A closer view of Breton Costume; part 5, Bro Sant-Brieg or Paeï de Saent-Bérioec

Hello all, 

Today I will cover the costumes of north central Brittany, Bro St Brieg. This is called Middle Brittany by some researchers. These are less well known than the costumes of the west, and there is not as much material available. The traditional language of Western Brittany was Gallo, although Breton was spoken in some places. Gallo is a northern Romance Language of France, related to French, and is rarely heard today.

 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gallo_language

Bro Sant-Brieg in Breton 

Paeï de Saent-Bérioec in Gallo

Pays de Saint-Brieuc in French

Goelo or Goueloù in Breton 

Goëlo in French

This area has always had strong ties with Tregor to the west, and in the west and north of this region, the Tregor costume may be seen. The dividing line is the Corzic river. 

This example is from Guincamp.

Here is an image of an old costume from Goelo

In more recent times, three different coifs were worn,

1. the plain workaday coif, 'morlisienne'. This first one is from Quintin. 

The following are from Châtelaudren. 

This one is from Plaintel.

 

2. The great coif, 'ailes de pigeon', or 'pigeon wings'. This resembles the everyday coif of Quintin, but with long lace lappets on the sides that were pinned onto the top. This is worn for ceremonial occasions.  

This one is from Paimpol in the north.

 

This coif is especially beloved around Quintin, in the south of this region. 

A couple examples from Plaintel, a bit further east. This first image shows both the large coif and the bonnet. 

3. And the smaller, more urban style bonnet, edged with ruched lace. The image at the head of the article shows two women from this area wearing the bonnet. 

Paimpol

Pommerit le Vicomte

Châtelaudren-Plouagat

Quintin

Here is a modern photo of a woman wearing a simplified and ineptly made version of this coif. This should not be copied. Compare the details to the images above. Also the outfit should have the opening in front. 

City of Saint Brieg

St Brieuc in French

The plain everyday coif was worn here as well. 

This was replaced later, except for ceremonial occasions, with the urban bonnet, rich with ruched lace, and more elaborate and sophisticated than the country versions, with broad ties. Individual examples varied in flamboyancy. 

 

Later, like in most of Brittany, the coif shrank till it covered just the top rear of the head. More dressy ones were embroidered, those for daily wear were more plain. 

There was, of course some regional variation. In the southeast of this area, the ties remained.

La Trinité-Porhoët

Plumieux

Monkontour

Moncontour in French

Plouguenast

Lanball in Gallo

Lambal in Breton

Lamballe in French

For more ordinary occasions, the coif was made of more plain material, the two lappets were folded in half and then wrapped around the rear of the coif and pinned into place. 

Style of Yffigniac. 

Style of Langueux.

Lamballe and Maroue

In this region, the great winged coif is also worn. It tends to be arranged more vertically than in neighboring regions. It is paired with the great shawl common to north Brittany. 

This is worn by dancers still today. 

A petite coif was developed from the great coif in later years. Here are a couple of photos from St Alban. 

For everyday work, a form of the capot was worn. It was black for cool weather, and white calico or muslin for summer. 

This example is from Gouessant 

In Erquy it developed a particular shape, with the emphasis on the front brim being elongated and the drapes in back reduced.

For formal periods of mourning, an all enveloping cape was worn. 

Lanyugon in Breton

The costume of this region is similar to those around it. Here are some old drawings of the Jugon costumes. 

The grand coif was not unknown in this region. This example is from Plancoët.

This is what the original linen coif looked like. 

Later the coif became small and perched on the back of the head, with the lappets folded over the top and a bow in back. 

These examples are from the Jugon area. 

These examples are from the Plédéliac area, and are similar. 

In Plancoët, to the northeast, the coif developed differently. Here are images of the older coif. 

In the north, around St Cast and Matignon, the capot was worn for work. 

For dress occasions, they wore a coif which resembled the old grand coif, but with narrow wings. 

The plain coif on top was worn for mourning, and the lace one below for ceremonial occasions. 

And that concludes this article and the costumes of St. Brieuc. I will continue the costumes of Brittany in two more articles to come, the northeast and the southeast.