Traditional dresses of India vary from one part of the country to another on the basis of geographical, climatic, ethnic, and cultural differences.

Hello all. Today I am going to go further afield than I have before. Spain has some incredibly beautiful and complex costumes, but there seems to be limited literature on the subject. [If anyone can acquaint me with more sources, i would be very glad of the information]. Salamanca is a city and surrounding province in the northwest of Spain, historically part of Leon. Here is a schematic map showing the location of the province. There are a handful of different costumes worn in this province. Here is a map localizing them. Today i will be talking about the costume in the center of the province, which is shown in light blue on the map above. This costume, and the people who wear it, are called Charro. This is not to be confused with the Mexican costume called Charro, which is worn by Mariachi bands. The only thing they have in common is being highly decorated.I have leaned heavily on the internet for my research on this costume, i have to thank all those who are proud of this costume and have posted images of it online. There are a few variants of this costume, i will limit myself to just one of them in this posting. As you can see, the costume is rather complex. A foundation layer is established by a one chemise, camisa, the only part of which shows is a bit of linen and lace at the neckline. Textured knit stockings are worn, then there are bloomers, the bloomers were not part of the original peasant costume, but are now worn under the influence of city costume. Over the bloomers a full petticoat is worn. Over the petticoat an underskirt is worn, called the saya. This is generally made of red wool. If you look at the image above, it appears to be lined. The saya is scalloped around the hem, and may be embroidered. On less formal occasions the saya is worn as the top skirt. The saya, from this image, seems to wrap around and overlap in back. The main skirt has this cut as well. It is called Manteo, which literally means mantle. It is cut in a half circle, with a cut out for the waist, and is wrapped around from the front, overlaps in back, and has ties which fasten around the waist. This type of skirt is typical of northwest Spain. Here is one from the neighboring district of Calendario. The ornamentation is different, but the cut is the same. There is a broad band of brocade or velvet around the hem and the left edge which overlaps on top, as you can see from the images at the top of this posting. Here is a manteo which was made for a doll. The two inner corners are embroidered with floral designs, generally from a stem which originates in each corner. This may be in black on black, for ceremonial costumes, gold and silver metal embroidery, beadwork, or colorful chain stitch. The middle, that is the front center, is left unornamented because it is covered by the apron. See the various images. The outer edge, or hem of the manteo often has a gingerbread type cutout design with embroidery. Over the back of the manteo is tied the cintas de manteo, a large bow with matching embroidery. The tails reach almost to the hem of the manteo, and the two short 'bow loops' generally have the initials of the maker/owner on them. These have their own ties which go around the waist. They usually have gold fringe around at least some of their edges. On the right side the faltriquera, a separate pocket is worn. The left and bottom edges are embroidered, and may have scallops or other more complicated cutout on those two edges. The right edge is not embroidered because it is covered by the apron. There is a vertical slit opening, and ties to hold it around the waist. A handkerchief and other necessities are carried in this. Here is a relatively simple one. In front one wears the mandil, the apron. This is one narrow panel which hangs to about the knees. It is embroidered as elaborately as the manteo. It may also have elaborate cut out on the edges. Attached to the lower edge is a gathered flounce of brocade, damask, or some other decorative cloth. On the torso, over the camisa is worn a bodice with sleeves, the jubona. It laces up the front, and is generally made of black damask. You can see in the various images that it usually has a texture. It has five tails which are worn under the saya, or perhaps under the petticoat. There are separate cuffs, called panetas, which fasten about the lower arms. They are embroidered in the same manner as the rest of the costume. Often there is a frill of lace around the lower and side edges. the side edges often have decorative buttons as well. A large shawl, called Panuelo de hombros, is wrapped around the shoulders. This is of white or near white linen, quite fine, and has very fine embroidery all around the edges in a wide band. Over this is worn another shawl, which is called dengue, crucero or rebocillo. This one is cut in an elongated crescent shape, and wraps over the shoulders, crosses in front, and then ties around the waist. This is very typical of northwest Spain. In the charro costume it is made of the same material as the other major parts, generally has gold fringe on the lower edges, and is embroidered to match. The hair is divided into three parts, each of which is braided. The two side braids are coiled above the ears and are held with gold pins. The back braid is fastened in a loop at the back of the crown and is held with longer pins. Today these three braids are often artificial, although made of real hair, and pinned on, as many women do not wear their hair that long any more. A smaller bow, called cintas de pelo is pinned to the back braid loop. Over this is pinned a kerchief called the velo, of very fine linen or tulle. This is also embroidered. This first image shows two variants of the costume, the woman on the left wearing only the dengue, and the woman on the right wearing only an elaborate shawl. the velo The costume is completed with gold rings, pendant earrings, a multistranded gold choker, and a complicated longer necklace with crossing strands of gold beads, crosses, and religious medallions. One less complex version of the costume has the saya worn as the top skirt, the bodice made without sleeves, and a linen blouse worn underneath with elaborate black embroidery on the sleeves. Only in this region would such a costume be considered 'less elaborate'. This is a more 'everyday' version of the costume, and is accompanied by a fancy straw hat. I hope that you have found this interesting and perhaps will be inspired to use some of these embroidery designs on a project of your own. Again i would like to thank all of the people who love this costume enough to put so much material on the web. Here is a video showing all the pieces of the costume. I have to thank the women who made this available. http://www.slideboom.com/presentations/358741/Trajes-charros2 Here is a blog dedicated to all things Salamanca. You may browse this and other postings, and see much more. http://salamanca-jhuno.blogspot.com/2009_12_01_archive.html 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: Jose Ortiz Echague, 'Espana, Tipos y Trajes', Bilbao, 1953 Manuel Comba, 'Trajes Regionales Espanoles', Madrid, 1977 Cesar Justel, 'Espana, Trajes Regionales', Madrid, 1997 Lilla Fox, 'Folk Costumes of Southern Europe', Boston, 1972 R. Turner Wilcox, 'Folk and Festival Costumes of the World', New York, 1965 Robert Lee Humphrey, Jr., 'Spain and Portugal', Broomal, PA, 2003 H. L. Hansen, 'European Folk Art', New York, 1967

Hello all, Today I will return to Hungary, to talk about one of the most famous costume and embroidery traditions in that country, that of Mezőkövesd. This town is the largest of the three settlements of the Matyó people of northeastern Hungary. These also include the villages of Tard and Szentistván, each of which has a distinct costume. You can see Mezőkövesd in the southern part of Borsod-Abaúj-Zemplén county. Mezőkövesd costume and embroidery has become as iconic of Hungary in general as that of Kalocsa, even though it is not typical. This is in part due to the flowering and development of a distinct type of embroidery in the 20th cent. The outline of the costume is long and relatively narrow by Hungarian standards. There are a few variants of the women's costume. Here is the dress version of the costume for married women as seen today. This is an image of women carrying a giant rosary in a procession. The people of this region form an island of Roman Catholics surrounded by many Calvinists. Notice the long, relatively narrow skirts, the single panel embroidered aprons, and the short sleeves. There are several solid colored ribbons around the hem, and one wide patterned ribbon which is placed higher up on the skirt. The skirt is narrowly pleated down to and including this ribbon, except for the front panel under the apron. The placement of this ribbon has changed, formerly being placed much lower, but today often being placed quite high, as we see in this image above. Take note of this detail as we proceed through the article. There are, of course, a chemise and underskirt worn as a foundation. Here are some old photos of a woman putting on a ceremonial version of the costume. Note the flounce on the bottom of the petticoat, an unusual feature in central or eastern Europe. In this case, the pleats continue almost to the hem. The front is relatively flat, and made of plain material with a facing above the hem. Then she puts on the apron, with embroidery, ribbon and fringe. Next she puts on linen sleeves, as her chemise seems to be of calico, and the old style shirt, ing, with the high puffy sleeves. This ing is of plain linen because she is going to wear it under a very large shawl with heavy fringe. The fringe accentuates the high puffed sleeves. Today the sleeves are usually not as high, but still retain the same basic shape. When worn without the shawl, the shirt is brightly colored, with appliqued ribbon and a peplum. Most commonly today the shirts and skirts are made of rose patterned challis in various colors, but in the past, they were often made of brocade, as in this example. She is wearing a jacket with long sleeves and very full peplum, and a warm headscarf with this ensemble, which is meant for cooler weather and is from the 1930's. The embroidery on the apron is also of an older style. Skirts today are sometimes made to hang from the waist. Here is a print by LEPAGE-MEDVEY of the Mezőkövesd costume. This artist made many prints of the costumes of Central Europe, and this one is typical in that it has errors in many details. One thing to notice is the headscarf. The shape was achieved by the traditional hairstyle, which has largely been abandoned today. Here we see how to make this traditional hair style. There were wicker extensions to achieve the extreme length seen above. One common headdress for married women has several large pompoms sewn to a kerchief. This is reminiscent of parts of Germany's Black Forest, but I know of no actual connection.This headdress is still used today, but without the traditional hairstyle, the effect is much rounder. In the photo with the four ladies above, you see the old style apron, full, with many little pleats and ribbons on the lower edge. This is still used for some ceremonial outfits, such as weddings. This ceremonial outfit also included a crown, similar to that found in other parts of Central Europe. This apron is often covered with several ribbons hanging from the waist. Originally the wedding dress was black, as was very common over much of Western and Central Europe. Here are three examples from the 1910's. Similar outfits were, and still are, worn for processions on Church Holidays, but in white. Also, starting in the 1930's, under the influence of Town Fashion, and ultimately, Queen Victoria, the wedding outfit also became white. Later still, again under the influence of Town Fashion, a veil was added to the crown. The embroidery is confined to the single-panel apron which dominates in the 20th cent. Unusually, the men wear essentially the same apron. It is very common for Hungarian men's costumes to include an apron, but they are usually different from the women's. The basic outfit for the men consists of the shirt, vest, necktie, hat, apron and pants. The pants, known as gatya, are worn over most of Hungary, especially in the summer. They are plain white linen or cotton. The construction is very simple, and they are very full. I have one in my private collection, and its waistband is 5 1/2 yards around. In fact, in this region they are actually fuller than the skirts of the women. They are usually worn slightly longer than boot-top length, and are generally self fringed at the bottom of the pant legs. These are often mistaken for skirts. They are fun to dance in. This is the Hungarian 'Matyo Man' costume. There is extensive embroidery on the apron, which is similar to those worn by the women, and on the festive shirts, as you can see here above. The embroidery is on the collar, shoulders, front, and on the very long and full sleeves. Older examples have the embroidery out to the hem, and then colored decorative crotchet edging. Today there is usually a wide patterned ribbon sewn to the edge to supplement the embroidery. It is still very impressive. This piece is from my personal collection. The embroidery is not as elaborate as some older ones. The colors and patterns were fully developed in the early 20'th century, especially by one artist, Bori Kis Janko. Some earlier shirts were done in Broderie Anglaise, which one still sometimes see on wedding shirts, look at the grooms in the images above. The first shirts done in the modern style had a more restricted range of colors, Red, blue, and some yellow. This embroidery was also done on some household linens. The apron consists of one panel, is black, and today usually has fringe on the bottom, a row of patterned ribbon and embroidery in the same style as is on the man's festive shirt. Again, here is one from my personal collection. Older aprons often have no ribbon. I have read that a child's apron has three roses, a man's has five, and a woman's has seven. This is sometimes true, but a perusal of the aprons pictured in this article will show that there is a great deal of variety in the embroidery, and that this rule does not hold. Older people sometimes have no embroidery at all. Here are a few more examples. At first glance, this woman seems to be wearing a plain black apron, but in fact, the lower panel has typical Matyo embroidery in black on black. Older men would often wear simpler or plain black aprons. The vest is of black wool, has lapels, and is ornamented with a varying amount of buttons and black soutache. Here is a particularly elaborate example. On formal occasions, a narrow silk embroidered tie was tied around the neck, and a round topped felt hat with ribbons and feathers completed the ensemble. Thank you for reading, I hope that you have found this to be interesting and informative. A couple of videos of Mezőkövesd dancing, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3168u_1fLF8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R8vbpCs4LwE a wedding procession, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aLk6aBYMCN4 A folk festival https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vz5anbSKAUg and an exhibition of embroidery. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R4zrfAnsWBg Email: [email protected] Source Material: Kútvölgyi Mihály, 'The Matyó Roses', Budapest, 2006 Győrffy István, 'Matyó Népviselet', Budapest, 1956 Lengyel Györgyi, 'Népi Kézimunkák', Budapest, 1978 Lengyel Györgyi, 'Nagyanyáink öröksége', Budapest, 1986 Alice Gaborjan, 'Hungarian Peasant Costume', Budapest, 1988

Iran

Hello all, Today I will return to Hungary, to talk about one of the most famous costume and embroidery traditions in that country, that of Mezőkövesd. This town is the largest of the three settlements of the Matyó people of northeastern Hungary. These also include the villages of Tard and Szentistván, each of which has a distinct costume. You can see Mezőkövesd in the southern part of Borsod-Abaúj-Zemplén county. Mezőkövesd costume and embroidery has become as iconic of Hungary in general as that of Kalocsa, even though it is not typical. This is in part due to the flowering and development of a distinct type of embroidery in the 20th cent. The outline of the costume is long and relatively narrow by Hungarian standards. There are a few variants of the women's costume. Here is the dress version of the costume for married women as seen today. This is an image of women carrying a giant rosary in a procession. The people of this region form an island of Roman Catholics surrounded by many Calvinists. Notice the long, relatively narrow skirts, the single panel embroidered aprons, and the short sleeves. There are several solid colored ribbons around the hem, and one wide patterned ribbon which is placed higher up on the skirt. The skirt is narrowly pleated down to and including this ribbon, except for the front panel under the apron. The placement of this ribbon has changed, formerly being placed much lower, but today often being placed quite high, as we see in this image above. Take note of this detail as we proceed through the article. There are, of course, a chemise and underskirt worn as a foundation. Here are some old photos of a woman putting on a ceremonial version of the costume. Note the flounce on the bottom of the petticoat, an unusual feature in central or eastern Europe. In this case, the pleats continue almost to the hem. The front is relatively flat, and made of plain material with a facing above the hem. Then she puts on the apron, with embroidery, ribbon and fringe. Next she puts on linen sleeves, as her chemise seems to be of calico, and the old style shirt, ing, with the high puffy sleeves. This ing is of plain linen because she is going to wear it under a very large shawl with heavy fringe. The fringe accentuates the high puffed sleeves. Today the sleeves are usually not as high, but still retain the same basic shape. When worn without the shawl, the shirt is brightly colored, with appliqued ribbon and a peplum. Most commonly today the shirts and skirts are made of rose patterned challis in various colors, but in the past, they were often made of brocade, as in this example. She is wearing a jacket with long sleeves and very full peplum, and a warm headscarf with this ensemble, which is meant for cooler weather and is from the 1930's. The embroidery on the apron is also of an older style. Skirts today are sometimes made to hang from the waist. Here is a print by LEPAGE-MEDVEY of the Mezőkövesd costume. This artist made many prints of the costumes of Central Europe, and this one is typical in that it has errors in many details. One thing to notice is the headscarf. The shape was achieved by the traditional hairstyle, which has largely been abandoned today. Here we see how to make this traditional hair style. There were wicker extensions to achieve the extreme length seen above. One common headdress for married women has several large pompoms sewn to a kerchief. This is reminiscent of parts of Germany's Black Forest, but I know of no actual connection.This headdress is still used today, but without the traditional hairstyle, the effect is much rounder. In the photo with the four ladies above, you see the old style apron, full, with many little pleats and ribbons on the lower edge. This is still used for some ceremonial outfits, such as weddings. This ceremonial outfit also included a crown, similar to that found in other parts of Central Europe. This apron is often covered with several ribbons hanging from the waist. Originally the wedding dress was black, as was very common over much of Western and Central Europe. Here are three examples from the 1910's. Similar outfits were, and still are, worn for processions on Church Holidays, but in white. Also, starting in the 1930's, under the influence of Town Fashion, and ultimately, Queen Victoria, the wedding outfit also became white. Later still, again under the influence of Town Fashion, a veil was added to the crown. The embroidery is confined to the single-panel apron which dominates in the 20th cent. Unusually, the men wear essentially the same apron. It is very common for Hungarian men's costumes to include an apron, but they are usually different from the women's. The basic outfit for the men consists of the shirt, vest, necktie, hat, apron and pants. The pants, known as gatya, are worn over most of Hungary, especially in the summer. They are plain white linen or cotton. The construction is very simple, and they are very full. I have one in my private collection, and its waistband is 5 1/2 yards around. In fact, in this region they are actually fuller than the skirts of the women. They are usually worn slightly longer than boot-top length, and are generally self fringed at the bottom of the pant legs. These are often mistaken for skirts. They are fun to dance in. This is the Hungarian 'Matyo Man' costume. There is extensive embroidery on the apron, which is similar to those worn by the women, and on the festive shirts, as you can see here above. The embroidery is on the collar, shoulders, front, and on the very long and full sleeves. Older examples have the embroidery out to the hem, and then colored decorative crotchet edging. Today there is usually a wide patterned ribbon sewn to the edge to supplement the embroidery. It is still very impressive. This piece is from my personal collection. The embroidery is not as elaborate as some older ones. The colors and patterns were fully developed in the early 20'th century, especially by one artist, Bori Kis Janko. Some earlier shirts were done in Broderie Anglaise, which one still sometimes see on wedding shirts, look at the grooms in the images above. The first shirts done in the modern style had a more restricted range of colors, Red, blue, and some yellow. This embroidery was also done on some household linens. The apron consists of one panel, is black, and today usually has fringe on the bottom, a row of patterned ribbon and embroidery in the same style as is on the man's festive shirt. Again, here is one from my personal collection. Older aprons often have no ribbon. I have read that a child's apron has three roses, a man's has five, and a woman's has seven. This is sometimes true, but a perusal of the aprons pictured in this article will show that there is a great deal of variety in the embroidery, and that this rule does not hold. Older people sometimes have no embroidery at all. Here are a few more examples. At first glance, this woman seems to be wearing a plain black apron, but in fact, the lower panel has typical Matyo embroidery in black on black. Older men would often wear simpler or plain black aprons. The vest is of black wool, has lapels, and is ornamented with a varying amount of buttons and black soutache. Here is a particularly elaborate example. On formal occasions, a narrow silk embroidered tie was tied around the neck, and a round topped felt hat with ribbons and feathers completed the ensemble. Thank you for reading, I hope that you have found this to be interesting and informative. A couple of videos of Mezőkövesd dancing, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3168u_1fLF8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R8vbpCs4LwE a wedding procession, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aLk6aBYMCN4 A folk festival https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vz5anbSKAUg and an exhibition of embroidery. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R4zrfAnsWBg Email: [email protected] Source Material: Kútvölgyi Mihály, 'The Matyó Roses', Budapest, 2006 Győrffy István, 'Matyó Népviselet', Budapest, 1956 Lengyel Györgyi, 'Népi Kézimunkák', Budapest, 1978 Lengyel Györgyi, 'Nagyanyáink öröksége', Budapest, 1986 Alice Gaborjan, 'Hungarian Peasant Costume', Budapest, 1988

Hello all, Today i will continue to talk about the costume of Tatarstan. For location and a bit of history of the Volga Tatars, see my first posting about them. So far, i have presented the town costume, which is what one primarily finds presented in Tatar sources. Let us start with a photograph depicting a village wedding costume. At first glance there seems to be little new.The woman would of course try to dress up as much as possible, and this generally means putting on a town costume if she can afford it. The headdress she is wearing is yet another type of Kalfak, short and flat, almost resembling a man's cap which is worn with a shawl over it. Often, as in this case, the shawl is made of a very fine knit. We see the man is choosing to wear his kamzul open. This is the only photo i have in my sources that show this, but the stage presentations which i have seen all choose to dress the men in open vests, similar to the women's. He is wearing typical peasant clothing otherwise, plain black boots, and wedding footcloths, ayak cholkaulary. These are the typical foot coverings of much of eastern Europe. Knitted stockings were known in the Balkans, Baltic countries and Scandinavia. In most of the interior, woven rectangular pieces of cloth, often made from old worn out shirts, were folded and wrapped around the feet, and then tucked into boots or held in place with laces from postoly [moccasins], or lapty/lychaky [shoes woven from birch or linden bark]. The Soviet Army used footcloths untill quite recently. These are unique in that one edge is specially embroidered in chain or tambour stitch, which is made to hang over the tops of the boots. This is a uniquely Tatar tradition, and he only wears them like this on the actual day of the wedding. They are traditionally a gift from the bride to be, and often handed down in families. Here is the more typical day to day dress of the village Tatar woman. As you can see, it greatly resembles the city costume. Dress of rather plain store-bought cloth, leather mosaic footwear, headband with kalfak, earrings and braid ornament. Two things stand out. She wears no vest, no kamzul, and she is wearing a richly embroidered apron with a bib. The apron, in the village costume became a focus of embellishment, being either richly embroidered, woven with bright designs, or made of colorful printed cloth. I suspect the apron was adopted by the Tatars after their arrival in the region from the other peoples living in the area. It makes no appearance in the city costume at all, and it often greatly resembles that of their neighbors, particularly the Udmurt. The chain stitch embroidery is a heritage from central Asia, resembling that of the Uzbek. Here is another peasant woman in an embroidered apron.  You will notice she is not wearing the Kalfak at all. Instead she has a large printed kerchief or shawl tied in a very specific fashion around the head and falling down the back. This is the typical headgear of the village woman. Again, you can see that her dress is made of plain bought cloth. Here is another girl with a rather more recent cut to the dress, featuring the peaked shoulders that became so popular in the early 20th cent, boots of leather mosaic, and rather less jewelry than a townswoman. This is clearly a dress up outfit. In addition to dresses of bought cloth and aprons with chain stitch embroidery, village women also engaged in weaving their own cloth. This varied from place to place, and was rarer in more recent times. Here is an older Tatar woman at her loom. Her dress is shorter, more practical for working, she appears to be wearing boots, and would certainly be wearing pants under her dress. The dress was sometimes made from patterned homespun, as in the following examples. The cut is one typical of the Tatars, but they have picked up the love of plaid which is general in the region among the Finnic peoples. This dress is also finished off with patterned woven strips on the bottom. Hre is another example.  Here you can see that the top is of the traditional cut, but the skirt of the dress has been made quite a bit fuller, and has been attached on the bias. Men's pants were also made of homespun. If you take another look at the woman above who is weaving, you will see that although her dress may be of printed cloth, her apron is clearly home woven with a patterned design. This type of apron was common in the region, especially among the southern Udmurts, but it was worn by village Tatar women as well. Here are a couple of examples. The men, as is usually the case, only wore aprons as part of their working attire, for practical reasons. The cut is essentially the same, however. For the village girl, the apron became a focus of embellishment, and was part of her dress up attire, whether woven or embroidered. The headcloth also was sometimes embroidered, as we see here. The dress was made of printed cloth when that became available, sometimes embroidery was worked over the print. In later periods, the bib of the apron was sometimes widened, and a ruffle added. And when the apron itself was made of printed cloth, the desire to embellish it was still there, taking the form of ruffles, ribbons and scalloped edges. This is the costume that you see, [more or less] presented by perfoming groups. I would like to state here a warning. Stage costumes are STAGE costumes. There are groups which attempt to faithfully present the costume tradition of their people. There are many groups, however which exaggerate certain features, making skirts fuller, so they can swirl, shorter, so the audience can gawk at the girls' legs, the ornamentation coarser, so they can be more easily seen from the audience, [and be easier and quicker to make], and often lots of glitz, tinsel and glitter. And some performers, particularly singers or musicians, invent a stage outfit that is only loosely based on tradition, and is only intended to be flashy and attention getting. Do not assume that an ethnic person on stage is even attemping a true representation of ethnic costume. Stage costume has its own function. Here are some links to videos featuring Tatar dance groups. The costumes they are wearing are obviously based on the one i have covered today, but have equally obviously been 'enhanced'. The Tatar patterned boots figure prominently This first one is not too bad, the enhancement being limited to shortening the girls' skirts, shrinking the aprons and adding glitz to the guys' vests and shirts. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AInnu_Sw2Zg This group did quite a good job, although they put the guys in satin shirts http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7I_cp-NTYx4&feature=related Here is a group presenting a very nice dance. They have put black embroidered sashes on the men, the origin of which i am unclear on. the women's dresses have been made much much fuller, and only vaguely resemble those above. These are stage costumes. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y3n0LPriaRw&feature=related This last group is attempting a very flashy glittery version of the town costume, complete with faux kalfaks on the women, silver lame, and huge sequins everywhere, on the singers. The dancers come out with a version of the village costume. The skirts enormously enlarged, with Izyu, but no vest or apron on the women. Quite a spectacle. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jRSqf0-2evI&feature=related Stage costume has its own function. I hope you have found this interesting, and as always, thank you for reading. 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 protected] Source Material: M. Zavyalova, 'Tatar Milli Kieme' [Tatar Costume], Kazan', 1996 Guzel Valeeva-Suleimanova, 'The Decorative Applied Art of the Kazan' Tatars', Moscow, 1990 E. Korneev, 'Costumes of the Peoples of Russia in the Graphic Arts of the 18th-20th centuries', Moscow, 1990 N. Kalashnikova, 'National Costumes of the Soviet Peoples', Moscow, 1990 F. Safina, 'Tkachestvo Tatar Povolzia i Urala' [Weaving of the Tatars of the Volga and Urals], Kazan', 1996

Hello all, Today i will talk a bit about the women's Costume of the central Dalmatian Coast. There are several variants of this costume, but I have more information on the what is considered the daily costume of Split than any of the others, so I will cover it in more detail. The formal 'Town Costume' which is more well known, will be the subject of my next posting. This costume first developed in a village on the very outskirts of Split called Veli Varoš, but has been adopted by the town dwellers today as well. The photo above shows one of the festive or dress versions of the costume on the right and the 'daily' costume on the left. Here is another photo of the everyday costume. The pad on her head is so that she can carry loads on it. Here is a rear view of both the daily and formal costume of Split. This outfit is quite typical of the woman's costumes of the central Adriatic coast. There are similar costumes worn, among other places, on Otok Pag, in Vrsi, in Pakoštane, on Otok Murter, In Omiš, and even in Boka Kotorska, a Croatian enclave on the coast of Montenegro. The jacket is an optional piece of clothing with all of these costumes. The daily costume of Split consists of a linen chemise, long, finely pleated skirt, seperate bodice in this case, and an apron which is also pleated. The skirt and apron both have several horizontal tucks as well as being pleated. The base of the costume is the chemise, here called košuja, which has a very typical cut. In Split, the sleeves are gathered into cuffs, in contrast with some of the others shown above. Under the influence of city dress, a petticoat, the šotana, is worn over the chemise. This is also of linen. It is long, full, and has a couple of horizontal tucks. In Split, again unlike Pag, Pakoštan or Murter,but like Omiš, the bodice is seperate from the skirt. It is called korpet, has a high neckline and overlaps in front. For daily wear it is made of simple or even home-woven cloth. Notice the round silver buttons, typical of much of central Dalmatia. These were especially associated with Šibenik, and may be small or large, simple or very fancy. Similar buttons are found in the north of Sardinia as well. The skirt called brnica, is ankle length, tends to be dark in color and is finely pleated. If you look closely at the skirt on the right, you will see that it is woven in narrow stripes. The front of the skirt, which is covered by the apron, is not pleated. This is very common in Folk Dress. The skirt is quite full, about 4.5 meters or so. An apron is always worn with this outfit. There seems to be a preference for quiet browns and dark colors, with stripes woven into the cloth, ribbons sewn on and many horizontal tucks, after which the entire apron is pleated. A small scarf may be worn over the shoulders. This costume is worn with high shoes and knit stockings A wide array of elaborate jewelry is worn in this region, but the daily costume of Split generally has little accessorization. The formal or festive costume is another matter. I hope you have found this interesting. I find that most folk costumes are quite attractive. 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: Ilda Vidovic-Begonja, 'Narodna Nošnja Splita', Zagreb, 1988 Ivankovic & Sumenic, 'Croatian National Costumes', Zagreb, 2001 Vladimir Kirin, 'Narodne Nošnje Jugoslavije - Hrvatska', Zagreb, 1986 Ribaric/Szenczi, 'Vezak Vezla - Croatian Folk Embroidery', Zagreb, 1973 Jelka Ribaric et al, 'The Folk Costumes of Croatia', Zagreb, 1975 Walter Kolar, 'Croatians - Costumes they Wear', Pittsburgh, 1975 Nikola Pantelic, 'Traditional Arts and Crafts in Yugoslavia', Belgrade, 1984 Vladimir Salopek, 'Folk Costumes and Dances of Yugoslavia, Zagreb, 1987 Mariana Gusic, 'Traditional Femole [sic] Headgear in Croatian Folk Costume', Zagreb Postcards in personal collection

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 region Siebenbürgen, 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 or Nösnerland 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. [email protected] 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.