Hello all, Today I am going to talk about a type of costume which was found in the southern and western parts of the Karelian Isthmus. The Finns call this type of costume 'Rekko', after the particular kind of embroidery done on the chemise. This embroidery is done on the front just under the collar and results in the opening being on the side, as you can see in this image above. Karelia is a contiguous region, but references to it are complicated, as it is divided into three parts politically. Here is a map showing the various regions of Karelia. The regions of South Karelia [Etelä-Karjala] and North Karelia [Pohjois-Karjala] are within the current borders of the Finnish state. The regions of White Karelia, Olonets Karelia and Ladoga Karelia are within the Karelian Republic of Russia. This also includes the region of Zaonezhia, which lies east of Lake Onega and which is populated solely by Russians, so as to dilute the percentage of Karelians within the Republic. The Karelian isthmus [Karjalankannas] is currently part of Leningrad Oblast in Russia, along with Ingria. The famous Kalevala was written in Karelia. The Karelians are closely related to the Finns, speaking a family of dialects which are considered to be Finnish or a closely related language, Generally, the areas east of the border and Lake Ladoga are considered to speak Karelian, while the areas in Finland, the Karelian Isthmus and the region north of Lake Ladoga are considered to speak Karelian dialects of Finnish. There is also a community of Orthodox Karelians living in Tver' Oblast in Russia. They moved there to escape religious persecution by the Lutherans, but unfortunately they have mostly been assimilated by the Russian population. The Karelian isthmus, along with a strip of territory north of Lake Ladoga was annexed by the Soviet Union from Finland in the 1940's. This land is still shown on Finnish maps. The costume which I will be addressing today was found in various versions in the southern part of the Finnish Karelian Isthmus, together with communities of Ingrian Finns including Tuuteri [Tuutari] in Ingria, which is south of the previous border. This costume is still maintained by the small community of Karelians and Ingrian Finns which remain in the area, as well as by many who now live within the current borders of Finland. The history and ethnogeography of this region is rather complicated, including, besides the Finns and Karelians the Votes, Izhorians, Ingrian Finns, Veps, Swedes, and Russians. For more information see these articles. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karelian_Isthmus http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ingria http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karelia As you can see from this map, besides Tuuteri, costumes with the rekko are found in the districts of Koivisto, Kuolemajärvi, Uusikirkko, Muolaa, Äyräpää, Kanneljärvi, Valkjärvi, Kivennapa, Rautu, Sakkola, and Metsäpirtti. These have, of course. now all been given Russian names. There are differences of detail between the costumes of the various districts. This costume was also found south of the border in some parts of Ingria, particularly in districts north of St. Petersburg, like Miikkulainen, and Vuole, but also in the district of Skuoritsa, which borders Tuuteri on the southwest, and the district of Tyrö on the Baltic coast to the north and west of Tuuteri [Tuutari]. Here is a photograph of the rekko paita or chemise. This particular example is from Sakkola. The rekko is a center piece in the front of the chemise which is gathered into tubes as for smocking. Embroidery is done across these tubes and onto the neighboring piece of material Here is a schematic of a rekko chemise. Unlike English smocking, the gathering threads are left in place, and the result is not elastic. The design, color and extent of the embroidery varies by district. Here is a closeup of a rekko from Valkjärvi done in orange, blue and white wool. Apparantly the original color of rekko embroidery was golden yellow. Some shade of yellow/orange still seems to generally be the primary color. The side opening is held closed by an engraved silver or pewter brooch, smaller for single girls, and larger for married women. This is the size of brooch which would be given to a girl by her fiance. Here are a few images I took from a Finnish woman's blog showing how she made a rekko from Kivennapa, step by step. She is an amazing seamstress and makes Sarafans as well. Her name seems to be Soja. Here is a link to her blog.It is very inspiring to see her work. http://soja.blogit.fi/tag/rekko/ Here are a couple of closeups of a rekko from Kuolemajärvi. Here is a closeup of a rekko from the district of Tyrö in Ingria. Sometimes you will see one of these costumes made with a fake rekko, substituting it with a patch just sewn onto the chemise, like this example from Tuuteri. This photo is from a catalog of a company that makes mass produced costumes. It is much easier to do this. Here is a closeup of the rekko embroidery from Metsäpirtti.This photo looks like the embroidery was originally done over the smocking and then was cut off and sewn onto a newer chemise. The photo was taken from this webpage, which shows every detail of the Metsäpirtti costume and has detailed instructions on how to make it, in Finnish, [Karelian?]. The images are not of the best quality, but the information is still very valuable and interesting. http://www.metsapirtti.net/perinne/metsapirttipuku/luku6.htm Besides the rekko, embroidery is done on a narrow band or stand-up collar, on the cuffs, and in Tuuteri, Skuoritsa and Tyrö on the shoulders above or below the sleeve seam. In the area from Sakkola to Vuole, a colored strip of printed cotton cloth was sometimes inserted in this seam. See the image above. Here is an example from Miikkulainen. In Ingria, the sleeves are often gathered at the top of the shoulder. This is the collar to the Kivennapa chemise that Soja shows on her blog. On the Karelian isthmus, sarafans were worn in the east and south, and skirts in the north and west. The Rekko costumes are of either type, depending on district. This map shows the sarafan-wearing area shaded and stippled. There are two similar cuts used for the sarafan in this area. Examples from Sakkola An example from Miikkulainen. In Tuuteri and Skuoritsa the upper part is ornamented. On the west side of the isthmus, a skirt is worn, either of a single color, as in Muolaa, or plaid with striped broadcloth sewn onto the bottom hem, as in Koivisto and Kuolemajärvi. In Ingria the rekko costume is also sometimes worn with a skirt. Aprons are either wool or linen, usually with woven in designs, and/or embroidery. The linen aprons often have nyytinki bobbin-lace inserts and/or edging, like this example from Sakkola. Tan leather shoes are worn which are typical of Karelia, and are similar to those worn by the Saami [Lapps], but shorter. They have a distinctive pointed toe. Girls wear a headband or ribbon around the head. In Ingria in particular this was often highly ornamented with beadwork and metal plates. Here is an example from Tyrö. While married women wear a headdress called sorokka, which is made of cloth with embroidery and/or appliqued ribbon, and ties around the head. Here are a couple of examples. Here is what the two constituent pieces look like Here are some more examples of the embroidery on the sorokka. I will close with some photos showing the various forms of this costume in the various districts. Koivisto Kuolemajärvi Uusikirkko and Kanneljärvi Muolaa Äyräpää Kivennapa Valkjärvi Sakkola and Rautu Metsäpirtti Miikkulainen and Vuole Tuuteri Skuoritsa Tyrö Thank you for reading, I hope that you have found this interesting and informative. I find this type of embroidery to be fascinating. I hope that some of you will find a way to adapt this idea and make something beautiful to enrich the world. Here is a Finnish website where you can order some of these costumes http://www.kansallispuvut.fi/puvut/koivisto_np.htm 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. [email protected] email Source material: Ildiko Lehtinnen, 'Rahwaan Puku Folk Costume', Helsinki, 1984 Leena Hokkanen, 'The Bobbin-Laces of Karelian National Costumes', Saksa, Finland, 1991 Sylvi Kauhanen, 'Kansallispukuja', Helsinki, 1952 Ritva Somerma, 'Kansallispukuja', Lahti, Finland, 1991 Ritva Somerma, 'Finnish National Dresses', Lahti, Finland, 1987 Viola Malmi et al, 'Kostium i Prazdnyk', Petrozavodsk, Karelia, 2008 T. Jashkova, 'Kostium Karelii', Petrozavodsk, Karelia, 2009 Also the website of Finnish Museums online, which has remarkable images of items from various collections. http://suomenmuseotonline.fi/en
Hello all, Today I will be doing an overview of the costumes of yet another of the minority peoples of Europe, the Sorbs. These people are also called Lusatians, and sometimes Wends. Lusatia is the name of the area in which they live, and Wend is an old Germanic term for 'stranger', it is cognate with the term Welsh, meaning someone whose language is totally other. [One the flip side, Slavs refer to Germans as 'Nemets', which means 'mute', i.e. one incapable of comprehensible speech.] They do not today accept the name of Wend. The Sorbs are a Slavic people who speak a language, or two closely related languages which are similar to Czech and Polish. There are two literary standards, Upper Sorbian - Hornjoserbsce, and Lower Sorbian - Dolnoserbski. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sorbian_languages They once occupied a territory from the edge of the Czech Republic and Poland as far north as Berlin along the Spree River, but they have been assimilated by the Germans over much of their historic territory. Here is the location of Lusatia. As you can see, it is split between Saxony and Brandenburg. About 40,000 people speak Upper Sorbian in the south and about 20,000 people speak Lower Sorbian in the north of this territory. They call themselves Serby. For more information see this article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sorbs Here is a closer view of Lusatia. All of the municipalities in this area have names in both German and Sorbian. The four generations shown in the initital photograph are wearing the Lower Sorbian Costume from the area of the city of Borkow [Burg]. This is worn in one version or another throughout the region of Chóśebuz (Cottbus), The headdress is meant to look like one very large scarf tied in a knot, but its largest iteration is actually made of three separate pieces pinned together. In the everyday costume it is much smaller, and is actually made of one large scarf. This is the best known of the Sorbian costumes. An overview of the costumes of this region is made more difficult by the fact that each local tradition may have a work costume, everyday costume, going out costume, church costume, dance costume, bridal party costume, etc. There are generally considered to be 11 costume regions. I will name each region first in Sorbian, and then in German. These are all shown on this map above. We will travel roughly north to south. Lower Lusatia: 1. Nowa Niwa (Neu Zauche) 2. Lubnjow ( Lübbenau) 3. Chóśebuz (Cottbus) Video of a street dance in the town of Hus (Maust), to the northeast of Chóśebuz (Cottbus). The girls have dressed up in the costume but not bothered to put the headdress on. I give you the Annemarie polka. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ELus-utQMiQ&feature=endscreen Video of a dance performance from this region by the Sorbian National Ensemble. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LWwC1mnimI8 4. Zły Komorow (Senftenberg) & Grodk (Spremberg) Upper Lusatia: 5. Mužakow (Muskau) 6. Slepo (Schleife) Video of a folk song from this region 'Daj mi Jadno Jajko' https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Km_-Rl44Z6s&feature=endscreen 7. Wojerecy (Hoyerswerda) 8..Wochoz (Nochten) 9. Klětno (Klitten) 10 Budyšin (Bautzen) This costume and the following one have overlapping regions, this costume is found in the southern and eastern parts and is only worn by Protestants. 11. Kamjenc (Kamenz) & Radwor (Radibor) This costume is found in the northern and western areas and is only worn by Catholics. Video of a dance performance from this region. Including one girl dressed as a bride, in the black headdress. This group is from the town of Wudwor. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kiq1g_NLdmo There is, in fact, one more costume which is worn sometimes. This is a simplified version of the costume of the central regions, Zły Komorow (Senftenberg) & Grodk (Spremberg), Slepo (Schleife), and Wojerecy (Hoyerswerda). This is known as the 'Half-German' costume, and is sometimes used by dance groups for performances. What it lacks in distinctiveness, it makes up for in simplicity and ease of dressing. Here is a video of the Sorbian Folk Dance Group Schmerlitz, from the town of Smjerdźaca, I assume, doing a dance called Hanka. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KfOwXL0JlgE This is, of course, the barest taste of Sorbian Costume. You may notice that in most of the regions above, there was one image that did not fit in with the rest. Usually this is the costume associated with weddings, which differ dramatically from the other costumes used in each area. There are, of course, other variations depending on age and occasion. One last image of the Sorbian National Ensemble singing with a mix of costumes. Thank you for reading, I hope you have found this interesting. Feel free to contact me with requests for research. I hope to eventually cover all of Europe and the Former Russian Empire/Soviet Union. I also gratefully accept tips on source materials which i may not have. I also accept commissions to research/design, sew, and/or embroider costumes or other items for groups or individuals. I also choreograph and teach folk dance. Roman K. [email protected] email Here is a website which shows some of the variation of the Lower Sorbian costume. The website is in German. http://spreewald-frauenchor.de/trachten.html Here is a link to some videos of the performances of the Sorbian National Ensemble. http://www.sne-gmbh.de/index.php?id=2410 Source Material: Lotar Balke & Albrecht Lange, 'Sorbisches Trachtenbuch', Bautzen, 1985 Měrćin Nowak & Pawoł Nedo, 'Serbske narodne drastwy 1.zwězk - Drasta Slepjanskich Serbow', Budyšyn, 1954 Jan Meškank, 'Serbske narodne drastwy 2.zwězk - Drasta Katolickich Serbow', Budyšyn, 1957 Měrćin Nowak-Njechorński &Lotaŕ Balko, 'Serbske narodne drastwy 4.zwězk - Drastwa Serbow wokoło Chośebuza', Budyšyn, 1964,1991 Błažij Nawka, 'Serbske narodne drastwy 5a.zwiazk - Drasta Serbow Wokoło Wochoz', Gerat Apelt & Albrecht Langa, 'Serbske narodne drastwy 5b.zwjazk - Drasta Serbow Wokoło Klětnoho', Budyšin, 1979 Błažij Nawka 'Serbske narodne drastwy 6.zwiazk - Drasta Evangelskich Serbow Budyskeho Kraja', Budyšin, 1979 Lotar Balko, ' Sorbische Stickereien', Bautzen, 1976 Rolf Langematz & Pawoł Nedo (Paul Nedo), 'Sorbische Volkskunst', Bautzen 1968
Hello all, Today I will do an overview of the costumes of the Saami people. Previously they were called Lapps, but this is not wh...
Katalog fra Husfliden om Åmlibunaden.
Beautiful Norwegian brides in their folk costumes and with amazing bridal crowns! I wish I had at least three of those.
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Back in April I attended an event held at the open air museum of Fredriksdal. It focused on Swedish civilians and soldiers ca 1800-10. We got to live in the houses, cook in the fireplaces, even sleep in the beds. I didn’t do the latter, as the weather was cold and windy, I’m having a bit of a tough pregnancy, and to top it off, had just had pneumonia. I thought it safer to sleep in my own warm bed, and just stayed the one day, but still had a good time. The event, which was rather small and intimate, still attracted participants from the whole country, and even a few from Norway. Fredriksdal is located in the county of Skåne (Scania) and most of the houses are from there, so those women in attendance who, like me, are from this part of the country, chose to dress according to the local fashion, which in this case meant folk costumes, still in daily use at the time. Our feast day clothes wouldn’t do, so we tried to tone it down for an everyday look. Trickier than you might think, as very little evidence remains as to what was worn then. When it comes to the fancy clothes, much is known, but as usual, no one really cared to document what people wore when working in the kitchen garden. I made a brown wool skirt for the occasion, which I intend to also use as a petticoat for my fancy folk costume. Brown wool skirts from my parish are mentioned in estate inventories, but are far from as common as the usual blue and green, or the reasonably common black. I had a suitable fulled, twill woven wool at home though, so it had to do, even if it was brown. It is constructed from straight panels. My fabric was 150 cm wide, but as the extant skirts I know of are usually made from narrower widths I cut my panels in half, and stitched them back up again, making four narrow ones in total, and a width of close to 3 metres. The hem was faced with a strip of unbleached linen. The skirt is smooth in front, as seen in extant skirts, and has the fullness taken in by stroked gathers at the sides and back, that are secured with rows of stitches, seen only from the inside. It closes by a sturdy brass hook and eye half way to the left side. I don’t know how they did about pockets – in some mid-19th century folk costume skirts there are stitched in pockets, like in modern skirts of the time, but for earlier decades I’m unsure if they wore loose pockets or not. I left a slit open in the right side seam anyway, so if need be I can tie a pocket round my waist. In the end the brown skirt ended up used as a petticoat at the event, as I decided I wanted two skirts for warmth, and wore my usual blue skirt on top. In the period manner I flipped the blue skirt up over my shoulders to keep out the wind every now and then, so I didn't make the brown one in vain. I also made a new bodice. I intend for it to be trimmed with blue silk ribbons, and replace my old fancy silk bodice as that one has become rather too small. For the event I used it untrimmed though. It’s made from fine brushed wool, lined with unbleached linen, and closes in front with three pairs of brass hooks and eyes, but most of the closure is hidden beneath the skirt. The wide opening would be held by buckles and a chain for best, but for everyday was likely left as was. At the bottom of the bodice a rather thick, padded linen roll is stitched, on which the skirts rest. Having a full figure was considered attractive by the country folk at this time and place, and you do feel rather important in an "I break for nobody" kind of way when you come walking along the road in all your matronly fullness, especially when you wear several wool skirts on top of each other. It's far from what is considered an attractive figure today, which make rather few people recreate it as close to the originals as I try to, but go the more 'inspired' route. I'll post more detailed pictures of the bodice when it's trimmed and have the buckles attached. As for the apron, I didn’t want to use my fancy one, as I expected to cook and do greasy dishes – a good decision it turned out. Instead I whipped one up from a piece of cotton fabric that I had intended to purge from stash. It’s not perfectly period, the fabric isn't quite right and it's much too narrow, but woven stripes were popular, and the fabric had a sort of washed out, sun bleached, worn look to it that I thought would do for everyday. I never got any decent pictures of myself from the actual event (though I can be seen in a couple of these), so I took proper pictures the other day. The weather is a lot warmer now than in April, so I could ditch the knitted spedetröja I had to wear to the event, despite it feeling too fancy. For the pictures I wore the bodice and skirt over just an unbleached linen shift (for an everyday shift I’m not sure if it should have a collar or not...), and accessorised it with the ever present apron and head kerchief. As the temperature is pleasant I went without stockings or any form of shoes. I want a pair of wooden clogs, but all in good time. The outfit might have been a little later than the event called for, as most of the sources I base it off are from Ca 1825-50, and I generally aim for the 1830’s-40’s in my fancy version of the folk costume, but ah well. I’m still not quite sure how historically accurate this outfit is, but at the very least I think it's plausible and believable. I may have to revise it in future, but then we always do, don’t we? Sources: My Pinterest board of extant clothing and period images from the area. Mostly fancy versions. Allmogedräkten i Oxie härad, (1978) by Helge Andersson.
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Düben, Lotten von / Nordiska museet. Lisens: Public domain.
Hello all, Today I will do an overview of the costumes of the Saami people. Previously they were called Lapps, but this is not what they call themselves, and they consider the term to be pejorative. The origin of the word Lapp is controverted, but it may be from Old Finnish/Estonian for a place far away. The Land of the Saami; Sápmi, Sábme, or Saemie, depending on the Dialect, is split between four nation-states, Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Russia. It consists of the northern part of the Fenno-Scandian peninsula. Here is the webpage of the artist who created this map, Hans Ragnarmathisen http://www.keviselie-hansragnarmathisen.net/ The Saami do not have political recognition as a people, but they do have a flag. The colors of the flag are the same colors used in Saami costume, for the most part. Linguists group the various Saami dialects into 9 Languages, of which 3 are moribund. These languages are completely unrelated to Norwegian, Swedish or Russian, and only distantly related to Finnish. There are about 160,000 Saami worldwide, of which maybe 20,000 speak one of their native languages. In spite of this linguistic diversity, they do indeed think of themselves as one people, and recently have been very active politically. For more information see these articles. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sami_people http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sami_languages There are a large number of blogs and articles online as well. I will be following the linguistic groups in my discussion of the costumes. Here are two maps which show the different groups. The second one omits the three moribund languages, but has many useful place names. I will be referring to both groups and locations throughout the article. Saami languages were also once spoken much further south. This second map lumps some of the groups together: 1 Southern Saami 2 Central Saami 3. Northern Saami 4 Inari Saami 5 Skolt Saami 6 Kola Saami The term which the Saami use for their costume is Gákti. This has been borrowed into Norwegian as Kofte, into Swedish as Kolt, and into Finnish as Takki. There is no equivalent in Russian. The couple at the head of the article are wearing the costume which is the most famous, from Kautokeino (Guovdageaidnu) in Norway. [Throughout this article I will give the internationally recognized name of a location first, followed by the Saami name in parentheses.] This is undoubtedly the poster child of the Saami group, being one of the most colorful and impressive. Most of the Gákti have the same basic construction, however. The main part of the costume consists of a pullover, which is basically the same for men and women, the mens' version hangs about mid thigh, while the womens' hangs to the knee or mid calf, depending on the local variation. The following drawings by Max Tilke show the basic cut. The first is a woman's garment from 'Tornelappmark', which is an old name for far northern Sweden. This is a man's garment, place of origin unspecified. This shows a pair of pants and a variety of different hats and bonnets used by the Saami. The basic garment is belted with either a woven sash or leather strap, which may be variously ornamented. Men wear pants, and women also in cold weather; low boots with woven straps are worn, some of plain leather and others of reindeer fur. Reindeer fur leggings are worn in winter over the pants, these sometimes have 'wings' attached to the upper edge. Hats and bonnets vary greatly according to location. The basic color of the cloth is usually the blue of the Saami flag, but it may be black, off-white, or sometimes green. Garment pieces may also be of leather. The trim is almost always red and yellow, with some green added at times. Overgarments of reindeer fur are worn in winter. DMC has put out a book titled 'Lapland Embroideries', but NONE of the embroidery designs pictured in the book are Saami. There are a couple of designs from the woven sashes on p. 40, but the rest of the designs are from various other northern peoples ranging from the Icelanders to the Nanai. The Saami do not traditionally do embroidery as such. They do a lot of applique and patchwork on their costumes, and they do a type of metal couching using pewter wire. This is commonly done on belts, and on the bags which hang from the belt, and are also done on the dickey which is worn under the main garment in many Saami costumes. Here are a couple examples of this work, In the eastern parts of Sabme, beadwork is also done. In this image, the two woven sashes are Northern Saami from Enontekiö (Eanodat) in Finland, and the beaded one is Skolt Saami. I will now give short illustrations of the costumes of the various groups. This will by no means be exhaustive, as there are many regional types, and detailed information is difficult to find on some of them. Please refer to the above maps. SOUTH SAAMI There are about 2000 South Saami, of whom perhaps 600 can speak the language. Here is the costume from between Femunden and Saltfjellet in Norway. A closeup of the dickey, pin, purse and belt of this costume. Notice the pewter wire couching. This costume is from around Idre in Dalarna, Sweden. This young man is also South Saami from Sweden, from around AmmarnäsTärnaby, VilhelminaÅsele. CENTRAL SAAMI The central Saami traditionally spoke the Ume, Pite and Lule languages, going from south to north. Ume Saami currently has about 10 speakers, and Pite Saami has between 25 and 50. There are more who no longer speak the language. So many good sources of images do not bother to record the exact origin, so many of the images which I have are simply marked 'Sweden' or 'Norway'. I have not been able to find many images of these people. Ume Saami This is the only image which I have been able to find which is unequivocably Ume Saami. This woman is LenaMaria Nilsson who is active in Saami politics. Pite Saami Lule Saami Lule Saami is still spoken by perhaps 2000 people, the second largest of the Saami languages. A Lule Saami couple from Tysfjord Norway Lule Saami from Jokkmokk (Jåhkåmåhkke or Dálvvadis) in Sweden NORTHERN SAAMI The Northern Saami are found in the northernmost parts of Norway, Sweden, and Finland. Theirs is the largest of the Saami languages at 15,000 or more speakers. There are districts where they are still the majority population. There are a dozen or more very colorful costumes worn by the Northern Saami I will highlight just a few. Sweden: Jukkasjärvi (Čohkkirasjávri) Karesuando (Karesuanto, Gárasavvon or Karasavvon) Norway These are some of the Northern Saami costumes found in Norway. Troms (Romsa) Varanger (Várnjárga) Karasjok (Kárášjohka) The same basic costume is also worn in Tana. You can see the 'wings' on the fur leggings on the man. Kautokeino ( Guovdageaidnu) This is often described as 'embroidered', but in fact the ornamentation consists of rows of appliqued patterned ribbon. Finland The costumes of Enontekiö (Eanodat) are basically the same as in Kautokeino (Guovdageaidnu) Sodankylä (Soađegilli) Utsjoki (Ohcejohka) INARI SAAMI The Inari and Skolt languages are each highly divergent from the other Saami languages. About 300 people currently speak this language, although there is a movement to start teaching it to younger people. The Inari only live in Finland. SKOLT SAAMI The Skolt Saami number about 1250 and live in Norway, Finland and Russia, although most of the 400 speakers of the language live in Finland. Some of them abandoned the Gáktii for chemise and Sarafan as worn by their neighbors, The Karelians and the White Sea Russians. The women wear beaded caps which are similar to the Sorokka worn by the Karelians. KOLA SAAMI These only live in Russia. Of the three languages, Akkala is extinct, and 2 people still speak Ter. Kilden Saami is still spoken by perhaps 600 people. It is not used much in daily life, and most Saami in Russia do not speak it. I have found several images of Saami from Russia, but I do not have information as to which costume comes from which location. Some of these may be Skolt. Here is one blog which is devoted to Saami culture. This is well worth looking over for more information and links. http://saamiblog.blogspot.com/ Thank you for reading. I hope that you have found this interesting. The circumstances in which the Saami find themselves, being split by political borders, having local ways of speaking which are unintelligible to other communities, having no common language of their own, Identity at best ignored or often suppressed by the governments of the majority people are not unique. They are unfortunately similar for many indigenous people around the world. Each culture is a unique treasure which in a sense belongs to humanity at large. We should at least be aware of them. I have pieced this article together from many sources, and while I have caught some obvious errors, there may be others which have found their way into this article. I am particularly unsure concerning the material from Sweden. If anyone, Saami or otherwise notices such errors, I apologize and would greatly appreciate better information and images. Thank you. 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. [email protected] Source Material: Ulf Hård af Segerstad, 'Dakkan En Bok om Samernas Slöjd', Malmö, Sweden, 1971Rolf Kjellström et al, 'Saami Daaidda', Helsinki, 1981 Heidi Fossnes, 'Norges Bunader og Samiske Folkedrakter', Oslo, 1994 Liv Trotzig et al, 'Sockendräkter Dalarna', Dalarna, 1976 Natalia Kalashnikova et al, 'National Costumes of the Soviet Peoples', Moscow, 1990 L. N. Molotova, 'Folk Art of the Russian Federation', Leningrad, 1981 Max Tilke, 'East European Costumes', London, 1926 Charles Holme, ed., 'Peasant Art in Sweden, Lapland, and Iceland', London, 1910 Laila Duran, 'Scandinavian Folklore vol I - III', AB, Sweden, 2011-2013 Much of this material I found online, I thank all those who make such information available. Upon request I will include explicit sources of the images. Thank you
Explore pilllpat (agence eureka)'s 59449 photos on Flickr!
On the Danish island of Fanø, wedding parties don traditional folkwear. For the dance workshop, the dress code is less formal... and more...
Hello all, This is the second part of my overview of the costumes of Norway. This will cover the central row of provinces in Eastern Norway, the yellow and orange ones on the map below, minus the ones I covered in the first article. This includes the provinces of Oppland, Buskerud, Telemark, and East and West Agder. All of these have at least some areas in which folk costumes were a living tradition or within living memory at the beginning of the 20th cent. The National Bunad Council Bunad- og Folkedraktrådet , the authority on national costumes appointed by the government, has developed five categories to grade modern day bunads according to ‘authentic’ regional folk clothing: Category 1 – a bunad that represents a final link in the development of a folk costume. This is basically an original folk costume that has taken on the function of a bunad. Category 2 – a bunad that has a background in a particular folk costume that is out of use but not forgotten. It is generally reconstructed from first-hand knowledge, with many examples extant. Category 3 – a bunad that has been reconstructed from preserved folk garments which reflect the actual time and region of the piece. Pictures and writings may be used as sources in reconstruction. Category 4 – a bunad that has been made based on random and incomplete folk material. Missing pieces have been designed to match the style of the materials. Category 5 – a bunad that has been completely or partially freely composed. It was the 1800s bunad movement that has given these types of bunad their status. New bunads are being designed every year, and must go through the strict judgement process of the National Bunad Council in order to be classified as a proper ‘bunad’. The council is very strict in making sure new additions follow closely the traditions and history of the area. Because of this, many designs today, even though they have the same function as a bunad, generally don’t make the cut and thus can not be called ‘bunads’. They receive the name ‘drakt’ instead. . Costumes are readily available in Norway, there are many businesses which make them. These are called Husflid. They are, however, expensive, as the Norwegians believe in paying a living wage to people who do things like embroider or weave by hand. For every one of these costumes, whether bunad or drakt, there is at least one sewing house, or husflid, which specializes in making it. So let us continue. Oppland This is divided into the three districts of Vestoppland, Gudbrandsdal, and Valdres. The image at the top of the article is one of the bunads from Gudbrandsdal which has never gone out of usage, the Rondestakken. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oppland Vestoppland One of the costumes which represent this region was designed by the noted artist Alf Lundeby in 1932. The Lundeby costume comes in black, blue, or white. It remains very popular. Lundeby Drakt cat 5 Vestoppland Bunad This was designed in 1937 from pieces found in different parts of Vestoppland. cat 5 The next three costumes each represent a part of Vestoppland. Hadeland Bunad Hadeland is the southern part of Vestoppland, around Randsfjord. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hadeland The Hadeland Bunad is an accurate reconstruction of the local dress in the mid 1800s. It was made in plaids of different colors. Plaids are common in several neighboring districts as well. Girls wore a pale cap, married women a black one. The cap had a lace ruffle, similar to that in some Danish costumes. Like with all bunads, an underskirt must be worn. cat 3 Toten is in the east central part of Vestoppland. Toten drakt This design was finalized in 1971, based on pieces of costume found in this area. men cat 5, women cat 4 Land, or Nordre Land, is in the northern part of Vestoppland. Landingsdrakt Work on the costume started in 1927 and was finalized in 1980. The embroidery was taken from an old shawl found in Hadeland. cat 5 Gudbrandsdal Gudbrandsdal is a valley which extends from Lillehammer to the northwest. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gudbrand_Valley The men wear a red wool plaid vest, or, for more formal occasions, a brocade vest may be worn. Sometimes an older form of frock coat may be worn as well. This is shown in the second image. cat 4 Rondastakken or Livkjol cat 1 This bunad is part of a living tradition in the valley. It is not designed or reconstructed.The most recent version is called rondastakken, which means 'striped skirt'. These were made with homewoven cloth, striped for the skirt, and plaid for the attached bodice. Livkjol means 'bodice skirt' and refers to the construction. Other types of cloth were also used in the past, and these have now come back into use. It was known that in the early 1800's it was the fashion to wear embroidered skirts. Some of these skirts have been preserved in museums. Embroidery from these skirts were copied onto wool and used to make a livkjol with an embroidered skirt. This was the origin of the Gudbrandsdal Bunad. The original skirt for this embroidery was from Lom. cat 4 The same embroidery was used in the 1920s to make the Gudbrandsdal Formal bunad. The bodice was also made of wook most often of the same color and also received embroidery, as did the pocket. An apron with matching embroidery was also sometimes worn. This became very popular and was the origin of the Embroidered Bunad type which was copied in so many places around Norway with different embroidery patterns, several of which we have already seen. cat 5 Another designed bunad used embroidery from a skirt found at the Graffer Farm. This is called the Graffer Bunad and remains very popular today. cat 4 Jorde Bunad This was designed by Maria Jorde from Bøverdal in Lom. cat 5 Other similar bunads represent particular parts of Gudbrandsdal. Lesja Bunad or Rutastakk cat 2 Gausdals Bunad cat 4 Dovre Bunad cat 5 Lillehammer Bunad. This comes in blue with multicolored embroidery, or green or red with monochromatic gold embroidery of the same design. cat 5 Valdres This valley lies in the southern part of Oppland. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valdres Rutastakken This is the Valdres equivalent of the Rondestakken of Gudbrandsdal. In this bunad, the skirt as well as the bodice is plaid, of many kinds. The matching mens costume also features a plaid wool vest and a black jacket. This was common in the second half of the 19th cent. cat 3 Valdres has two livkjol type embroidered bunads. The 'Old' Valdres Bunad This was designed in 1914. cat 5 The 'New' Valdres Bunad This was designed in 1948. cat 5 The South. or lower Valdres Bunad cat 3 Upper Valdres Bunad, or Bringedukdrakt This has been established as the bunad for Upper Valdres, namely Vang and Slidre. The second term refers to the stomacher or plastron which is inserted into the bodice. This was typical for the first half of the 19th cent. The everyday costume is plain blue. cat 3 Buskerud Buskerud borders on Oslo on the southeast, but also extends up into two major mountain valleys, Hallingdal and Nemedal. These border Valdres, Telemark and Hordaland, all areas in which the costume tradition is strong. There are also smaller distinct areas in central Buskerud, Ringerike in the north, and the coherent costume region of Siggdal-Eggedal-Krødsherad in the center. The lowland areas lost their costume tradition early, but the high mountain valleys were still wearing their traditional costumes at the beginning of the 20th century when the bunad movement began. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buskerud Ringerike This is just downstream from Valdres in the same valley. In the past it was an independent fief. It extends south to the province of Oslo. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ringerike_(traditional_district) There is both a local drakt cat 4 and an embroidered bunad. cat 5 Mends bunad is cat 3 Ådal is a valley in the municipality of Ringerike They have their own embroidered bunad, designed in 1938 cat 5 Hønefoss This bunad was designed in 1954 cat 5 Lower Buskerud This is shown in light blue on the map with the exception of Ringerike. In these low lying areas close to the capitol, the bunads are designed or recreated. There is an embroidered bunad, cat 5,which was designed in 1939 for all of Lower Buskerud: Eiker, Lier, Drammen, Modum, Hurum, Sandsvaer and Røyken. Some of these also have their own bunads or drakten. Hurum Bunad This was a free composition in 1994 cat 5 Røyken drakt A free composition in 1992 cat 5 Lier Bunad This was a free composition completed in 1974. men cat 4, women cat 5 Modum drakt cat 5 Eiker drakt cat 5 Kongsberg drakt cat 5 Hallingdal This is one of the most famous valleys of Norway for costume, embroidery and folklore. These three valleys have distinct costumes, but they intergrade from one to the other. I have written an article on Hallingdal already. I may have to update it, as I have learned more since I wrote it. http://folkcostume.blogspot.com/2012/06/bunad-and-rosemaling-embroidery-of.html This is an area where the local costume is well remembered, and there are many examples to be found around the valley. Upper Hallingdal cat 1 This consists of the municipalities of Hol and Ål. This man is in a Rogaland Bunad, not Hallingdal The upper Hallingdal bunad is noted for its embroidery, an extremely short bodice, black apron for the dress bunad, and quite complex headdresses for both married women and single girls, as seen in the last two images above. Hulda Garborg, who was so instrumental in reviving interest in Norwegian folk costumes in the early 20th cent. thought that it was important to make the costumes modern and easy to wear. She took this costume and simplified it. Perhaps the biggest change is that she replaced the headdress with a simple embroidered cap similar to that worn in Lower Hallingdal. This simplified bunad became very popular, and many people mistakenly believe it to be the authentic Upper Hallingdal bunad. Here are some examples. Lower Hallingal This consists of the municipalities of Hemsedal, Gol, and Nes. The costumes are quite similar to that of Upper Hallingdal, but they traditionally wore the cap, they used a flowered or plaid apron for the formal costume, and there are other minor differences. They sometimes wore a kerchief tied around the cap, as is the custom in mid Buskerud. cat 1 There are two mens bunads, one is rather plain black, cat 1, and the other is highly embroidered, cat 4. The second is very popular with men all over Norway who want a colorful embroidered bunad. The everyday bunad from Hallingdal is also well remembered and still worn. It has no apron and is black or plaid. Mid Buskerud This consists of Sigdal - Eggedal, Krødsherad, and sometimes Flå. Flå This municipality is technically in Lower Hallingdal, but the costume is perhaps closer to the Mid Buskerud costume. cat 4 Sigdal - Eggedal, Krødsherad cat 3 Numedal This lies over the mountains south of Hallingdal, and is north of Telemark. Mans bunad There are three. The gray jacket is used all over the valley, but there are also two different black bunads for Lower and upper Numedal Gray Jacket cat 2 Lower Numedal mens bunad with round jacket cat 3 Upper Numedal mens bunad with short jacket. cat 3 Lower Numedal, Flesberg cat 2 Upper Numedal cat 3 There is also an embroidered bunad which was designed for Numedal in 1938. cat 4 Telemark https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telemark Telemark is perhaps the richest province in Norway as regards costumes. The costumes were a living tradition well into the 20th cent. There are many examples of different embroideries and cuts. However, many of these reflect individual variations and different time periods. There are only three costume districts in Telemark: East Telemark, West Telemark and Tinn. This map also separates the coastal area. This was distinct culturally, but did not keep much in the way of costume. I have written a series of articles on Telemark already. http://folkcostume.blogspot.com/2014/05/beltestakk-and-gratrje-costumes-of-east.html http://folkcostume.blogspot.com/2014/05/gratrje-costume-of-east-telemark-norway.html http://folkcostume.blogspot.com/2014/05/east-telemark-norway-embroidered-shirts.html http://folkcostume.blogspot.com/2014/05/east-telemark-norway-socks-and-shoes.html http://folkcostume.blogspot.com/2012/06/costume-and-rosemaling-embroidery-of.html Tinn Mens Bunad cat 3 Omslagsliv The embroidered bands which cross over the shoulders were originally suspenders which held up the skirt. The bodice was attached to the second underskirt. The embroidery is often done freehand, and there is much individual variation. cat 1 Skjaelingskleda This is an older costume from the early 1800s which shows the influence of neighboring Numedal. cat 3 East Telemark Mans bunad with gray jacket cat 2 This is the most common version. It comes from the same period as the beltestakk. Stakk og Liv This means skirt and bodice. It is the most recent and simplest form of the East Telemark folk costume which was in use into the 1970s. cat 1 Beltestakk cat 2 This is an older form of the costume which was revived. It has a great deal of ornament in the form of ribbon, but has embroidery only on the shirt. The skirt is exceptionally full, which makes it fun to dance in. Because of the lack of embroidery, it is fairly inexpensive and very popular today. It is named after the very wide card woven sash which is an integral part of this costume. Raudtroje This means red jacket and is the common embroidered form of the East Telemark Bunad. It is based on an even older form of the folk costume. cat 3 - West Telemark The costume and embroidery tradition is just as rich in West Telemark. The various costume types are associated with different periods of history. The older, more elaborately embroidered forms were used as the basis for the modern bunad. Raudsaumsbunad This is the most recent form of the costume, this came into being around 1910. This was thought at the time to be stylishly modern. It reintroduced the old embroidery on the bodice. cat 1 Fløyesliv This bunad was in use roughly from 1895 to 1915 or so. It is distinguished by the embroidered bib attached to the front of the bodice. The apron was sometimes embroidered. cat 2 Rundtroje This is the most recent living form of the mans bunad in plain black. It matches the two womens bunads above. cat 1 Bringeklutbunad and Gray Jacket bunad These were worn in the early to mid 1800s by women and men, respectively. Relatively recently they have been reconstructed and begun to be worn again. cat 3 Vest Telemark bunad The most popular bunad today is the elaborately embroidered one which was worn even earlier, roughly from 1750 to 1850. cat 4 Drangedal This is a coastal area. To my knowledge this is the only coastal costume to be reconstructed in Telemark. cat 4 Agder In ancient times this was a petty kingdom, The name is so old that the meaning of it has been lost. Today it is divided into two provinces, West Agder and East Agder. This is the southernmost point of Norway. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agder This area is small, and I am surprised that It was divided in two. It is sometimes referred to as the southland. It includes Setesdal in which the folk costume is a living tradition, and coastal areas which have revived theirs. You will notice part of the coast is depicted in white with the heading 'unspecified'. Setesdal This district holds much the same position in Norway that Andalusia does in Spain. The costume is iconic for the country, but is not at all typical. cat 1 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Setesdal The everyday costume for the women is a white jumper with black bands on the hem. The men wear a sort of overall. For Sundays and feast days, a second black jumper with bands of red and green on the hem was worn over this. The men put on an embroidered vest with either a fancy knitted sweater or short embroidered jacket. Åmli The bunad was reconstructed from old costume pieces in 1926. There are various kerchiefs and aprons preserved with different embroidery designs. cat 4 Iveland This began to be reconstructed in 1917. This bunad may be worn with a variety of embroidered pockets, many of which are to be found. Very similar pockets are also worn in West Agder. cat 4 West Agder There is only one bunad for most of West Agder. The striped skirt is worn by unmarried girls or by married women on regular days. On feastdays married women wear a finely pleated black skirt. The colorful high headdress was worn by married women. Girls wore a lower one which was much less ornamented. The skirt was held up by buttoning it to woven suspenders. Shawls with various embroidery patterns were also worn. As in Iveland, the embroidery on the pockets varied quite a bit. cat 4 Here are some embroidered shawls from West Agder with the names of the locations in which they were found. Sirdal cat 4 This is the northernmost valley of Vest Agder There is also an Agderdrakt which is a free composition for all of Agder. It features several local wildflowers. I have only seen one photo of it.\ cat 5 This concludes part 2. Thank you for reading. I hope that you have found this to be interesting and informative. I hope that some of you might be inspired to try some of the incredible embroidery which is found in this area. email: [email protected] Source Material: Bjorn Sverre hol Haugen, 'Norsk Bunadleksikon' Oslo, 2009 Kjersti Skavhaug et al, 'Norwegian Bunads', Oslo, 1991 Heidi Fossnes, 'Norges Bunader og Samiske Folkedrakter', Oslo, 1993 Ellen Scheel et al, 'Bunad-Brodering', Oslo, 1997 Janice Stewart, 'The Folk Arts of Norway', University of Wisconsin, 1953 Guvnor Traetteberg, 'Folk Costumes of Norway', Oslo, 1966, 1976 Thorbjorg Ugland, 'A Sampler of Norway's Folk Costumes', Oslo, 1996 Laila Duran, 'Scandinavian Folklore vol I - III', Sweden, 2011-2013
Hello all, I feel that I have neglected a couple of European countries, and I wish to remedy that. Today I will take a deeper look at one of the costumes of Sweden which has a distinctive embroidery tradition. Embroidery is not as common in Swedish folk costume as it is in some other countries, like Norway for example, but it does occur in some localities. Swedish costume in general is more linked to decorative weavings and printed cloth. Dalarna, in Latin Dalecarlia, is a center of Swedish folklore. It is one of the places where folk costumes survived the longest, And indeed in some parishes are still used in an unbroken tradition. Each parish had its own costume, some of which had fallen into disuse, but have now been revived. In contrast to regions where the local costume had to be reconstructed, and which have only one or two recognized variants, in places such as Leksand where it is a living tradition, there are many variations. In Leksand, these oral traditions were codified and written down in 1923. These specified, for example, which of nine apron colors was to be worn for which Church holiday or season [in Church]. Dalarna has also preserved some very old distinctive dialects, many of which are not mutually intelligible with Swedish, and thus may be considered to be a different language. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dalecarlian_dialects The family at the head of the article are wearing one version of the festive non-Church costume, considered appropriate for playing music and for dancing. The hems of both the mother and daughter are extemely short, reflecting the period of the 1960's and 70's. In general the hems have since come down again. This costume is worn in the parish of Leksand and the neighboring parish of Siljansnäs. They are shown in yellow on this map, at the heart of Dalarna on lake Siljan. There are several variants of this costume, many of which are only seen in church. I will only describe a few, as I have limited space, and I have little information about the church costumes. The foundation garment for women is a linen chemise, särk. In Leksand the chemise is sleeveless and has straps over the shoulder. It is a couple of inches shorter than the skirts. The woman on the left in this first image is from Leksand. In Leksand, both married women and unmarried girls divided their hair in two parts, each part is wrapped in red wool ribbon, and then pinned around the back of the head as a foundation for the headpieces. The shirt, överdel, is collarless, hangs to just about the waist and has sleeves set in at a right angle. The sleeves are smocked into wristbands. These are embroidered in more festive garments, and are closed with a ribbon. The neck opening is closed with a ring brooch. There may be a band of embroidered linen set in between the body of the shirt and the sleeves, and the entire shirt may be of a fancy weave, as in this example. This would be a very formal shirt. This fine, counted thread satin stitch embroidery is one of the 4 types used in the leksand costume. The motifs used are geometrical, and based on diagonal lines, being of the same type of design as is found in inkle weave sashes. This allows for a great variety of designs. The edge of the cuff is finishes with nuggor. This is made by executing a row of hemstitching, then folding the cloth right along the middle of it. The gathered groups of thread thus form 'picots' along the edge. The edge is then sewn down with an overcast stitch in fine thread to secure it. This example is twice as wide as a usual woman's wristband. Perhaps it is a man's cuff or something else. Men's cuffs had the same sort of embroidery. This type of embroidery was also used on handkerchiefs, as here, and likely other household linens. The designs used were variations on those shown. The bodice, livstycke, is separate from the skirt in the Leksand costume. I have been able to document four types. There may be more. They have a rounded front opening, usually rather low as worn today, just above the bust. Most are laced closed on metal loops attached to the front opening, and all feature a padded roll at the bottom, designed to help hold the skirts in place. Here is an older bodice from the local museum. This one is made of a dark silk, and is embroidered with a simple design reminiscent of the head of a maypole. The neckline is rather high. This garment is also found in living tradition. Here are some images of a woman in mourning attire on her way to a funeral, so she is wearing this dark bodice, and the yellow apron. You can see that it is made of black silk damask. Here is another piece from the local museum. This is of an everyday work bodice, much worn and patched. It closes with buttons because they are much cheaper. It also has a higher neckline than the dress bodices, which is only practical. Sometimes in colder weather, bodices made from leather are worn. These are made with the same kind of chamois leather as is used for the men's breeches. They are also sometimes embroidered in the same way, in which case they are called laskat. They hook closed so as to be warmer. The best known bodices are the red ones, which come in two forms, the sunday and festive bodice, which is red with woven in stripes as in the photo at the head of the article, and the ceremonial, or wedding guest bodice, which is of red damask and may be embroidered in the unique Leksand style. This embroidery which is found on the women's bodices is also found on the pockets, and on the men's jackets. This style seems to be unique to Leksand. Older women sometimes make the ceremonial bodice with embroidery from a darker colored cloth. A mixed linen-wool underskirt is worn over the chemise and bodice. This is called randil, and for everyday wear is the only skirt worn. It is usually red and has horizontal woven-in stripes. For daily wear the randil is worn with a skimp, a leather apron. For the Sunday, Festive and Ceremonial costumes, a full black wool skirt skjorte is worn over the randil. One more type of skirt is worn in winter which is made of sheepskin. This also may be worn under the Sunday black skirt if needed for warmth. This costume, like all in Dalarna, has a number of different aprons, förkläde, most of which are only worn in church. These tend to be glazed wool in various colors. We have already looked at the skimp, the everyday leather apron, and the yellow and black woven apron for funerals and personal mourning. There is a great deal of individual variety in the woven black bands on these aprons. These two women are dressed up and ready for church in their personal mourning tradition. The first is from Siljansnäs, and the second from Leksand, The kerchiefs worn over the bonnet are secured differently in these two parishes, which is one of the very few differences. There are two additional types of apron which I wish to talk about, and these are the ones most commonly used in Folklore groups. In fact, these are the only two aprons which are considered to be appropriate for dancing. There is the apron shown at the head of the article, which is used for Sunday afternoons and festivals. This is a 'secular' apron and is not worn in church. It has vertical white, black, and red stripes woven into the material, and there are many variations. All aprons are gathered into an inkle woven band which ties around the waist and has colored pompoms attached to both ends. Older women tend to use more black and less red, and there is a 'half-mourning' apron which replaces the red with blue. . The young woman on the right above is wearing the secular mourning apron, and the woman on the left is wearing one of the glazed wool church aprons. The last apron is a dark glazed blue wool with woven bands appliqued to it which is worn for weddings. This is worn for the ceremony and also for the wedding festivities. A loose pocket, kjolsäck, is worn which is ornamented with applique, and often the same kind of embroidery as is used on the red damask bodice. The same sort of curvilinear motifs are used on the pocket. Over the skirt and apron, a leather belt with metal ornaments is worn. The first, third and fourth belt in this image are from Leksand, the second from Dalby. Various useful items were often hung from the belt. Bonnet shaped caps, hatten, are worn with this costume. Single women make them out of colored or printed cloth, see the images in this article. They conisist of two pieces, a rectangle which covers the top and side of the head, and a round piece gathered onto the back. The back fits over the braids pinned to the back of the head, and is secured with a ribbon tied just in front of them. Married women wear a hatte of white linen with a bobbin lace edging in front, and secure it with a 'sootbande', inkle woven with designs in black and white. Here is a closeup of a cap, some bands, and some Leksand bobbin lace. In winter, leather or sheepskin caps may be worn over these. White wool stockings are worn, tied with garters above the calf. Black shoes with a tongue that falls over the front are used, decorated with red pompoms on special occasions. The last clothing item I will talk about today is the shoulder kerchief, the halskläde. For every day and informal occasions, it is of a home woven plaid, or a commercial scarf. Peruse the various images. For Sundays, it is white linen, sometimes edged with bobbin lace. It is secured with a ring brooch, simple ones for everyday. For special occasions the brooch is decorated with silver dangles. The wedding guest halskläde is ornamented with a very particular type of embroidery in black silk, called svartstick. This style is particular to Leksand. Gagnef and Ål [Åhl, Åls] parishes also have black embroidery on this garment, but each has a different style. Here is an old photo of a wedding in Leksand. The bride and groom are in the center, the bride with a garland of flowers around her shoulders and the groom with a large bouteniere. The attending women are all wearing the embroidered shoulder shawl, and, you will notice, the blue apron with appliqued bands. Here is a good closeup of the embroidery on the wedding guest costume, both bodice and shoulder shawl, front and back. She is wearing a single woman's cap of calico. Here is a woman in Sunday afternoon dress embroidering, or more likely just posing with, the embroidered halskläde. The motifs used somewhat resemble the white embroidery used on the shirt. The stitches used are cross stitch, holbein stitch, and counted satin stitch. There are always three squares in each corner of two different designs, stitching which connects them, and usually the initials of the embroiderer and the year of execution. Within this broad framework there is a variety of detail. Black tassels of the embroidery silk are attached to each corner. Here are a number of examples. You can see that each is different. Sometimes all four corners are embroidered, but more commonly, as the halskläde is worn folded in two, only half of it is embroidered. Here is an unfinished project of mine in this type of embroidery. Here is a contemporary dresser scarf done in this style. I think that I have gone on long enough. I will save the mens costume for another article. Thank you for reading. I hope that you have found this interesting and informative. And perhaps you will adapt some of this embroidery to a project for yourself or others. Bring a bit of living Swedish culture into your home. I will close with just a few more images of this costume. Bride and Groom. Here you see modern blouses of the era with the rest of the costume traditional, caps, aprons, skirts, pockets, etc. A pile of marred woman's caps and the bands to tie them. 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. Roman K. email: [email protected] Source Material: http://www.nordiskamuseet.se/artiklar/drakter-fran-leksand http://www.folkdrakt.se/bild/leksand/leksand.htm Liv Trotzig et al, 'Sockendräkter Dalarna', Stiftelsen Dalarnas Museum, 1976 Iona Plath, 'The Decorative Arts of Sweden', New York / London, 1948 Ingrid Bergman et al, 'Folkdräkter i Sverige', Helsingborg, 2001 Anna Maja Nylen, 'Folkdräkter ur Nordisk Museets Samlingar', Arlöv, 1971 Anna Maja Nylen, 'Swedish Peasant Costume', Stockholm, 1949 Anna Maja Nylen, 'Swedish Handcraft', New York, 1977 Erik Janson et al, 'Levande Textil', Uppsala 1987 Kerstin Ankert, 'Dräkt & Textil i Dalarnas Museum', Dalarna, 2009 Laila Duran, 'Scandinavian Folklore vol I - III', Sweden, 2011-2013 Anna Hådell, 'Svartstick', Stockholm, 1980
Hello all, The Sarafan has become one of the symbols of Russia. In spite of the fact that the garment is only a couple hundred years old, It has permeated from its point of origin in the extreme northwest of the country to be found in many parts of that country. In fact, it is likely that the sarafan originated from the traditional costumes of the Finnic peoples around the area of Olonets, Arkhangelsk and vicinity, many of whom have been fully assimilated by the Russian people at this point in time. The sarafan consists of a long full skirt which hangs just below the arms and has straps or an extremely abbreviated bodice which secures it over the shoulders. The sarafan may be gathered at the top like these two examples from Arkhangelsk. Or it may be cut on an angle and flare towards the bottom, like this example from Olonets. It may be made of costly materials, like this example from the Urals. Or it may be made of homespun striped, plaid or block printed cloth, like the example at the top of the article. It is often worn unbelted, but sometimes it is worn with a sash. An apron may be worn with it, sometimes hanging from the waist, like most aprons do, but more commonly tied around the body at the top of the sarafan, like these two examples from Vologda. This was quite fashionable in St. Petersburg and other cities at one time, often made very full and long as in these two drawings by Maliavin, made around 1904. This basic concept has apparently been at the center of the fashion world a few times. As a result, there are folk costumes which resemble the sarafan scattered around Europe. There is no genetic relationship between them, but rather are examples of a similar idea arising or being retained from popular fashion in different places at different times. Each locality developed a distinct outfit with specific forms of ornamentation and accessorization. So today we will take a tour of Europe and view various 'cousins' of the sarafan. Some are belted, some are not, some have the full apron like the Russian form often does, some do not. Finns and related peoples It is no surprise that the northern Finnic peoples which are within Russia, or border on Russia in Finland wear a type of sarafan. These ARE genetically related to the sarafan of Russia. Komi Karelians Veps [Vepsians] Finns West Karelia, which is in Finland The Karelian Isthmus and Ingria, which is along the coast south of the current Russian/Finnish border. Many Finns and closely related peoples [Luud',Votes, Izhorians, etc] lived in this area before it was annexed by Russia, and some still do. The rest of the costumes I will cover today are not related to the sarafan directly. They are each found in a small area, and none are considered typical or representative of their respective nations. However each of these is alive and preserved with great pride by the local people of these communities. Sweden Two neighboring communities of Vingåker and Österåker Province of Södermanland or Sörmland These two communities have very similar costumes. This type of dress is called Livkjol in Swedish. Vingåker Österåker Norway Gol, Ål, Flå and neighboring communities in upper Hallingdal and Hemsedal Province of Buskerud There are several similar costumes worn in various communities in this area. Of all the costumes in this posting, this one has the widest distribution. They have a very distinct form of embroidery in this region, based on Rosemaling. Mary Gostelow has a project based on this costume in her work 'The Complete International Book of Embroidery', however she incorrectly identifies it as being from Telemark. In Telemark they also do Rosemaling embroidery, but it is of a different style. Spain Valley of Ansó, region of Huesca Province of Aragon This is a very beautiful and distinct costume. I am indebted to Marco Leon of Madrid for the following information. 'The "basquiña" is the local name for the green garment without sleeves. In Ansó, the black garment like basquiña, used for religious ceremonies, is called "saigüelo", and there is another dress like those called "saya" with sleeves, worn only on very special days. All three names (basquiña, saigüelo & saya) have centuries of use in Spanish costume, both rural and urban, referring to different types of dresses and skirts. So there is no special relationship with Basque costume, but these terms belong to Spanish (or occidental) rural costume in general.' Lilla Fox writes that the term basquina indicated that the costume had been picked up from the Basques. This seems to be a conclusion on her part which in which she was apparently mistaken. Switzerland Valleys of Verzasca and Maggia Canton of Ticino These two neighboring valleys in the center of Ticino have costumes that differ primarily in color, Verzasca having a light colored dress and that of Maggia being made of dark colors. Austria Region of Bregenzerwald Province of Voralrberg This costume has the same construction as a sarafan, but it is pleated and the upper part has the pleats sewn together, as indeed the Russian sarafan sometimes is. It is always worn with a belt. The complex gold cap for girls is found in many German speaking areas. Brides wear a larger version of it. There is beautiful embroidery around the neck While this region is next to Switzerland, it is not close to Val Verzasca. Italy Community of Guardia Piemontese Province of Calabria This isolated community in Calabria has an interesting history. They are traditionally Waldensian, and settled in the area a few hundred years ago. They staunchly keep their costume alive, as well as their unorthodox faith. The costume they currently wear has nothing in common with that of Valais, however. Croatia Zlarin, Korčula and coastal region Province of Dalmatia Some of the costumes found on the islands and Adriatic coast of Dalmatian Croatia bear some resemblance to the sarafan. It is interesting to note that this is the only Slavic nation that I could include in this article. The Island of Zlarin The Island of Korčula A couple more costumes from the Dalmatian Coast. The beautiful costume on the right is a good example, but I have been unable to find out the exact community which it is from. Greece Island of Skopelos, the Sporades This type of costume was formerly found on Crete and other islands as well, as we know from Museum collections. This dress is known as foustana or stofa. There may well be more, but if so, then I am unaware of them. I would be glad to include any others which you may know of, as I am always glad to learn more. Also if anyone knows the origin of the mystery costume from Dalmatia, I would love to find that out as well. So you can see that particular concepts in costume can be widespread and may have arisen in different places at different times independently. I find this to be one fascinating example. The fact that Slavic nations are almost unrepresented in this survey lends weight to the idea that the sarafan does not have Slavic roots. Thank you for reading, I hope that you have found this interesting and informative. Roman K. 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. [email protected] Source Material: This article has a very extensive bibliography, if anyone wishes information as to some of my sources, I will gladly provide them for a specific region. I will be building it slowly. L. Molotova, 'Russian Folk Clothing', Leningrad, 1984 S. Gorozhanina et al, 'Russkij Narodnyj Svadebnyj Kostium', Tver, 2003 Viola Malmi et al, 'Kostium i Prazdnyk', Petrozavodsk 'Karelia', 2008 T. Jashkova, 'Kostium Karelii', Petrozavodsk, 2009 Sylvi Kauhanen & Alli Touri, 'Kansallispukuja', Helsinki, 1952 Ritva Somerma, 'Finnish National Dresses' [sic], Helmi Vuorelma Oy, Lahti, Finland, 1987 Inga Arno Berg et al, 'Folk Costumes of Sweden - a living tradition', Orebro, 1985 Anna-Maja Nylen, 'Folkdrakter', Arlov, 1982 Bent Vanberg, Kjersti Skavhaug et al, 'Norwegian Bunads', Oslo, 1991 Heidi Fossnes, 'Norges Bunader', Oslo, 1994 Lilla Fox, 'Folk Costume of Southern Europe', Boston, 1972 Jose Ortiz Echague, 'Espana, Tipos y Trajes', Madrid, 1953 Cesar Justel, 'Espana, Trajes Regionales', Madrid, 1997 Plinio Grossi, 'Rachele Giudici e i Suoi Costumi', Bellinzona, CH, 1978 Louise Witzig, 'Schweizer Trachtenbuch', Zurich, 1954 Lotti Schurch et al, 'Trachten der Sweiz', Bern, 1978 Louise Witzig et al, 'Costumes Suisse', Payotte Lausanne, Berne Maria Rehm, 'Oesterreichs Trachtenbuechlein', Innsbruck, 1981
Hello all, Today I will take a break from Asia. It is fascinating, but difficult to research. Setesdal is one of the regions of Norway which has an unbroken folk costume tradition to this day. The costume is iconic of Norway, even though it is far from typical. It is worn today on special occasions and has changed little over the last couple hundred years. Setesdal is in the south, part of the province of East Agder. It borders Telemark on the east and Rogaland on the west. In actual fact, I should refer to this as the bunad of upper Setesdal, as it is native to the three municipalities of Bykle, Valle and Bygland, and is not traditional for the lower parts of the valley. It appears that traditionally, no foundation garments were worn. I have been told that this is the reason that the traditional dance moves of the area are so restrained for the women, with no fast spinning. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BvA6jkDdccA The first garment put on is the shirt, skjorte. The shirt is identical for men and women. Many of these images are from the Norwegian Digataltmuseum website, available for perusal by all. https://digitaltmuseum.no/search/?aq=text%3A%22setesdal%22%20owner%3F%3A%22NBF%22&o=0&n=176 The shirt was originally made of linen, but today is much more likely to be cotton. It has shoulder insets, or yokes on either side, then the body and the shoulder pieces are gathered into the collar. There are gussets under the arms for freedom of movement. The shoulder seams, like for most traditional shirts, fall on the upper arms. There is a wide collar and cuffs, which are fastened by collar buttons and cuff buttons. For dress, they are edged with lace or tatting. Here is a cut which is common today. Here is a closeup of the buttons used to secure the collar and cuffs. The front opening of the shirt is secured by one or more silver pins, as is typical for Norway. The basic garment which is always the first garment to be worn over the shirt is the kveitestakk, or 'white skirt'. For everyday, this was the only garment worn. It is basically a jumper of white wool, with straps over the shoulders. It is gathered into a black wool band with embroidery on the front. There is a green wool edge binding. There is an opening with a clasp in the center front. In the back, the band is black wool, and there is a very abbreviated bodice added to the top in the rear, to which the straps are attached. The embroidery, Loyesaum, varies quite a bit, which is unusual for Norway, but typical for a living tradition. The embroidery in front is generally of a geometric design. In this image above, you can see the inside of the 'liv', or bodice. The bodice has vertical stripes which are embroidered, usually with a curvilinear design. The band on top of the bodice and the straps are usually embroidered as well. Notice the variety in the embroidery. The design is drawn on the wool with a sliver of soap. The body of the kveitestakk is made of several pieces of wool. Here is a layout. The garment has a triple hem, each is sewn separately, and then they are sewn together, and attached to the hem of the white skirt. This is a very old detail, here is a museum piece. Today each hem starts as a stiff band, then is wrapped in white wool and has a band of black wool sewn to the outside of it. On the lowest one, the black wool wraps around to the inside. Here is a photo of the finished hem from the front side and the back. Cording is couched to the back of each hem, I am not certain what function it serves, but it can be seen on the finished garment. The composite hem is sewn to the bottom of the white skirt, but the ends are sewn into the front seam. This, together with the stiff hem, gives a distinctive shape to the garment, forming a fold in front, which makes it resemble culottes. On this woman, the seam between the skirt and the hem is distinctly visible. A couple more images showing the distinctive shape of this garment. When worn alone, the kveitestakk is cinched either with a leather belt that has a buckle, or a patterned woven sash. The sash is often attached to a metal clasp, but occasionally is just tied into a knot. When worn for work, an apron, blåtyforkle, may be worn with the kveitestakk. It may hang from the waist, or be attached to the top of the garment. Today it is usually of blue gingham, but it may be plaid, plain white, or of blue printed material. Knee socks krotasokkar, are worn. They are identical for men and women. They are knit with textured patterns from white or natural wool yarn. Men wear them like this, women dye them black. They are held up by garters. Sometimes these are fingerwoven wool sokkebande, as in other parts of Norway. They are tied around the leg above the calf. More commonly, however, they use leather straps with buckles, which look like miniature belts. These are called sprette og sprote. Generelly, leather shoes are worn, unless they are going barefoot, which, like country people everywhere, was often. The woman above is wearing regular black pumps, and the woman further above is wearing standard Norwegian bunad shoes. For special occasions, however, fancy shoes in local style can be worn. For dress occasions, a second skirt is worn over the kveitestakk. This is called svortestakk, or 'black skirt', and is very similar to the first one, except for color. It has the same abbreviated bodice, which is often red, the band into which the skirt is gathered is green, and both, along with the straps, are embroidered. When put on over the kveitestakk, the top band of the svortestakk lays lower, so that both are visible. Likewise the triple hem is shorter, so that again, both show. The svortestakk's uppermost hem is green, and the lower two are red. Again, the embroidery varies, and silver galoon is usually incorporated. Here is the layout for the svortestakk, which varies somewhat from the kveitestakk. You will notice that the outer two fields of the skirt, which lie in the front, are labelled glatt, which means smooth. The remaining three are traditionally pleated. This pleating is very fine, done like smock gathering on the wool which has lines woven in as guides. After the entire piece of cloth is gathered, it is then wrapped around a rolling pin, and rolled on a board to flatten the pleats, laid aside for a year for the pleats to set, then boiled, mordanted, dyed, and set aside for another year to set. If you want to read more about this, Here is a website which translated and printed Aagot Noss's description of the process. http://norwegiantextileletter.com/article/setesdal-pleating/ Here you can see the pleating, if you look carefully. Occasionally, the lowest hem of the svortestakk is not plain red, but embroidered, or pattern woven. This may be how the stiffened hem got started. For some especially formal occasions, the svortestakk is replaced by the blåstakk, or 'blue skirt'. This is actually also black, and the only significant difference is that the colored wool on the two upper hems is replaced by silver galloon, and the background of the middle hem is red instead of also being black. Here is a woman dressed up to have her child christened. Not only is she wearing a blåstakk, but her kerchief is silk and she is wearing embroidered half gloves and a churching shawl. Short jackets are worn with this outfit. They come in three variations. The plainest and least formal is the gråkupte, or gray jacket. This is made of natural colored dark wool, brown or charcoal gray, with the cuffs, front, and collar trimmed in black wool. The embroidery is minimal, by Setesdal standards. The cuffs and front may be closed with buttons. It is usually worn with the kveitestakk. The back is plain. It can also be worn by men, in a slightly different form. here are some more examples of the gray jacket. When wearing the svortestakke or blåstakke, a more formal jacket is usually worn, the blåkupte. This means 'blue jacket', but it is in fact black, like the blåstakke. It has more extensive embroidery on the front, shoulders and cuffs, and is trimmed with green and red wool and silver galloons. Here is the layout of the blåkupte. Although the exact design may vary, the placement of the embroidery remains much the same. It is secured in front by a silver chain threaded through eyelets on either side. See above. Sometimes the chain is attached to the eyelets, fancy dangles are added, and it closes on hooks, as here. The third type of jacket is worn by brides, and I will not talk about it today. here are some examples of jacket embroidery. The hair is divided into two, and the two parts are wrapped with a pattern woven band, similar to the sash, but narrower. Girls often stop there, but women will cover it with a kerchief, tied either behind the neck, or on the forehead. Shawls are worn when attending Church. There are two types; the first is older and woven in three narrow pieces which are then sewn together, these are called kyrkjekjeld. The newer ones are woven in one piece, and are called kyrkjetaepe. Here are a couple examples of each. A regular part of the more formal outfit are gloves fingrevottar, or half-gloves muflar, depending on the season. These are hand knitted and embroidered, often given as gifts, and either worn or tucked into the belt to show them off. Mittens are worn in extremely cold weather, but are strictly utilitarian. One item of dress is conspicuously absent, and that is the formal apron, which is almost ubiquitous throughout both Norway and Europe in general. A formal apron in fact exists, made of fine linen and ornamented with either lace or Hardanger type embroidery, but today it is only worn by brides and Confirmation candidates. And I think that is enough for one article. I will continue in the next one. Here is a husflid which specializes in Setesdal costumes. If you wish, you can order one through this website. http://www.setesdalsbunad.no/omoss Here is a video which shows scenery, music and dance from Setesdal. The dancing starts at the 1:45 mark. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-m4yHJjGvpw Thank you for reading, I hope that you have found this to be interesting and informative. You might try some of this embroidery for yourself. Roman K. email: [email protected] Source Material: Norske Digitaltmuseum Aagot Noss, 'Stakkeklede i Setesdal', Oslo, 2008 Laila Duran, 'Bunader og Tradisjoner fra Setesdal', 2015 Bjorn Sverre hol Haugen, 'Norsk Bunadleksikon' Oslo, 2009 Kjersti Skavhaug et al, 'Norwegian Bunads', Oslo, 1991 Heidi Fossnes, 'Norges Bunader og Samiske Folkedrakter', Oslo, 1993 Ellen Scheel et al, 'Bunad-Brodering', Oslo, 1997 Janice Stewart, 'The Folk Arts of Norway', University of Wisconsin, 1953 Guvnor Traetteberg, 'Folk Costumes of Norway', Oslo, 1966, 1976 Thorbjorg Ugland, 'A Sampler of Norway's Folk Costumes', Oslo, 1996 Laila Duran, 'Scandinavian Folklore vol I - III', Sweden, 2011-2013