solid colored skirt with embroidery, from the village of Szyce, in the immediate vicinity of Krakow, not far from Bronowice. Likely the front is not embroidered, as it is covered by the apron.

The one type of skirt which I have found no evidence of ever having been used in the Krakow region is a white skirt with many horizontal colored ribbons sewn on. This is something which developed in the diaspora as a result of being unable to find the rose print material.

Three types of apron are most commonly used in this area. The first is of printed cloth, often of a different color than the skirt, but the same or similar print. This is usually edged with lace, and often a satin ribbon as well. It may also have tucks and/or narrow ribbons sewn on horizontally.

This photo is of the costume from around Mogiła.

These two girls are from Bronowice.

The second type of apron is of white linen, with the same kind of white embroidery and cutwork as the blouse. This first example is from the village of Pleszow.

A less common variant is of colored cloth with polychrome embroidery. The next two photos are from Bronowice.

The third type of apron is of tulle, usually embroidered. I personally am not fond of this, but it is undeniably very popular in Polish costume. This girl is from Bronowice.

This apron is from the village of Niepołomice.

Here is a contemporary example.

The vest, called Gorset, is the most variable part of the Krakow costume. It is of the standard Malopolska cut, with narrow shoulder straps, lacing or hooking closed in the front, and usually finished off with lappets at the waist. In the villages closest to Krakow, like Bronowice and
Mogiła, the lappets are replaced with a peplum which is pleated in the back. In some villages they use a multiple princess line cut, with a lappet connected to each back piece. Here is a very basic cut without the lappets or peplum.

Today what usually first comes to mind is the "Sukiennickie" type gorset. This is a modern development which started in the 1930's. In these gorsets, the ornamentation is composed of beads and sequins of various sizes, shapes and colors sewn on by hand. Many different compositions are found, but all are very colorful and folksy looking. These are too well known to need more than just a couple examples. Some satin-stitch embroidery may be included.

Originally the bodices were quite simple, of solid or printed cloth. They were later decorated with various combinations of buttons, tassels, ribbon and embroidery. Take a look at the old photograph of the Bronowice girl above. Her gorset is a plain dark color with tassels and buttons. Here is a closeup of a very similar bodice.

Here is another old example with mother of pearl buttons. This type of gorset is more typical of villages off to the northwest of Krakow.

Here is a very simple gorset of printed cloth from the village of Mników.

Today the type of bodice most connected with the villages in the immediate vicinity of Krakow sport a collection of 'coral' buttons, metal braid, metallic fringe and embroidery. The metallic pieces on the old examples have tarnished somewhat. Here are two examples, the first is from the village of Przylasek Wyciąski, the second is from the village of Zielonki. Note that the peplum is gathered in back.

These types of bodice are sometimes made of velvet or brocade, especially for special occasions. with the beads and soutache sewn on top. Here are a couple of examples.

Here are a couple of examples of contemporary commercially available Bronowice Gorsetki.

These last examples are from the website Perfekt. where you can buy these and many other costume pieces.
http://perfekt.krakow.pl/stroje

There is another garment called katanka which is similar but with sleeves. These are worn in colder weather or by women 'of a certain age'. They are often worn over the gorset. This couple is from Bronowice.

These women are fromMogiła.

This example is from the village of Zielonki.

Another overgarment, the kaftanik, is distinguished by the fact that the front fields overlap and are buttoned. This garment is often embroidered.

Girls wore flower wreaths in their hair, or kerchiefs tied at the back of the neck. Married women traditionally wore white linen 'chustka czepcowa', which had the same kind of white embroidery as the blouses and aprons. These were wrapped right around the head and tied on the forehead. Colored kerchiefs were used for less formal occasions. Here are a couple of examples.

Although today the standard lace-up boots are usually worn with the Krakow costume, originally they wore accordion pleated pull on boots.

The costume is not complete without amber or coral jewellery, although some of the coral is artificial.

For weddings, the brides wear a special wreath with ribbons and artificial flowers.

Here is a photo of a wedding party taken in 1927.

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

Just a few more images of this costume, past and present.

A video of the Polish college group Slowianki doing the Krakowiak.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VXbtEdgvNFU

The national emsemble Mazowsze doing the Krakowiak

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D-sxkrzNDyk

The national ensemble Slask doing the Krakowiak.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v5bwS62m_Sk

Roman K.

email: Rkozakand@aol.com

Source material:
Barbara Kożuch et al, 'Krakow Regional Costumes', Kraków, 2004
Barbara Kożuch et al, 'Cracow's Regional Costumes', Kraków, 2003
Stanisław Gadomski, 'Strój Ludowy w Polsce', Kraków,

Barbara Bazielich, 'Strój Ludowy w Polsce - Opisy i Wykroje', Kraków, 1997

Aleksander Blachowski, 'Hafty Polskie Szycie', Lublin, 2004

Hello all,
Today I will talk about the costume and embroidery of one of the Baltic Finnic Peoples, the Seto. They are sometimes considered to be a rather divergent Estonian group, but they consider themselves and their language to be distinct. In Estonian and in Russian they are called Setu. They call their homeland Setomaa, and it is currently divided between Russia and Estonia. They, like so many indigenous peoples, are a minority in their own homeland, being outnumbered by ethnic Russians on both sides of the border.
There are maybe 10,000 or so unassimilated Seto today.
http:.//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Setos

Here is a map of Setomaa, in green. The Estonian provinces of Voromaa and Tartomaa are visible to the left, and Vinnemaa, which means Russia in Estonian is to the right. The dark line is the border.

Here is the Seto flag.

The photo at the top of the article shows three people in traditional costume. the woman in the middle is wearing the old costume which dates to the first half of the 19th cent, and the woman on the right is wearing the 'new costume', which was worn from the second half of the 19th cent. Both are commonly used now for performances and special occasions.

The old costume.

The chemise [ pikki käüstega hamõ ] of the old costume has a very archaic Uralic style cut, somewhat reminiscent of that of the northern Udmurt.

The sleeves are very long, and are gathered up on the forearms. When working, the women would put their arms through the openings at the elbows, and tie the ends of the sleeves in back. Red stripes are woven into the linen across the shoulders, then a piece of red and white bobbin lace would be inserted at the shoulder seam, and there is red embroidery at the upper end of the outer sleeve piece. A narrow ornament would also be embroidered at the cuff. You can see a seam across the middle of the garment, the upper part is made of finer linen, and the lower part, which does not show, of coarser.

In this museum piece, the embroidery looks like darning stitch. For modern pieces they use prepared linen which does not have the red stripes for the shoulders. They also tend to use diagonal Holbein stitch for the embroidery. We have seen this type of embroidery in Karelia, Ingria and northwest Russia, it seems to be spread all over the region.

A long white garment is worn over the chemise. This had a linen warp and woolen weft. It is called Rüüd, and also has long narrow sleeves which are never used, but which hang down in back and are tucked under the sash. It buttons to the waist, and hangs to the ankles. In modern pieces a couple of ribbons are usually sewn on above the hem.

A narrow inkle-woven sash with typical designs is wrapped around the waist and holds the outfit together.

Hanging on the sash is a garment which is unique to the Uralic peoples, the hip apron, Puusapõll. The Seto version is rectangular and has four different designs embroidered on it. Since the garment is folded when wearing it, only one of the four designs is visible at a time. This makes it possible to show off different designs at different times.

The embroidery is executed in a combination of Holbein stitch, counted satin stitch and darning stitch, with possibly some cross stitch on the borders of the designs. Obviously many designs are possible within this tradition.

The new costume

I have no information as to how or why this costume took over. This was still used into the 20th cent. and is still used today for special occasions.

The cut of the new chemise resembles one which is common in northern Russian costume.

The overgarment is now made of black or dark blue bought cloth and is generally called sukman. The cut is similar to the old one, but the fake sleeves have disappeared. It is belted with the same kind of sash as the old one.

The upper sleeve of the chemise has a woven ornament, with two wide stripes in red and a design woven in pick up in between.The older designs are geometric, but the more recent ones tend to be floral in nature. Another change is that the old red was made from bedstraw root, but when artificial dyes became available, the reds used gradually became darker.

There is a tradition which says that no two chemises should have the exact same design, so there is a great variety of designs found. The edge of the sleeve is also woven in red, and the cuffs are usually of bought cloth.

The hip apron is not worn with this costume, and a regular apron has replaced it. It is usually of a plain color, but often is made of silky material, and sometimes of a printed design.

The apron is usually trimmed with ribbon or lace, and sometimes is embroidered. This first costume is from a Russian museum, and they don't know how to put the jewelry on correctly

The girl's headdress for both costumes is crown shaped and slightly flared, resembling others worn in the Baltic region. It is tied in back with a wide ribbon and is decorated in a very colorful way. It leaves the hair uncovered.

Married women braid their hair into two braids which are arranged around the top of the head. If a woman does not have enough hair to make a complete crown, braids of tow are added. A very long length of linen is wrapped around the head twice, covering the hair and then hangs down the back almost to the hem of the dress. It is held in place by a finger woven sash, and also by the sash tied around the waist. This headdress is also worn with both costumes.

The ends of this headdress have red woven ornament and often embroidery as well. Past this is a solid red woven area with colorful embroidery of a geometric nature or woven design, or both. The very edge is trimmed with bobbin lace, or in some newer examples, crochet lace.

This piece has some of the most unique embroidery of the Seto people.

Sometimes a plain or embroidered kerchief is tied over this headdress.

This type of embroidery is now being used on other decorative articles as well.

The complex of jewelry which is worn with this costume is truly amazing. First is a circular silver brooch, similar to that worn in many places in the Baltics and Scandinavia, but MUCH larger. This actually serves to hold the front opening of the garments closed. This brooch has been getting larger for a long time, apparantly, the first image shows an example from the early 19th century and how it actually pins. The second and third images show successively newer ones. You can see that they are getting progressively larger.

There is a short silver chain with coins, a longer silver chain with hollow silver beads, and a long chain of twisted silver links which is usually looped around three times. Others may be added. The entire ensemble often weighs 2 kg, or 4-5 pounds. Note also the wool overcoat and woven ornament on the end of the head cloth in this photo.

The costume is completed with white knitted 'tube' socks, and either shoes woven of birch bark, moccasins, shoes or half boots, see the various images in this article.

The man's costume consists of a linen shirt with a slit opening left of the neck, linen pants striped in blue, white, and sometimes red, sash similar to that of the women or twisted like a cord, patterned knee length 'tube' stockings, moccasins or boots, and a knee-length woolen jacket.

The shirt has a short stand-up collar with red embroidery, often of darning stitch. There are small motifs embroidered on the shirt just below the collar and around the opening slit. Similar woven or embroidered designs are found on the sleeve ends, the hem of the shirt, and for some reason, on the side panels just beneath the sleeves.

Here we have closeups of collar, cuff and hem of an old shirt, from top to bottom.

A couple of examples of the designs knit into the socks. As in other parts of the Baltic region, knit mittens are also worn here.

The man's jacket is decorated with applique.

The man in the center is not Seto, possibly Mari.

In Winter, both men and women wear long full gray overcoats.

Thank you for reading, I hope that you have found this interesting and informative. Some of the Seto embroidery would make a beautiful addition to any home.

A few more images to close.

Here is a video documentary about traditional Seto Singing. This was sent to me by one of my readers who is familiar with this region.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mSXcYph-ODc

Roman K.

email: Rkozakand@aol.com

Source material:
Raili Riitsaar, 'Seto Tikand', Väljaandja MTÜ Järveääre, 2012
Reet Piiri, 'Rahvõivaid Eesti Rahva Muuseumist', Schenkenberg, 2006
Melanie Kaarma et al, 'Eesti Rahvõivaid', Tallinn, 1981
Natalia Kalashnikova, 'National Costumes of the Soviet Peoples', Moscow, 1990

Hello all,

Here you can see the mens Krakowiak costume as it appears on stage and in parades today. This one variant has taken over. The only significant difference is in the embroidery on the front corners of the kaftan. In actuality there was much more variety of clothing worn by the men in the Krakow district.

This version is based on the one which was taken as a military dress uniform for the Polish army for a time. There has always been a strong influence of military uniforms on mens costuming.

The shirt is of linen with full sleeves, as is usual in European traditional costume. The neck is fastened with a red ribbon. The shirt is usually plain, but here is an exceptional example from the village of Rudawa which is embroidered. The construction is typical.

The pants most commonly associated with this costume are linen with vertical red and white stripes. In the eastern Krakow region sometimes we see blue and white stripes. Plain white linen pants are worn for work and everyday, and blue wool pants are also worn for dress.

A long vest called kaftan is worn with this costume. It most commonly comes almost to the knee although shorter examples are known. They are blue or sometimes black. They have tails in the back for riding, and are usually decorated with buttons, tassels, and sometimes embroidery on the front corners. The pocket flaps are also decorated.

The kaftan is often belted. Of the various belts used, three are most typical;
the wide belt known as Trzos, decorated with studs, embroidery and tassels.

A narrow belt with small cymbals attached. This is the kind usually seen in performances.

A narrow belt with metal plates called smyczka. This is wrapped two or three times around the waist, similar belts are worn by Slovaks.

As in many other places, things like pouches, flint and steel, knives and hoofpicks were often hung from the belt and sometimes attached to it.

A long wool overcoat called Sukman is sometimes considered to be the most symbolic of this region. There are many local variations in detail of ornament, but in general they are of white wool with a standing collar in West Krakow costume, and of brown wool with an embroidered cape-collar in some East Krakow costumes. These are often worn over or instead of the kaftan.

The embroidery on these collars varies quite a bit by district.

Three kinds of hats are most commonly associated with this costume, all of which may be seen in the above photos.

1. The Rogatywka, the four-cornered hat which is sometimes seen as the very emblem of Poland. This is usually decorated with peacock feathers, and sometimes ribbons and flowers for weddings and other very special occasions.

2. The Magierka, a round knitted cap which is usually tan colored with small designs knitted in. This is very popular with farmers especially.

3. A dressy, slightly conical top hat called Celender [cylinder]. This was later replaced by a modern felt hat, which is unfortunate.

There are other, lesser-known garments and variants. Sometimes the kaftan has sleeves, in which case it is often called ażupan. Here is an example from the village of Mników, it also is ornamented with red braid and mother of pearl buttons to match the woman's gorset. This ornamentation is also found in the sleeveless version.

Here is a couple from Bronowice wearing a similar costume.

There is a short jacket which overlaps and buttons in front called Kabat. This is decorated with topstitching and may be worn alone or under the kaftan or Sukman. This garment became very popular in Western Poland, the red variant in Wielkopolska and the blue in Silesia. Both were also worn in the Krakow area.

There is a long linen coat which resembles the sukman, but is minimally decorated. This garment is also found in Ukraine and other countries, but in Poland is called płótnianka. This is worn in warmer weather, which of course, also calls for a straw hat.

In winter in the Krakow region, as in most Slavic nations, they wear sheepskin hats and overcoats of wool or sheepskin.

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

This website offers vintage costumes from Poland and other places for sale.
http://www.easterneuropeanart.com/polish.htm

Here is a Polish website which specializes in Krakow costume. These are contemporary pieces.
http://www.perfekt.krakow.pl/stroje

A video of the Polish college group Slowianki doing the Krakowiak.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VXbtEdgvNFU

The national emsemble Mazowsze doing the Krakowiak

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D-sxkrzNDyk

The national ensemble Slask doing the Krakowiak.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v5bwS62m_Sk

Roman K.

email: Rkozakand@aol.com

Barbara Bazielich, 'Strój Ludowy w Polsce - Opisy i Wykroje', Kraków, 1997

Aleksander Blachowski, 'Hafty Polskie Szycie', Lublin, 2004

Hello all,

Today I will talk about the costume of a people called the Sarakatsani [in Greek] or Karakachani [in Bulgarian]. They are one of the peoples of the Balkans who were traditionally pastoral nomads. They traveled with their flocks from low winter pastures to high summer ones. They are found scattered over central and northern Greece, and also across the border into Macedonia and Bulgarian Thrace. There are various theories as to their origin, but they consider themselves to be pure Greek. They speak an archaic dialect of northern Greek, and hold themselves to be very distinct from the Aromanians and other nomadic peoples of the Balkans. There are competing theories, but they seem to be tinged by political motives.

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

Here is a map showing the approximate location of these people.

The costume of the Sarakatsani has some common elements, but differs significantly by region. I will focus on the variant found in Thrace. The current border between Greece and Bulgaria separates some of the traditional summer pastures from the winter ones. Most of these people are now settled, and live on both sides of the border. They identify primarily as Sarakatsani, consider themselves to be ethnically Greek, but Bulgarian by nationality if they live north of the border.

The Sarakatsani costume forms a strong contrast to other Greek costumes as it is mainly black and white, and almost all of it was traditionally hand made from the wool of their flocks. The ornamentation is strongly geometric. Like other Balkan costumes, it is quite complicated.

The foundation of the costume is the chemise called Poukamiso, made in a cut which is typical of the Balkans. The hem has white hemstitch and crochet trim and the sleeves have black cross stitch embroidery with black braids sewn onto the end.

Openwork is also done between the seams of the front panel. The embroidery forms a band around the end of the sleeve, above the braid, and also is done up the center of the sleeve. Usually, as in this case, the motifs used are the same.

Poukamiso for special occasions would have more extensive embroidery.

In older examples, we find red, blue and green also used in the embroidery.

Over the chemise they wear a pleated wrap-around skirt called fustani. It has two hooks and overlaps and fastens on the side.

It is made of two loom widths of cloth sewn side by side. In Epiros white cross stitch is done on the hem, but in Thrace the decorations consist of sewn on ribbons and galloon. Here is a plain one as would be worn by somewhat older women.

After the ornament is applied, the pleats are sewn in, then the skirt is soaked in hot water and laid out flat in the sun to dry. After the basting is removed, the pleats are permanant. Then a waistband is attached.

Both the waistband and the hem are often decorated with cord and braid applique.

Younger women add rows of colored ribbon and metallic galloon.

Around the hips over this is wrapped another garment called zonee, which means belt. This is enlarged towards the bottom, so as to have somewhat of a cone shape. It is fastened on the side. In the photo above it is ornamented with triangles and zigzags, and has zigzag braid attached to the edge. Here are a couple more examples.

The waist is made of woven cloth, but the 'skirt' of the zonee is made of split-ply cords sewn together side by side into the triangles and other shapes and then sewn together like patchwork.

The apron, podia, is worn over the fustani but under the zonee. It is quadrangular in shape, being wider at the bottom. It does not wrap around the waist, but hangs lower, so that it is visible below the zonee. it has bands at the upper corners, the ends of which are attached to the waist.

The podia is ornamented with embroidery in the center, ribbons or galloons, and couched braid and cord around the edges. There is quite a variety of ornaments used. Darker more subtle designs are used by older women. Some of them need to be seen in bright daylight in order to be appreciated.

Podia for festivals were naturally more colorful.

A straight cut waist length vest called polkaki is worn over the chemise. The front hooks closed and is covered with the same kind of cording ornament as the zonee. Embroidery and galoons may also be added. The back is undecorated because it is usually covered with a second vest, the tzamandani, which hangs open. Here is a schematic and a few examples.

The Tzamandani is similar but longer, has gores set in on the sides and does not meet in front.

The woman in the center here is only wearing the polkaki.

Here you can clearly see the tzamandani over the polkaki.

The manikia are separate wool sleeves which are worn on the forearms. They were made of woven cloth decorated with cording.

Today they are sometimes knitted.

Colorful knitted stockings are worn. As in some other places in the Balkans, the stockings are made in two parts, Gabis, which cover the legs and may keep them warm when working barefoot, and Kaltsounia, which cover the feet and ankles.

Leather shoes, opanci or tsaroukhia, the greek shoes with pompoms may be worn with this costume.

The hair is usually braided, in different ways for women of different ages and life situations. A large kerchief, the Mantili is folded over and worn on the head. Much silver jewelry is worn, beginning with the large belt buckle, the Asmozunaro, which is the traditional gift of a groom to his bride. A silver ornament is pinned to the Mantili over the forehead.

Originally the chemise was embroidered just under the neck. Now a dickey is worn. At first they were embroidered with a lace ruff at the neck. .

Now in Greece they are ornamented with ribbons and the collar has become enlarged.

On the Bulgarian side, this has become a large bib which is decorated with ribbons and glass baubles, and has become quite gaudy, apparently as a replacement for the silver jewelry.

The man's costume is rather typical for northern Greece. The foustanella is also worn.

Thank you for reading, I hope that you have found this to be interesting and informative.
Just a few more images of this costume.

Roman K.

email: Rkozakand@aol.com

Source material:
Joyce Ronald Smith et al, 'Female Costume of the Sarakatsani', Brown University, 1985
Ioanna Papantoniou, 'Greek Costumes', Nafplion, 1981
Angeliki Hatzimichali, 'Greek Folk Costumes', Greece, Melissa, 1979

Hello all,
Above is Queen Margrethe II of Denmark wearing the Rømø costume which was gifted to her by the National Folk Dance Association of Denmark. This is not the most impressive or colorful costume of Denmark, but it is the one she requested. It is quite representative of the costumes of Sønderjylland, [South Jutland], the southern part of the Danish peninsula. Rømø is an island off the southwest coast of Denmark.

The foundation of the costume is a chemise and petticoat, which do not show when fully dressed.

The blouse and apron are made of dark cotton print with a fine design. They may match, as in the photo above, or they may be made of different prints, as in this photo. If they are different, the blouse is usually calico, while the apron is striped or plaid.

There are many options for these two costume pieces. The blouse has two small silver buttons on the front, implying that it is double breasted.
The bodice and attached skirt, called Pi, are of red homespun wool called vadmal with dull green edging on the bodice. The bodice has a curved neckline, and many round silver buttons. The skirt is quite full. The apron is very full and long, being barely shorter than the skirt, and the back of the apron is closed with a silver buckle, which is typical for Jutland.

Some photos show the buttons on the left side. I do not know if there is any significance to this, or if indeed, some photos have simply been flipped. Publishers like to do that. Or perhaps whoever sewed this outfit thought that a woman's garment had to fold right over left.

There is a kerchief worn over the shoulders which is not tucked in in the usual way, but worn more wrapped around the neck. A cap is worn on the head over the hair and then another kerchief is tied over that, the cap itself not showing at all.

The combination of quiet colors with red accents is typical for this costume.

Notice that in this example the cap has embroidery on the top, and so the crown is left uncovered. This type of embroidered cap is more typical of the East Danish Islands.

The formal Church-going costume covers the red Pi and blouse with a jacket and skirt sewn of fine material. A more formal bonnet with white lace edging is worn with this version. A silk kerchief and apron may be worn with the dress costume.

I wish I had more information about this costume, but this is what I have.
I hope that you have found this interesting and informative.
The Danish people have an emotional attachment to this costume. Just a few more images, ending with the Queen again.

Roman K.

email: Rkozakand@aol.com

Source material:
Charles Rasmussen, 'Danske Folkedragter', Copenhagen, 1942
Lilla Fox, 'Folk Costume of Western Europe', Great Britain, 1969
Esther Grølsted, 'Sy Folke-dragten Selv', Copenhagen, 1985
Ellen Andersen, 'Danish Folk Costumes', Copenhagen, 1948
F. C. Lund, 'Danske Nationaldragter', Copenhagen, 1864
Minna Kragelund, 'Folkedragter', Copenhagen, 1978

Hello all,
Horoden'ka is an extraordinary crossroads of embroidery styles, the influences of Podillia, Bukovyna and the Hutsul territories combine to form a rich local tapestry of embroidery styles. Today I will examine one local embroidery stitch which seems to be found nowhere else in Ukraine. Above you can see a photo of an ustawka, or shoulder inset embroidered in nyzynka, framed with herringbone stitch, attached at left to the body of the shirt with merezhyvo typical of Podillia, and then finished off on the bottom with a row of interlacing.
The local name for this design is 'merezhka khvostata'. Merezhka means net, and usually refers to hemstitching, although it can also refer to other types of hand work which resemble a net.
This type of interlacing embroidery is found nowhere else in Ukraine to my knowledge, but it IS found in Malta, Sind, and Armenia. The Armenians claim to have invented it, and there are historical data which show influences from Armenia to both Malta and Sind. It is well known that there were colonies of Armenians in Halychyna, to the point where they had their own Archbishop and Cathedral in L'viw. [The only city in the world ever to have had three concurrent Catholic Archbishops, Roman, that is to say Polish, Byzantine - Ukrainian, and Armenian]. So it seems clear that this technique was borrowed from the Armenians, although why here, and not elsewhere in Halychyna is not clear.
Armenians call this type of interlace embroidery Marash work, after its historical city of origin, or Heusvadz Gar.

In Horoden'ka, this type of embroidery is only used as an adjunct stitch on women's chemises, in a band just below the shoulder inset, taking the place of morshchynka in the second part of the sleeve design. Typically, there is no embroidery on the lower sleeve.The embroidery on the ustawka may be nyzynka, cross stitch, or in another technique.

In fact, only three designs are used, all of which are variants of a single motif. 'Cross', which may 'be seen in the second and third images above, 'tailed', which is the cross with one arm missing, which can be seen at the top of the article and just above, and 'slanted', in which two opposite arms of the cross are missing, and the motifs are stacked so as to give a diagonal design, as in the following two photographs. In all of these, each succeeding motif is executed in a different color.

Here are the three designs side by side.

This paucity of design is another indication that this is a borrowed technique. However, they undoubtedly enrich the chemises of Horoden'ka, and are used in a unique way.
For comparison, here is a piece of Armenian embroidery completely executed in Interlace stitch.

You can see that although the Ukrainians may have borrowed the technique, they reinterpreted and adapted it to their own tastes rather than just copying the Armenian embroidery.

This type of work is executed in two parts, first a lattice is laid down, and then the embroidery thread is twined around the lattice without ever piercing the ground fabric except at beginning and end. You can see the lattices laid out for the three motifs above. Here is a schematic of a completed cross.The cross is always executed in one color. Here the two parts have been colored differently so as to make it easier to understand the technique.

The Armenians and Maltese use the cross like this, in Horoden'ka, the cross is worked on the diagonal, as seen above. When laying down the lattice, it is very important that the lattice threads cross above and below one another alternately. Here is a closeup of the lattice.

Here is a step by step diagram of how to embroider the cross. The Armenians mark the cross on the material first. Ukrainians do not do this, instead laying the lattice in a counted thread technique. I present the diagram on the diagonal, as done by Ukrainians.

This can be easily adapted to the other two designs.
It is this type of added detail which adds richness of texture to the traditional embroideries of Ukraine. Modern adaptations which turn everything into cross stitch loses a dimension, becoming flat.

I hope that you have found this interesting and inspiring. Obviously this technique can be used to decorate many things.
I will close with a couple more images of this embroidery.

I am indebted to Vasyl Jula for many of the large closeup images used in this article.

Many of the rest of the images are from the work of Iryna Svyontek, which I highly recommend.

Roman K.

email: Rkozakand@aol.com

Source material:
Iryna Svyontek, 'Pokuttia Embroideries of Precarpathian Region', L'viw, 2013
Alice Odian Kasparian, 'Armenian Needlelace and Embroidery', McLean, VA, 1983
Mary Gostelow, 'The Complete International Book of Embroidery', New York, 1977

Hello all,
Today I will talk about one of the most colorfully embroidered costumes of Slovakia, That of the village of Čičmanyand vicinity. The costume of the general area is similar, including the villages of Valaská Belá, Zliechov, Čavojand others; the largest variation being in the embroidery. Čičmanyis in northwestern Slovakia, between the cities of Žilina and Trenčin. Today it has been declared a Folk Architecture Reserve.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C4%8Ci%C4%8Dmany

Slovakia has a very rich folk embroidery heritage, but even in that context the embroidery of Čičmany is outstanding. It combines counted satin stitch with needle woven hemstitch, cutwork, faggot stitching and other techniques.

Here is an old drawing of the costume of the neighboring village of Valaská Belá, showing the basic parts of the costume, but with very modest embroidery. This is likely an everyday costume.

The foundation of the costume is a garment called rubač which consists of a linen tube worn over the torso with straps over the shoulders. A skirt which is full enough to walk in is gathered into the bottom seam. Here is a drawing of one from the village of Moravské Lieskové, which has woven ornament on the midriff. The rubač from around Čičmany is plain white, as you can see from the above images. This garment is essential to the costume.

Over the rubač is worn a very short, full blouse called rukávce, which literally means 'sleeves'. It leaves the midriff uncovered. The front, back, and shoulder pieces are gathered side-by-side into the collar, the sleeves are then gathered into the lower edge of the shoulder piece, and are then attached via a gusset to the sides of the blouse. There is a stand-up collar, and in the Čičmany variant, a wide band of colored bobbin-lace is also gathered into the collar.

The ends of the sleeves are gathered into a flounce. The main focus of the embroidery is on the shoulder insets, but the stand-up collar and the sleeve ends are also often embroidered.

This outfit is from the collection of Jan Letowsky. You may see it and other exceptional examples of folk dress and other items at his website:
http://www.easterneuropeanart.com/B-Costumes.html

The front and back fields are tightly pleated.

The embroidery typically has a wide central band composed of cutwork and counted satin stitch, bordered by two bands of needle woven hemstitching [shabak], and then edge patterns.

Front and back aprons are worn with this costume. The back apron is pleated like the blouse, with embroidery over the pleats around the waist. It wraps all the way around and ties in the front.

The front apron is shaped like a regular apron, gathered into the waistband. There is a band of embroidery across the frontwhich varies from wide to extremely wide. This is the major focus of embroidery on this costume. The embroidery harmonizes with the other pieces of the costume.

Since the 1960's the skirts have shown a very unfortunate tendency to get shorter to the point where the outline of the costume is no longer aesthetic. Not everyone has given in to this, thankfully. The girl here above seems to be wearing a white sweatshirt under the costume for some reason. The following photo shows one of the elaborate aprons which form part of this costume, and on the left, the simpler, dark embroidery expected of a widow.

A sash, usually plain red is worn tied around the waist above the two aprons.

On the head two stuffed linen balls were tied onto the temples with a ribbon. A cap, čepiec, was worn over this, giving a two-horned silhouette, [see the photo with the widow above, and the first photo], and then an embroidered kerchief was pinned over that, in a singularly asymmetrical manner.

This, of course, refers to married women. Girls wore their hair uncovered. The golden orangey-yellow color now considered typical of Čičmanyembroidery is also technically for married women. Single girls are traditionally supposed to have red embroidery, and widows should have embroidery in blue and black.

This woman and her granddaughter are from the neighboring village of Zliechov. The embroidery is similar but includes a wider range of colors. You will notice that the woman's headdress is also different.

I will continue my next article with a closer look at the embroidery of this costume.

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

Roman K.

email: Rkozakand@aol.com

Source material:
Viera Nosálova,'Slovenský ludový Odev', Slovakia,1982
Anna Chlupová, 'Slovenská l’udová výšivka : techniky a ornamentika', Bratislava, 1985
Jozef Markov, 'The Slovak National Dress through the Centuries', Bratislava, 1956
Jitka Staňková, 'Slovenské a české Tradičné Kroje', Prague, 2004
Blažena Šotkova, 'Volkstrachten in der Tschechoslowakei', Prague, 1956

Hello all.

Today I will talk about one particular textile tradition of the Kirghiz people, floor felts.

The Kyrghyz speak a Kipchak Turkish language, and mostly live in the independent nation of Kyrghystan. They also inhabit areas across the borders, mostly in Uyguristan, which is currently part of the Chinese Empire, but small groups are also found in Tajikistan, Afghanistan, and other neighboring nations. Here is a map of Kyrgyzstan and its neighbors.

This following map shows the location of the ethnic populations in this region, The Kyrgyz are shown in brown, Kazakh in lavender, Uygur in sage green, Uzbek in yellow, and Tadzhik in fuchsia.

For more information on the Kyrghyz, see this article.

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

The capitol of the Kirghiz is Bishkek, and this is their flag.

The object shown in the middle of the flag, inside the aureole, is a tündük, the crown or roof ring of the traditional felt covered dwelling, which is English is usually called a yurt, but in Kirghiz is called boz üy. [It is interesting that the term yurt is not used by any of the peoples who live in these dwellings.]

This dwelling is found all through Central Asia, from the Caucuses to Mongolia. The yurt consists of a door with a frame, collapsible trellises for the walls, the tündük, and poles which form the roof. These are all lashed together, and various textiles are used to cover the frame. Most of the work of raising the boz üy is done by women, except the raising of the tündük. Here is a quick illustration of how to raise this structure. I will talking more about this amazing dwelling in other posts.

The interior of the yurt is decorated with bags, reed screens, hangings, bedclothes, furniture, etc. Each of which deserves an article of its own. Today I will be talking about two types of patterned felt, ala ki'iz and shyrdak. These are used as floor coverings, and sometimes as decorations of the wall and roof. In these photos, you can see patterned felts on the floor and through the roof slats.

Felt is a very old material which is based on the natural property of wool to shrink and matt together under the influence of water, heat and pressure/agitation. True felt is made without any sort of spinning, looping, braiding or weaving. It is very rare in European folk costume except for hats. Pants, coats, mantles, etc which form parts of European folk costumes are almost always actually woven, and then subjected to fulling [felting] afterwards.

Ala ki'iz is the easier of these two to make. The wool is prepared by beating, thus fluffing it up so to eliminate clumps and shaking out dirt and foreign objects. Traditionally this is done on a piece of canvas or old felt, but today is often done on a steel bed frame.

Then a reed mat, chiy, is rolled out.

A base layer of dark wool is spread over the mat. This is often followed by a second layer of mixed white and dark wool.

Then the patterned layer is laid out in dyed wool. This is done by eye without any sort of guide. Natural dark wool is sometimes used to separate colored areas.

Hot water, sometimes with soap is poured over the wool, the mat is then rolled up, often covered with a cloth,and the roll is subjected to kicking, pummeling, rolling and other types of impact. This causes the wool to felt together.

Not uncommonly,a stick is placed in the center, and the bundle is rolled along the ground, pulled by a donkey, horse, camel, or yak. Young boys are often eager to do this work.

The bundle is then unrolled, and the incipient felt rolled up by itself. More hot water is poured over it, and the final felting is usually done by women pressing and rolling it with their forearms.

The finished ala ki'iz is colorful and useful, is usually 2 or more inches thick and will last 4 to 5 years. The edges of the motifs are blurred and usually somewhat distorted because it is laid out by eye and shrinks during the felting process. They are still striking, and exhibit the typical curvilinear Kirghiz ornament. They are used strictly as floor/ground covers.

Shyrdak last much longer, but also take quite a bit more time to make.
To make shyrdaks, relatively thin single layer felts of uniform color are made using the same process as shown above. Two square or rectangular pieces of felt of complementary colors are basted together, then a design is cut out of both pieces, either by eye or by following a chalked line. The two are then swapped and stitched together.

Various panels are assembled into a composition, then stitched to a single felt backing. The seams are trimmed with contrasting braid, and the whole piece is quilted together, following the contours of the design.

This technique results in compositions with sharp edges. One consequence of this technique is that the positive and negative parts of the composition have equal weight. This is part of the distinctive effect of this ornamentation. Both panels are used, either in the same composition,

or in two separate pieces. which then become 'sisters'.

These are only two of many techniques for working in felt. The shyrdak technique is also used for wall and ceiling hangings as well as bags and other articles.

Here are several photos of various examples of Shyrdaks.

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

Some of these images are from the collection of the British Museum.
http://www.britishmuseum.org/research/collection_online/search.aspx?searchText=floor+felt&images=true&view=list

Roman K.

email: Rkozakand@aol.com

Source material:
Stephanie Bunn, 'Nomadic Felts', London, 2010
V. Maksymov et al, 'The Kirghiz Pattern', Frunze, 1986
Vladimir Basilov, 'Nomads of Eurasia', Los Angeles, 1989
Tatyana Razina, et al, 'Folk Art in the Soviet Union', Leningrad, 1990
Janet Harvey, 'Traditional Textiles of Central Asia', London, 1996

Hello all,
Today I would like to share some images which I found on the website of The British Museum.
This points out a couple of things. One is the wealth of information available online today.
The other is that even such an august institution as The British Museum can make mistakes.
[I want to tear my hair out when i look over pages from Pinterest, they are chock full of misidentified photos!!]
The chemises pictured are from Skopska Blatija in Macedonia, but are misidentified as being from Kjustendil, Bulgaria. This is why I am making these images available on my blog.
First I wish to emphasize that this website is a fantastic resource for researchers of many kinds.
Try it.
http://www.britishmuseum.org/research/collection_online/search.aspx

Photos of this one were somehow included in the description of a chemise from Kyustendil [Kjustendil], along with photos of the actual Kjustendil chemise.

This one has the nine flowers embroidery on the sleeve. Here are some closeups.

This next one was mistakenly identified as being from Kjustendil based on its resemblance to the above item.

This next piece is of an everyday chemise which has more modest embroidery. This one is correctly identified as being from Skopska Blatija.

This last piece is a bit of a mystery. It is identified as being from Skopska Crna Gora, but the embroidery is typical for Skopska Blatija. The embroidery from Skopska Crna Gora is very different. The only part of this chemise which resembles the Crna Gora style is the fringed ornament which is stitched to the collar. This is not part of the Skopska Blatija tradition, on the other hand the two regions adjoin, so perhaps the woman who made it liked it, or perhaps this was attached in error.

Thank you for reading.
Again, I wish to recommend the website of The British Museum for those doing research online in many subjects.

http://www.britishmuseum.org/research/collection_online/search.aspx

Roman K.

email: Rkozakand@aol.com

Hello all,
Today I will do an article on the costume of Skopska Crna Gora. This is an upland area just outside of the city of Skopje, Macedonia, and is not to be confused with the nation of Montenegro. [Crna Gora means Black Mountain, and obviously there is more than one black mountain.] This is found just to the north of the region of Skopska Blatija, about which I have already written a couple of articles. Above you can see on the left a married couple, and on the right a single couple.
Here are a couple of maps to help you orient yourselves.

The most striking difference between this costume and that of Skopska Blatija is the embroidery on the chemise. This is done in mostly black wool, and the result is a three dimensional design based mostly on texture. This requires bright light to appreciate, and is difficult to photograph. Here are a couple of married women's chemises, which have the more extensive embroidery. As you can seem the embroidery mostly follows the seams.

This type of textured embroidery is also found in parts of Romania, Moldova and Ukraine, as well as elsewhere.
Here are some close-up views of the embroidery.

Here is the cut of the woman's chemise

Here is a similar chemise from the collection of The British Museum. Oddly, this piece is lacking the fringed ornament on the collar.
http://www.britishmuseum.org/research/collection_online/collection_object_details/collection_image_gallery.aspx?assetId=399951&objectId=1537197&partId=1#more-views

This type of embroidery is greatly admired in the larger region. Brides of the neighboring Skopska Blatija region would often wear a 'crnogorka', that is, a chemise with embroidery in the style of Skopska Crna Gora for their wedding, rather than one embroidered in their own style, although the rest of the outfit remained the same. The arrangement of the embroidery is not quite the same though,.

This is such a chemise from the collection of The British Museum.

The apron used in this region is similar in construction to that of Skopska Blatija, but is limited to a single color with some striping, rather than the large tapestry designs. a sash, belt and vest are also worn.

The vest, dolama, is covered with silk tassels along the front and on the lower back. It is worn over the sash and apron.

Here is the cut of the dolama.

Knitted patterned socks and opanci [moccasins] are also worn with this costume.

The dressing of the hair for a married woman is as follows.

The chemise for a single girl has significantly less embroidery.

The cut is extremely similar.

The apron is shorter, and the vest, called zbun, has more silk fringe and a somewhat different cut.

The dressing of the hair is simpler.

The men's costume is almost the same as in Skopska Blatija, with two exceptions. The vest is somewhat different.

And a second, longer vest, the dzhube is worn over the first. This garment was also formerly worn in Skopska Blatija.

Thank you for reading. I hope that you have found this interesting. I will close with a few more photos of this costume.

Roman K.

email: Rkozakand@aol.com

Source material:
Anica Petrusheva, 'Narodna Noshnja u Skopskoj Crnoj Gori', Zagreb, 1988
Angelina Krsteva, 'Narodna Nosija od Skopska Blatija', Skopje, 1998
Kamelia Gruncharova, 'Tradicionno Narodno Obleklo po Porechieto na Reka Struma', Sofia, 2006
Angelina Krsteva, 'Macedonian Folk Embroidery', Skopje, 1975
Anica Petrusheva, 'Narodna Nosnja u Skopskoj Crnoj Gori', Zagreb, 1988
Georgi Zdravev, 'Macedonian Folk Costumes I', Skopje, 1996
Georgi Zdravev, 'Macedonian Folk Costumes - Weavings, Embroideries, Knitting, Adornments and Jewelry', Skopje, 2005
Bobbie Sumberg editor, 'Young Brides, Old Treasures', Seattle, 2012
Nikola Pantelic, 'Traditional Arts and Crafts in Yugoslavia', Belgrade, 1984
Vera Klichkova, 'The National Dresses [sic] of Macedonia', Skopje, 1963

Hello all,

When I did my articles on the costumes of the Rhaetian peoples, I had very little information on the costume of the Ampezzo valley. I have received new information, and so will talk about it now.
Cortina d'Ampezzo, in Ladin Anpezo, is in the northwest corner of the province of Belluno in the region of Veneto. It is one of the five valleys in which the majority of people speak the Ladin language. It is shown in green on this map.

There are four costumes which are currently worn by the women of this valley for special occasions, one of which is a revival of an older style. I will be giving costume terminology in the Ladin language.

1. Ra Vècia

This means 'the old one'. This costume was worn in Anpezo up till the middle of the 19th cent. Originally it was worn with a jacket that had large cuffs. The first print shown is from Emma Calderini, and the second one from 'Trachten den Alpenlaender' by Hans von Hammerstein. The second print also shows the bodice, with a necklace and part of the chemise on the hanger.

Here is a drawing of how the revived dress is worn today.

The foundation garment was a chemise of linen with lace around the collar.

A petticoat was worn, in winter this would be of red wool flannel.

The two prints above seem to show that the skirt and bodice were separate, the skirt being made of black or naturally dark wool, and the bodice of any color, with ribbon or lace trim, and laced up the front. Today the bodice and skirt are sewn together and both are usually black.

This garment has survived as part of the newer versions of the costume. Here is a schematic showing a newer version of the neckline. This garment is called ciamesoto.

As you can see from the drawings above, an embroidered or brocade plastron was worn under the bodice and was visible behind the lacings. This adds a very elegant and decorative touch. This was stiffened with cardboard or by other means.

A very full apron of brocade or printed cloth is worn with this costume, The skirt barely shows at the bottom and in the back where the apron almost meets. At this time the apron is tied in front with a ribbon. The skirt today is adorned with a gold galoon. Knit socks and leather shoes with buckles are worn.

A fine linen kerchief with embroidered or otherwise ornamented edges is tucked under the stomacher. For daily wear this was replaced with a colored kerchief. When the jacket is not used, decorative oversleeves are worn. This is a common feature of western European costume. They are often connected to the bodice with a ribbon.

The felt hat shows Austrian influence, and is not shown in older drawings or photographs.

Silver jewelry is worn, drop earrings, a chain with a cross or medallion, and hair pins. The hair is arranged in braids which are gathered at the nape of the neck. A large hairpin with filligree heads on both ends secures the bun. Above this is inserted another pin with a head on one end.

Formerly widows covered the bun with a small linen coif.

This is a very colorful and graceful costume, and I am glad that it has been revived. Some more images of ra vècia.

The other three versions of the costume postdate 1850, and I will cover them in another article.

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

Roman K.

Rkozakand@aol.com

email

Source Material:
Amelia Menardi Illing, 'Il Costume in Ampezzo', Cortina, 1995
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

Hello all,

Today I will continue to speak of the costume of the Anpezo valley. In my last post, I talked about the old costume, and mentioned that it had been revived. The folk costume of the valley had not died out but changed. The costume as worn in the latter 19th and 20th cent. comes in three forms, ra magnes, ra varnaza, and ra jaida.

Ra Magnes is the dress version of the costume. This means 'the sleeves'. This was a response to the spread in popularity of the Spencer Jacket. As a cost saving measure, leg of mutton Spencer type sleeves were often simply added to the ciamesoto. The laces in front were abandoned, and the cut of the neckline was altered. There is always a tuck in the skirt, and the hem is often protected with an added cord or facing of cloth.

Because this is a dress outfit, the bodice is ornamented with triangular pieces of satin, velvet or other rich material on the shoulders, and on the cuffs.

The kerchief around the neck was retained, but with the loss of the stomacher, it is now held in place with a silver pin. A silk or other ornate kerchief is used, tulle is the current preferred material, and it is still ornamented with ribbon and embroidery. Tulle is traditionally reserved for married women.

At this time, bloomers and corset were adopted under the influence of city fashion.

The custom of arranging the hair in braids into a bun at the nape of the neck was retained, and the hairpins became larger and fancier. A new type of pin in the shape of filligree flowers was introduced which are attached to the right side of the bun, as the ball-headed pins were attached to the left side. A married woman may wear as many floral pins as the bun will support, a single girl is restricted to one only.

A black hat is always worn with ra magnes. Originally it was ornamented only with broad silk ribbons, but an ostrich plume was added later, and gradually became larger. The ostrich feather is now considered to be obligatory.

The apron remains very full, and as long or slightly shorter than the skirt. The length of the hem varies quite a bit according to taste. The apron for ra magnes is made of silk, damask or brocade, and is closed with a silver hook and chain.

The less dressy, more everyday costume is called ra varnaza.

This retained the ciamesoto without sleeves. The chemise was replaced by a shorter blouse which was called 'fake sleeves', although generally they were attached to some sort of linen garment worn on the upper body. Often lace showed around the neck. The underskirt was of course retained. The ends of the sleeves are adorned with lace, and a ribbon is tied around the sleeves at about the elbow. Generally the hems are shorter in ra varnaza, but this also varied.

The apron remains full, and is made of plainer or richer materials according to the occasion, and is also closed with a silver hook and chain. A shawl is worn over the shoulders and over the bodice, being pinned in place on the chest. The shawl and apron must be coordinated in color and design. A hat is not worn with this costume.

There was a difference in the everyday working costume and that considered to be more presentable for Sundays and going to market.

The winter costume omits the shawl and adds a jacket with a mandarin collar. It buttons up all the way to the neck. It has a short peplum and is fitted at the waist. The style seems to be that of the late 1800's. This is called ra jaida.

Thank you for reading. I hope that you have found this interesting. I will close with some more images of this costume.You will see all four versions of the costume in the following images.

Roman K.

Rkozakand@aol.com

Hello all,
Today I will talk about the costume of the French Province of Bourbonnais. This lies right in the center of the country, where the three major languages meet, Lenga d'òc of the south, Langue d'oïl of the north, and Arpitan of the east. The territory of the Province of Bourbonnais is mostly coterminous with the modern Departement of Allier.

Bourbonnais is sometimes treated as part of a greater Auvergne region, but I will deal with it separately. For more information on the history of the Duchy of Bourbonnais, see this article.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bourbonnais

A chemise, bloomers and petticoat form the foundation layer. Generally the only thing that shows is a collar which may be part of the chemise. Over this is a dress which may vary quite a bit. It opens in front, and is made in various colors and of various materials, depending on the season and the occasion. In the highlands of the southeastern part of this province, the bodice and skirt were separate, In the west, although sewn together, the bodice and skirt were often of different colors. The hem is generally about 20 cm above the sabot.

Here is one example. This is the work of the artist Victor Lhuer, who spent time in this region in the late 1800's, and left us an invaluable source of information about the costume.

The skirt is quite full, being flat in front, but gathered in folds on the sides and in back. The neckline varies. The apron also varies, sometimes it has pockets, and sometimes it hangs from the waist, as here, but usually it has a bib which is pinned to the bodice. Also notice in this image that the sleeves are smocked at the top. The skirt is pinned up on the sides, showing off the striped underskirt, which is worn over a linen petticoat.

A fichu is worn over the shoulders, under the pinafore, and is also pinned in place. For everyday it was of simple printed cotton, of wool for cooler weather, possibly of silk for more dressy occasions, and sometimes of fine linen with elaborate white embroidery. Notice that the bodice does not seem to have sleeves in this image, the blousy sleeves belonging to the chemise.

A linen cap, le bonnet, is worn, the back of which also has white on white embroidery. The edges may be decorated with goffered lace. Sometimes the collar lies flat and may also have ruched or goffered ornament.

A cross is almost always worn, often on a velvet ribbon. Knit stockings and sabot generally complete the ensemble. The sabots are sometimes carved, and are often painted black. They may have a leather strap over the arches, which is much more comfortable than the wooden edge.

This woman is holding the most famous part of the costume, the 'Chapeau à deux bonjours'.
This was not worn everywhere in the province, just from Moulin to Varennes, and from the Loire to the Forête de Tronçais, but has become a symbol of Bourbonnais.

It is a straw hat, with a truncated cone for a crown, the brim coming down at the sides, and raised both in front and in back. A 'bonjour' from the front, and another from the rear. It is lined with fabric, and trimmed with cloth, velvet ribbon and straw braid, somewhat like the Gorra of Montehermoso in Spain.
It was made on wooden forms, and so each location had a somewhat different shape. It is always worn over the coiffe.

The colors and the design executed by the straw ribbon varied considerably.

I do have one source which claims that a similar hat was worn as far north as Nevers in the Nivernais province of Bourgogne.

Just to show some of the local variety of costume, here is another type of coiffe. Notice the unusual way in which the sleeves are attached. You can also see how full the gathered skirt is behind.

In cooler or inclement weather, a cape is worn with this outfit which closes in front with a hook and chain.

The back of the cape is cut with a point that sticks out. This enables it to be worn over the hat like a hood if need be.

The men's costume has little that is distinctive, breeches, a shirt, a vest, jacket, neckcloth, knit stockings, sabot, and a hat with a large round brim for dress. As in other parts of France, gaiters were sometimes worn, see the photos at the end of the article.

A blue, round-necked smock for working or everyday over the shirt and breeches. Note the straw padding in the sabot.

The brim is sometimes so large that cords are attached from it to the peak to keep the brim from drooping.

Thank you for reading, I hope that you have found this interesting. I will close with more photos of this costume.

This group has committed a common error in making the aprons too small, and likely the skirts not full enough.

Here is a link to a video showing quite a good dance group performing dances from this area, mostly versions of Bouree.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P4bxBpzJU7I

Roman K.

Feel free to contact me at this email address.

Rkozakand@aol.com

Source Material:
Lilla Fox, 'Folk Costumes of Western Europe',
Victor Lhuer, Le Costume Auvergnat et Bourbonnais', Equinoxe, 2001
Andre Sainsard, 'Costumes Folkloriques Provinces Françaises', Paris, 1972
Royere, Gardilanne, Moffat et al, 'Les Costumes Regionaux de la France', New York, 1929
Charles-Brun, 'Costumes des Provinces Françaises', Paris, 1937
P. Leroux, 'Costumes Regionaux', Paris, 1940
Caroline Brancq, 'Les Costumes regioneaux d'Autrefois', Paris, 2003
Royere, Gardilanne, Moffat et al, 'Les Costumes Regionaux de la France', New York, 1929

Hello all,

This is a photo of my friend Jean modelling a dress which had been given her in 1985. The woman who gave it to her said that she had bought it in Jordan about 15 years previously. It is my belief that it was embroidered and sewn by Palestinian refugees in Jordan, as it is very typical of the embroidered dresses worn by women in the southern half of Israel/Palestine. I wish to state very strongly that I have no political agenda in this article, I am interested in the handiwork and traditional costume of all people. [If anyone has any information on the folk costume of Jordan, I would be very glad to know of good sources.]

I believe this piece to have been made in the 1950's-1960's. The arrangement of the embroidery follows exactly the tradition of the Arabic women who live in this area, and the embroidery itself is closest to some Bedouin pieces. The cross stitch was done on waste-canvas, but the dress itself was sewn by hand. The sleeves are narrow, with a short slit in the cuffs, but there is no slit in the bottom hem. All of these details point to an origin in the mid 20th cent.

There are records of embroidered dresses, called Thobes, being worn by the Arab women in the southern half of Israel/Palestine already in the British Mandate period. There were various local traditions, noteably in the villages around Ramallah, Hebron, Jaffa, Gaza, and Be'ersheba. Bethlehem was and is famous for a different type of embroidery. Some areas did not do embroidery on their dresses. It would seem that originally the cross stitch embroidery was done on white linen garments, as in this example from Ramallah.

Although around Ramallah and some other regions white thobes continued to be worn, in most of southern Israel/Palestine indigo dyed linen was more highly regarded, the darker the better. Counted cross stitch continued to be done directly on the dyed linen for a while. Later on commercially woven black cloth of any kind was used, and the cross-stitch was executed by means of waste canvas. [I admit to not being a fan of waste canvas, I find the finished result to often be less than optimal, since it is easy to place it on a slant, and it tends to distort while working. It does allow cross stitch to be worked on cloth which has too fine a weave to be counted directly, however.]

Some of the examples from the late 19th cent. were quite simple. You will notice that the arrangement of the embroidery was already the same.

In many villages more elaborate versions were developed, each village having its preferred colors and motifs [although some shade of red was almost always the dominant color], although European copybook motifs were readily adopted and added to the repetoire. Here is one example from the Ramallah region which is in the British Museum.

Here is a closeup of the bib from another piece.

Here is the general cut of the thobe. This basic cut was used by Arabs for both men's and women's robes over quite a large area, including Saudi Arabia and Egypt.

More side panels were added when extra fullness was desired. One word of warning, the side panels did not end on the same line as shown here, but rather each long side was of the same length, the hem curving up if laid flat. Otherwise the sides would end up being longer and dragging on the ground. Another variant of the cut if the cloth was narrow, as would have been the case for home woven materials.

The four most important locations for embroidery are shown above:
1. Qabba - bib or breastpiece,
     usually embroidered as a separate piece for convenience.
2. Dhayal - bottom back of the central field.
    Note that there is no shoulder seam, as is the case for many traditional garments.
3. Banayiq - side panels.
    The embroidery was done vertically, following the seams.
4. Irdan - sleeves.
    The sleeves were originally very wide, but became narrow around the mid 20th cent. as this    style of embroidery spread from the villages.

Note that these are the exact areas which are embroidered on Jean's thobe, along with the cuffs and hem.

This photo was taken in Ramallah in 1987.

Some more contemporary examples of this costume as worn today.

Closeups of Jean's dress. Front bib, Qabba. As is so often the case in cross stitch, a few motifs are repeated for ornamental effect. This piece is unusual in that the front opening is made quite wide and then backed with an extra piece for modesty's sake. Most commonly the opening is a narrow slit.

The back rear panel, Dhayal. Note a separate ornament worked along the back seam of the side panel. The seam is clearly visible.

The side panels, Banayiq, two on each side, front and back. The ornament embroidered on the side and front seams is different from that embroidered along the back seam. There is also embroidery all along the bottom hem.

The sleeves, Irdan. On this piece, there is also embroidery above the shoulder seam up to the neckline. In older pieces this was often sewn of some different ornamental cloth. The cuffs and neck opening are finished off with a beautiful overcast stitch.

This type of embroidery continues to be made and worn, as well as being transferred to cushions and other decorative items. Thank you for reading, I hope that you have found this interesting and perhaps inspiring. This type of embroidery is obviously well suited to many types of projects. I will close with a few more random images of this type of embroidery.

The following pieces are all Bedouin. These are the closest in motif and color to Jean's thobe.

Blue embroidery is used by girls and menopausal women. Upon marriage a woman is allowed to embroider her clothes in red. This dress was partly embroidered before marriage.

Full Bedouin Costume

Roman K.

Feel free to contact me at this email address.

Rkozakand@aol.com

Source Material:
Widad Kamel Kawar and Tania Tamari Nasir, 'Stickerei aus Palaestina', Munich, 1989
Shelagh Weir, 'Palestinian Costume', Austin, 1989
Jehan Rajab, 'Palestinian Costume', London, 1989
Abed Al-Samih Abu Omar, 'Traditional Palestinian Embroidery and Jewelry', Jerusalem, 1986

Hello all,

Today I will spend some time talking about the various costumes of Alsace or Elsass.
This image above shows some of them from the north half of the province. Here is a map locating Alsace within France, and the flag of Elsass.

This region has been fought over by France and Germany for a long time, being in a strategic location on the west bank of the Rhine. It has been an integral part of France since the treaty of Versailles, but the ethnic origin of the majority of the people is German. The traditional language of most of the people in Elsass is a dialect of Allemanisch, with the exception of some of the valleys in the Vosges mountains in the west of the province, the so-called Welschlands. These people are not Cymry; 'Welsch' in old German means 'people whose language we don't understand', which is why the Anglo Saxons in Britain used it to refer to the natives there as well. 'Wend' is the equivalent term in the east Germanic dialects, which was used to refer to the Sorbs and Slovenes. These 'Welsch' spoke French dialects from Lorraine.
German, mainly for political reasons is considered to be one language. However it actually consists of a large number of very dissimilar dialects which linguists group into four languages: Lower German, Platt, or Niederdeutsch, Central German or Mitteldeutsch, Upper German or Oberdeutsch [Boarisch], and Allemanisch. Allemanisch dialects are spoken in Switzerland, Vorarlberg, Baden, the Schwartzwald, Elsass, Lorraine, Franconia and Swabia. [Upper German should not be confused with High German, Hochdeutsch, which is the literary language of all of Germany, Austria and Switzerland]. Here is a linguistic map of the traditional languages of Alsace.

Today, because of draconian measures by the French government, about 40 percent of the adults can speak Alsatian, but only 3 percent of the children. There is a move to revive the language, however, and I wish them well. For more information on Alsace, see this article.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alsace

This province is very rich in folk dress. From the point of view of Folk Costumes, Elsass can be divided into 6 regions. The small map has the regions outlined in color, and the large map can be blown up to read the place names.

Region 1. Wissembourg. This is in the far northeast, and is bounded by the light blue line in the first map.

While the majority of Elsass is Lutheran, there are islands of Catholics as well. As in many Germanic areas, the two communities are often distinguished by costume. There has historically been little friction between the two. The villages of Schleithal and Oberrœdern are two such islands. The costume of the two is very similar, but in Schleithal they wear white bonnets, while in Oberrœdern the bonnets are pale blue.

Slightly to the west are the villages of Hunspach, Hoffen, Ingolsheim and Seebach [Oberseebach]. This area is majority protestant and shares the same costume. Single girls wear a small cap which is wrapped around with a red ribbon knotted in front. Married women replace this with a black ribbon knotted in back that has the ends trailing. At the same time the red flowers on the fichu and apron are replaced with white. The plastron of this region is ornamented with a relatively small amount of embroidery and a large silk bow.

Region 2. Strasbourg. This is bounded by the black line in the small map and has a few sub-regions. This is the home of the famous Schlupfkapp, the cap with the giant bow which has become a symbol of Alsace.

Originally the cap was of brocade or adorned with rich gold embroidery, and was trimmed by a ribbon wrapped around the brim and tied in a bow in front.

In the period from 1830 to 1880 the bow got progressively larger, to the point where it is no longer actually tied, but folded into shape and held by a ribbon in the center. The ornament on the cap itself is now restricted to the crest in back, the only part not covered by the bow.

In the protestant manjority areas of Hanau and Strasbourg, the bow is always black, and the tails are relatively short.

In the majority catholic areas of Haguenau and Geispolsheim, unmarried girls wear red bows.

In the catholic area of Kochersberg, unmarried girls wear bows of many colors, silk plaid, brocade, or of a single color with floral designs printed, painted, or embroidered on them. The tails tend to be longer.

Let's see them all together

Over this region the men's costume tends to be similar, with many buttons.

The everyday work costume features a blue smock for the men and a large straw hat for the women.

Region 3. Lower Alsace. This is in the east of the province, shown bounded by the amber line in the small map. This includes the lowlands along the Rhine river. This area has quite a variety of costumes, many including an elaborately decorated gold cap.

Some feature a bonnet with ribbons tied under the chin. Just a very short presentation of a number of costumes, north to south.

Westhoffen

Bischoffsheim. This bonnet is also worn by young girls in neighboring areas of the Strasbourg area as the winter bonnet.

Obernai.

Meistratzheim. This area has a suncap of lace to rival that of Boulogne.

Colmar

Boutzwiller by Mulhouse

Region 4. Sundgau. This is in the highlands of the far south of the province. It is bordered by a dark blue line on the small map.

Illfurth

Dannemarie

Oltingue

Region 5. Upper Alsace. This consists of the highlands of the western part of the province. This is the area to the left of the amber line on the small map. This includes the Welschlands. [Sundgau is technically part of Upper Alsace, but I am dealing with it as a separate region.]

Munster valley. Many of the people of this area are descended from Swiss settlers. This is evident in the costume. The women wear a small cap with a an ornamental ribbon around the edge, which forms a small rosette over the beak in front. There are earflaps on the sides with ribbons which tie under the chin. These are called dalwiwala.

The woman on the left in this photo is from the neighboring valley of Soultzeren.

The Welschlands. These are people who are traditionally Francophone, as can be seen from the place names; and whose costume belongs rather to the tradition of the Vosges and Lorraine.

Girl from Lapoutroie

Man from the Bruches valley.

Couple from Grandfontaine.

Region 6. Alsace Bossue. This is the arm of Elsass which extends to the northwest. It is geographically part of the plateau of Lorraine, but is traditionally attached to Alsace because of its majority Lutheran population, whereas Lorraine is majority Catholic.

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

Here are some videos of dance groups in the costume of the Hanau area.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZGQYzzJqn1A

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m3vd9zl2yoA

Roman K.

Rkozakand@aol.com

email

Source Material:
Marguerite Doerflinger, 'Decouverte des Costumes Traditionnels en Alsace', Colmar, 1979
Michel Charvet, 'Coiffes et Costumes d'Alsace', Strasbourg, 1997
Frantisek Zvardon, 'Les Alsaciens', Strasbourg, 2009
Philippe Legin, ''Toute L'Alsace - Coutumes et Costumes Alsaciens', Colmar, 1993
Charles Spindler, 'Costumes et Coutumes d'Alsace', Colmar, 1975 [reprint]
Caroline Brancq, 'Les Costumes Regionaux d'Autrefoix', Paris, 2003

Hello all,

Croatia is a rather small country, but has an amazing number and variety of Folk Costumes. The basic difference between Croatians, Serbs and Bosniaks is nominally religion. Croatians are Roman Catholic, Serbs are Byzantine Orthodox, and Bosniaks are Muslim. Other differences are strictly local. There is no correspondence between a map of the three nationalities with the political borders, the various dialects, the various types of costumes, cultural zones, etc. Today, of course, many people have a deep seated sense of nationality, so it has become a part of their personal identity.
The Pannonian zone is comprised of the lowland areas of eastern Croatia, as well as northern Bosnia and Vojvodina. The costumes of this zone bear far more resemblance to each other than they do to other parts of any of these three countries.
Compare these two photos, the first is of a Serbian man from Slavonia, the second of a Croatian man from Slavonia.

The two sashes each have the stripes ordered according to the appropriate national flag, but that is the only significant difference.

On a map of Croatia, the Pannonian zone makes up the eastern half of the country, from the narrow waist.

I will be referring to the costumes according to their traditional cultural areas, which do not match current political divisions; this map above shows their approximate locations.These areas are often bounded by geographical features.
I will cover the areas roughly from west to east.
This map will be of some help, although many of the villages mentioned are not shown. It may be helpful to open Google maps and look up the villages as they are mentioned.
I need to stress that while I will include many costumes, this presentation is NOT exhaustive.

1. POKUPLJE

This area is in the western part of pannonian Croatia and basically consists of the basin of the Kupa river, which rises in the Dinaric mountains and passes Karlovac on its way east to drain into the Sava river.
From west to east:

Western group:

Karlovac

Draganić

Songs and dances from this region
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QogQpvgBAR0

Rečica

Eastern group

Kupinec

Bratina

Costume parade in Bratina
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=72tpiP9Cwa0

Jamnica

The pleats typical of this costume make the entire outfit come alive when doing the typical Croatian shake dances.

A commercial showing some dancing from Jamnica
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OzysdQL-x2Y

A medley of songs and dances from Pokuplje, showing three of the costumes
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lM8Ffv-3qGQ

2. PRIGORJE

This term means 'the land this side of the mountain'. The mountain referred to is the highland region just north of the city of Zagreb. This region consists of the foothills south of the mountains and includes the Zagreb area. Again, from west to east:

Jastrebarsko

Samobor

Local dance group from Samobor
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=td4VmzAi2ws

Zagreb area

Sesvete

3. ZAGORJE

This term means 'the land beyond the mountain'. This region consists of the land from the highlands just north of Zagreb to the Slovenian border and the Drava river.

Again, roughly from west to east:

Kumrovec

This area is in the northwest corner of Zagorje.

Local dance group

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FSB83uVO06M

Kupljenovo, Zaprešić and Bistra form a coherent costume region in the southwest corner of Zagorje. The differences between the costumes are small.

Bedjna is in north central Zagorje.

Jalžabet is in eastern Zagorje, not far from the ciy of Varaždin.

Songs and dances of Zagorje

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w8OFqIxRDOc

4. MEDJIMURJE

This region consists of the triangular part of Croatia which lies north of the Drava river and borders on both Slovenia [Prekmurje] and Hungary.

Songs and dances of Medjimurje

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2xaI8Mv16nA

5. PODRAVINA

This region lies in the lowlands along the Drava river where it forms the Hungarian border as far east as the city of Virovitica.

A stage presentation of wedding traditions and dances of Podravina

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FNOpJwg9CA4

6. BILOGORA

This region consists of the highlands just south of the Drava river basin.

Local dance group from Bilogora
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v5h5SK4DLSk

7. POSAVINA

The regions of Moslavina, Turopolje and Banovina have been so influenced by the costume of Posavina that I will present them as one region. This is the most famous and the most spectacular costume of Croatia. Posavina consists of the Sava river basin, especially the area south of the city of Sisak. The other three regions lie east, north and west of Posavina, and while they have retained some particular regional costumes, very often what is seen is just a variant of the Posavina costume with its extensive embroidery. The embroidery is of three types, geometric, floral, and white-on-white, including openwork.
As I have already gone on long enough, I will end this article with this costume, and continue with the regions further east in another posting.

The national ensemble Lado presenting Posavina songs and dances.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eN4RjpmOuS4

Thank you for reading, I hope that you have found this interesting.
I will have to write 3 more articles to finish this overview of Croatia.

Roman K.

Feel free to contact me at this email address.

Rkozakand@aol.com

Hello all,
Today I will continue with the Croatian costumes of eastern Pannonia. Most of this region is called Slavonia, but there are variations in the costume of various areas. Here are our two maps again.

The photo above shows one of the typical Slavonian costumes common in southern Slavonia. It is similar to the Posavina costume, but instead of having a broad band of embroidery around the hem, it has several embroidered stripes down the back of the skirt, and smaller pleats in between. This might be called the 'villagy' version. The embroidery is usually red and/or black., although, as you can see from the image above, it can also be burgundy.
The embroidery is usually repeated simple motifs, like these, although I have never seen pink used, and, of course, the stripes are done vertically.

These designs are often done in heavy yarn so as to be somewhat three-dimensional, as you can see, commonly some of the same embroidery is done on the blouse, and a relatively narrow stripe is also commonly done above the hem. The apron is sometimes linen, as here, but more commonly is of a heavy tapestry material with fringed edges. This is often tucked up so that it hangs at an angle.

The vest is of sheepskin, with a geat deal of applique which incorporates small mirrors.

Dances from Slavonia

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4lQUuh1tNjM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aifmShjbJH8

Because this area is very fertile, the peasants are relatively well off. This became reflected in the costume. In some places, the red and black cotton or linen embroidery became replaced with polychrome floral embroidery in silk.

The aprons to match this became satin or taffeta. Another version of the costume is restricted to linen, but the embroidery becomes all white, with abundant lace and openwork.

The effect of this can be simple, or quite rich and elegant.

Yet another, still richer variant exists, especially around Djakovo. This has the embroidery all done in gold and silver metallic thread.

A remarkable number of gold coins are used on ribbons around the neck. Also a number of very complex hairstyles are worn with this costume.

For cooler weather, sometimes the linen itself is replaced with silk.

Dances in the gold costume

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L7oKA3lDFnQ

In northern Slavonia, the skirts in general tend to be shorter, especially near the Drava river.

Some different costume types are found in central Slavonia;

Našice.

Opatovac

Vukojevci

Koška

Closer to the Drava, the villages of Zelčin, Ivanovci and Marjančaci

Also with the same general type of costume, the village of Nard.

Dances from this area

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Gd2RXLr5nA

Somewhat to the southeast of this area is found what has to be the most flamboyantly extravagant costume of Slavonija. This is centered on the villages of Bizovac and Brodjanci.

Dances from this region

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MgYooeSbb-k

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nQUohkfridY

North of the Drava river is the region of Baranja. This is a triangle bordered on the northwest by Hungary and on the east by the Danube river, which forms the border with Vojvodina. The costume is similar to that of Slavonija, but is distinct. Hungarian influence is also evident.

I should add that some portion of the population in this area is Serbian, but the costume is very similar.

Dances of Baranja

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5PsHnBEthRM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yybf0RYagWk

Between where the Danube turns to flow eastward and the Sava river is the region of Srijem [Srem]. A small part of this in Croatia, but most is in Vojvodina. Vojvodina is an autonomous region within Serbia. Many Serbs live there, but also many Croats, Romanians, Hungarians, Slovaks, Romany, Rusyns, and others. There is no one nationality which is in the majority.

The costume of the Croatians in Srijem greatly resembles that of southern Slavonia.

North of the Danube is the region of Bačka, still within Vojvodina.

The Croatians which inhabit this area belong to two different ethnic subgroups,

Šokci and Bunjevci, each of which migrated to this area separately quite a long time ago.

The Šokci possibly from around Srebrenica in Bosnia, the Bunjevci likely from Hercegovina.

Šokci.

These people also live just over the border in Hungary.

Dances of the Šokci

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9drP36rPrl0

Bunjevci

Bunjec dances

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xn-_Kz4SQhY

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rq34_TGWoRA

East of Bačka and Srijem, across the Tisa [Tisza] river is the region of Banat. This is currently split between Vojvodina and Romania.There are some communities of Croatians in Vojvodinian Banat. The costume does not differ much from the Serbs in the immediate vicinity.

Dances from Banat

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4LG2gJgsqV0

There are two groups of Croatians which are found even further east, in the Romanian Banat.

Rekaš [Recaș]

This costume has some similarity to others in Slavonia and elsewhere, but also some features in common with the Swabian community in the Romanian Banat.

Karaševo [Carașova]

The origin of this group is a bit murky, since, although they are Roman Catholic and self-identify as Croatians, they speak a Torlakian dialect which would have originated somewhere in the Serbian/Bulgarian border region. Likely they come from two different groups which have fused. In any case, they have a very unusual and interesting costume.

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

Songs and dances from Karaševo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y0U0XHe3eiI

A group performing dances from many of the above regions

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S5Omj3xofmE

Thank you for reading, i hope that you have found this to be interesting and informative.

Roman K.

Feel free to contact me at this email address.

Rkozakand@aol.com

Hello all,

Today I will continue my discussion of the costumes of Croatia with the Dinaric or Mountain zone. This zone consists of the mountainous regions just inland from the coast. It also includes large areas of Bosnia, Hercegovina and Montenegro. Here is our map again. We are now venturing into the western arm of Croatia. Again, the traditional regions are listed.

In my last post I mentioned pockets of Croatians living in Serbia, so I should mention here that some part of the inhabitants of Mountainous Croatia are Serbs. Here is a very coarse map of the distribution of nationalities in the former Yugoslavia. Remember that this does not show a very fine detail of distribution, many small groups are left out. Also many areas have mixed population, which this map does not show.

I will cover the various regions from north to south.

1. GORSKI KOTAR

This is the mountainous region east of the Istrian peninsula and just south of the Slovene border. It consists of the inland portion of Gorski Kotar county and the western part of Karlovac county. The culture here is closer to that of Slovenia than to the balkans.

Jelenje

Delnice

The following costumes are those used on stage by the Croatian national ensemble Lado. They seem to be from the Delnice area.

Dances from Gorski Kotar
Lado;
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UaYNqkmUg0c
Local group from Delnice
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pSCLHGD37ic
Dances from Jelenje
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f-VJo8va-Sk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WOuHIaEDZfk

2. KORDUN

This is the relatively lowlying region which is mostly in Karlovac county, east of Gorski Kotar and west of the narrow waist of Croatia. The two major cities are Ogulin in the north, and Slunj in the south. In many ways this area is transitional between the Pannonian and Dinaric zones. Again, from north to south;

Ogulin
This is often considered to be a transitional area, but I will include it with Kordun.

Tounj

Slunj

Lađevačko Selište
The red Dalmatian cap first makes its appearance here.

Rakovica

Songs and dances from Kordun

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bhF4MpuNvk4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6RZU5f95fQ4

3. LIKA

Lika is the highland region highlighted on this map, which is transitional between the northern regions and the mountains of Dalmatia. The costume in the photo at the head of the article is from Lika.

Songs and dances of Lika

A concert of Croatian Dance, the Lika set starts at 8:55
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OP5eAABGYS0
local groups;
Uhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aocvuZ6Zt1w

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3AGwQf4NZz0

4. DALMATIA

roughly from north to south.

Bukovica

Ravni Kotari

This is the inland part of the Zadar peninsula.

Dances and songs from Ravni Kotari. Some of the girls are wearing coastal costumes.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PliD8vd7iII
Songs from Benkovac
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cj0mjc3Bzdk

Knin

Miljevci

Vrlika

Songs and dances from Vrlika
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s_o_oSiCxRs

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p_uAm9dKWtU

Sinj

A glimpse of the Alka, the tournament held at Sinj
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EWXH182TpPk

Songs and dances from Sinj
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gBdkz79IuwI

Imotski

Songs and dances from Imotski
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ta7iHyoDosw

Metković

Songs and dances from Neretva valley
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mGXe7lfvLLc

Neum

There are very similar costumes found just over the border in Croatian communities in West Hercegovina

Songs and dances from this area
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EB3Yu5iiB4Q

The dinaric zone continues into Montenegro,
Some consider the two costumes of the Dubrovnik area to be Dinaric, others hold them to be Adriatic. I shall cover them with the Adriatic costumes.

This is a fascinating region costumewise.
Thank you for reading.
I hope that you have found this interesting and informative.

Roman K.

Feel free to contact me at this email address.

Rkozakand@aol.com

Hello all,

This is the last of the four articles of my overview of Croatian Costume. Today I am covering the Adriatic zone, which consists of the islands and a narrow strip of the coast of the Adriatic Sea. This may possibly be the smallest zone in terms of land area, but is extremely rich in culture and costume.

I will again cover this region from north to south.

1. Istria

Istria is the peninsula in the extreme northeast of Croatia, with the northern edge shared by Slovenia and Italy. It is an ethnically mixed area, with Croatians, Slovenes, Italians, Vlachs, Morlaks and Istriots. Chakavian, Croatian, Italian, Venetian, Slovene, Vlach [Istro-Romanian] and Istriot are all still spoken on the peninsula.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Istria
Most of the costumes which I have seen are linked with localities rather than ethnicities. I am sure that there is a great deal of information which I have only seen bits and pieces of. Here are some images of the costume of Medulin, the most commonly seen costume of Istria.

Istria and some of the islands have retained some very ancient modal forms of music.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nsQ0ERchBLA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gCxmAFy2CHU

http://www.smrikve.com/istria/books/smrikve/istrian-music/page-2/

2. Hrvatsko Primorje,

The Croatian littoral, this is the coast from the Istrian peninsula to the Zadar peninsula, around Kvarner bay.

These costumes are from the northern part of the coast, called Liburnijski Kras, near the town of Opatija.

Dances from this region

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HtsG_Jv-1Hc

This image is labelled Kvarner, so it must be from somewhere on this coast.

In form and construction, if not in color, it is very similar to the famous costume from the area around Novi Vinodolski.

.

3. The northern islands. Otok is the Croatian word for island.

Otok Krk

This is not an abbreviation, r is treated as a vowel in the Croatian language.
I have already done a pair of in-depth articles on this costume.
http://folkcostume.blogspot.com/2011/10/adriatic-costume-of-island-of-krk.html
http://folkcostume.blogspot.com/2011/10/mens-costume-of-island-of-krk-dalmatia.html

Dances and songs from Baška, Otok Krk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cPfJRSIVaKo

Otok Rab

Dance from Otok Rab
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AOnW8axJ4XA

Otok Cres

The following costumes are from Orlec on the island of Cres.

Singers in the Liburnijski Kras costume, Dancers in Cres costume enter at 1:50 mark
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2IJbVk_pRgE

Otok Susak

Dances from Susak

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KkX1D8pPYLc

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YwPSEf1xq2M

Otok Silba

Dances from Silba

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2fdN5qkaLZg

Otok Olib

A series of home movies from Olib, showing the costume in some scenes.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XXTUDptSnD0

Otok Pag

Dances from Pag
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DDAumyWQ_Ag

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-1mYg8wYhec

4. Zadar Peninsula and northern Dalmatian coast. Some communities have kept their unique local costumes. In this area, Dinaric elements can be mixed with the littoral zone elements.

Novigrad

Ražanac

This costume looks to me like the young person's costume has been lost and all are now wearing what used to be the older women's outfit. The dances and songs from this area are often performed, however.

Dances from Ražanac

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G8m7pDRPzfA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kgzkDgsIFcs

Vrsi

Nin

Privlaka

Zadar

country costume

Zadar city costume

Otok Ugljan

Otok Iž

Otok Pašman

This seems to be a song concert on Pašman, but they seem to be wearing jackets over the costume.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r2i7exk-lqo

Sveti Filip i Jakov

Pakoštane

Otok Murter

Songs and dances from Murter

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rHNB5YrHMmo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ayJ7pMrdxk

Otok Zlarin

Primošten

5. Southern Dalmatian coast and Islands. This includes the area around Split and south.

Split

The city costume of Split is very famous, and I have already written an in depth article about it.
http://folkcostume.blogspot.com/2011/12/gradska-nosnja-town-costume-of-split.html

Dances from Split
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MuMoZzuBN9E

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b-wgz6urrAw

Omiš

Otok Brač

Dances from Brač

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SXow5PI3LOg

Otok Hvar

Dances from Hvar

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3B_28gTYBXs

Makarska

Orebić

This is a town on the Pelješac peninsula.

Otok Korčula

This island also is the home of a ritual men's sword dance, the Kumpanjija, which is done in older costumes.

Dances from Korčula

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RT6x7EVXtQw

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ihMaL4XyZII

A glimpse of the Kumpanjija.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xi0aJq5Sq14

Otok Lastovo

The men are dressed in the carnival costume called pokladar, which is used for another ritual sword dance.

The Poklad of Lastovo on stage.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bgEfTnenNdc

Otok Mljet

Dubrovačko Primorje

This is the coastal region north of the city of Dubrovnik, the home of the famous dance Lindjo. The image at the head of this article is from this region.

The Lindjo

a very pretty video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N77W-YV1AoU
a video showing normal people
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gFm3OS9h0ns

Dubrovnik Konavle Čilipi

This is the costume of the coast south of Dubrovnik. I have also done an in depth article on this costume. The men's costume is essentially the same as the previous one.
http://folkcostume.blogspot.com/2011/10/costume-of-dubrovnik-county-konavlje.html

Dances from this region

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ke7oglHhJus

Boka Kotorska

The bay of Kotor is in Montenegro just beyond the southern tip of the Croatian border. There is a Croatian presence in this bay, and the costume is of the Adriatic zone.

Songs and dances from Boka Kotorska

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kA6g3aSH-hg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LJsOvuG5Y50

Well, I admit that this ended up being longer than I had expected.
Thank you for reading.
I hope that you still found it interesting and informative.
You likely noticed that many islands and coastal areas were omitted.
This is because I have little or no information as to those areas.
I would love to learn more if anyone knows any good sources.

Roman K.

email: Rkozakand@aol.com

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Interlace Embroidery of Horoden'ka, Pokuttia, Ukraine

Costume of Čičmany and vicinity, Slovakia

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Skopska Blatija Chemises and embroidery

Costume of Skopska Crna Gora, Macedonia

Costume Ra Vècia of the Ampezzo Valley, Ladin, Italy

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Overview of Croatian costume part 1; Western Pannonian Croatia

Overview of Croatian Costume part 2; Eastern Pannonia

Overview of Croatian Costume part 3; Mountain or Dinaric Zone

Overview of Croatian Costume, part 4; Adriatic Croatia