ROMANIAN TRADITIONAL COSTUMES

KINDERGARTEN “PRICHINDEL”PUCIOASA-ROMANIA

2012

Director: Prof. Ionescu AureliaTeacher: Dinu Florentina-Mihaela

ROMANIAN TRADITIONAL COSTUMES

The structure of Romanian traditional clothing has remained unchanged throughout history and can be traced back to the earliest times. The basic garment for both men and women is a shirt which is made from hemp, linen or woollen fabric. This was tied round the waist using a fabric belt, narrow for women and wider for men. The cut of this basic chemise is similar for men and women. In the past those worn by women usually reached to the ankles while men's shirts were shorter and worn over trousers or leggings made from strips of fabric. Women always wear an apron over the chemise. This was initially a single piece of cloth wrapped round the lower

part of their bodies and secured by a belt at the waist, as is still seen in the east and south east of Romania. In Transylvania and the

south west of Romania this became two separate aprons, one worn at the back and one at the front.

Men's traditional clothing throughout Romania comprises a white shirt white trousers, hat, belt, waistcoat and

or overcoat. Local differences are indicated by shirt length, type of embroidery, trouser cut, hat shape, or waistcoat decoration. In most areas shirts are worn

outside trousers, which is the older style. This is a basic Balkan man's costume largely uninfluenced by fashions

from west or east. The outer garments worn by both men and women are similar, the main differences being in cut and decoration

which depend mainly on the region of provenance. These garments are usually made of sheepskin, or felted woollen fabric, and decorated with leather appliqué and

silk embroidery.

MEN’S COSTUMES

• Sheepskin hats/Felt hats/ Straw hats• Straight Shirt/ Straight shirt with

gussets/ Shirt with yoke or shoulders• Tight winter trousers/ Long Creased

Trousers/ Thin summer trousers/ Wide summer trousers/ Dark woollen "baggy" trousers

Sheepskin hatsAre worn all over

Romania and in most of the surrounding Balkan countries in winter. Fur hats are

made by furriers and are most often black,

although white sheepskin hats are

worn in parts of Banat and grey in central and

north Moldavia.

Felt hats

Hard felt hats are made by specialised craftsmen in workshops and are worn

throughout the year. These hats are found centred on the Saxon regions around Sibiu and Bistriţa and may have been introduced into

Transylvania by the Saxons, whose craftsmen made them in workshops, from the 18th century. The style varies widely in shape and size of brim according

to area.

Straw hats

Straw hats are worn by men (and women)

throughout Romania in the summer.  Straw

hats vary in style from region to region

although regional differences are now

becoming less common as the straw version of the trilby

takes over.

Straw hats

MEN’S SHIRTS

The traditional mens shirt is one of oldest elements of costume in Romania and the surrounding countries. The cut and form of mens’ shirts has fewer variants and less elaborate decoration

then women’s chemises. Traditional shirts were made of rectangular widths of white fabric woven on 2 heddles, both of vegetable fibres. Working shirts were made of hemp; shirts for

festive wear were made of flax or cotton or animal fibres such as cocoon silk and very thin wool yarn. In some parts the fabric used for shirts was woven with strips of various colours (rust, cherry, light blue, yellow) known as chenars or with cocoon silk thread stripes. Shirts are worn over trousers, and usually with a belt. In

some areas the shirt has a flared lower part (poale) forming a skirt (fustă) which could be pleated with narrow pleats.

Straight Shirt

This is the oldest form of men's shirt. It is made from

one piece of cloth forming the front and back, with a hole cut out for the neck and a slit from

the neck to the chest. This style has straight sleeves

wider at the wrists which are joined to the main garment at

the shoulder and had no cuffs. The oldest version had no

collar and was decorated only around the neck and sleeve ends. Later versions have

collars and cuffs added, and have wider gussets which may be gathered into the collar and

are more elaborately decorated.

Straight shirt with gussets

This type of shirt was made with up to 8 triangular

shaped gussets inserted in the front and back with pointed ends upwards

forming a "M" shape, which was accentuated by black or yellow embroidery. The

"skirt" was fuller due to the gussets and was often

pleated. This style of shirt was worn mainly by

shepherds in the zones of Sibiu, Petroşani, Târnave, Alba, Orãstie, Haţeg, and certain villages of north

Gorj, Mehedinţi and Vâlcea

Shirt with yoke or shoulders

• Shirts with separate piece(s) of material joined at the shoulders to form a yoke, or with inset pieces of material over the shoulders became common in the west of Romania from the early 20th century. The lower part of the shirt and top of the sleeves was usually gathered where they were joined to the yoke or shoulder insets and the sleeves were gathered into cuffs. This type of shirt usually had a collar. The tops of the shoulders and the cuffs were decorated with embroidery, and there was also decoration on the collar.

Tight winter trousersThe most common type ismade of a width of material foreach leg and one for the crutch.These are found in a large areaof the Carpathians Mountains,Moldavia, North Muntenia andsouth Transylvania.

Thin summer trousers

Are trousers worn in summerand made in white homespunmaterial (white linen, hemp orcotton and occasionally inMoldavia very finely spun wool)

Wide summer trousers

These wide linen trousers were worn inMaramureş, Oaş, Bihor, Arad and alsoin Slovakia, Carpathian areas ofUkraine, parts of Hungary, North Serbiaand Slovenia. They were made of clothwoven in hemp, cotton or cotton withhemp, using 2 heddles. Each leg was ormed of 2 (or more) widths of clothjoined by using decorative whitecrocheted stitches called "cheiţe" (littlekeys) up to 1.5" wide. The length ofthese trousers was between knee andankle length depending on the region.

WOMEN’S COSTUMES

•Straight apron /Wrap round skirt/ Pleated or gathered apron/ Skirt•Straight cut chemise/ Chemise with shoulder insets/ Chemise with Yoke/  Gathered round neck chemise/ Underskirt•Oblong cotton scarf/ Silk veil / Square scarf / Triangular scarf/ Bonnets/ Straw Hats/ Felt hats•Metal jewellery/ Beads/

Straight apron

The most common costumetype has two rectangular

straight aprons (mostcommonly called catrinţă orzadie) which are worn at thefront and back with the white

underskirt showing at the sides. Theseaprons are made of a rectangular piece

of woollen material, either a single width or 2 widths joined together either vertically of horizontal. The size varies from zone to zone, as

does the style of decoration. They are tied round the waist using

cords.

Wrap round skirt

The fotă is made of woollen material, or cotton mixed with wool, woven on 4 heddles. It fully covers the underskirt (poale) except for, in some areas, the hem . The oldest fote were made of black or greyish brown fabric using the natural colours of the wool. The earliest decoration was a red border (bete roşii) at the lower edge, and on the front edge, which strengthen the fabric.

Pleated or gathered apron

It is made of home wovenmaterial, thick or thin cloth (pânză), wool, cotton or cashmere, and decorated with embroidery, or more recently of factory woven material such as floral printed calico.

Skirt

Is a wide skirt made of homespun or factory made wool worn in certain areas of Romania since the 19th century. These can be distinguished from the older style wrap around aprons by the fact the the material is gathered and sewn onto a waistband, rather than being tied around the waist using a cord, with the ends of the fabric not being joined.  The origin of these is most likely from urban fashion.

Straight cut chemise

It is made using a single width of homespun fabric called a val, which is cut into rectangles.

The main width forms the body, a round hole is cut for the head and a slit is made at the front. It has no shoulder

seam. Each sleeve is made of a width of material and is joined to the main part at

shoulder level. A small square of fabric (gusset) called

broască is inserted under the arm and side gussets were

later added to give extra width.

Chemise with shoulder insets

Chemise with shoulder insets (cămaşă cu

umeraş) is a variant of the straight shirt. The basic cut is the same as  straight chemise

but a piece of cloth is added over the

shoulders.

Chemise with Yoke

In this variant a rectangle of fabric is used to make a square yoke onto which rectangles of fabric are gathered to form the front and back of the blouse. The sleeves are gathered at the shoulders and wrists, and either open out into a frill or were cuffed. The lower part of the chemise is made of rectangular pieces with added gussets. The neck opening is decorated with a frill in Bihor, collar (Salaj), or has a square neck (Maramureş).

Gathered round neck chemise

The front, back and sleeves of this chemise are made of rectangular pieces of homespun fabric. Four pieces are used for the body of the blouse, one for the front, one for the back and two for the side gussets with a V shape cut out to insert the sleeves which are joined in at neck in raglan fashion. This type of chemise also has a gusset inserted under the arm to ease movement.

Underskirt

In the past long chemises were worn mainly in the south of the country, whereas the underskirt was more often separated from the blouse in Transylvania, Banat and Moldavia, although more recently the chemise has become two garments in most regions. Where the two garments are separate the underskirt or lower part of the female chemise is cut from the same piece of cloth as the blouse and gathered, tied with a cord or with a belt. It is then either joined to the blouse or worn separately.

Oblong cotton scarf

The oblong cotton scarf or silk veil is the oldest type of 

traditional head covering.

Silk veil

Is usually made of home woven cocoon silk

although in some areas cotton was

used.

Square scarf

A square scarf is a square of fabric woven in cotton, silk or wool, and either plain, decorated with embroidery, or printed. They can be of varying size and thickness. It are usually folded in half diagonally and worn by women to cover their heads, by tying them at the back, or under the chin depending on the zone, nationality, fashion or age of the woman.

Triangular scarf

Triangular scarves are worn mostly in the south, Dobrogea, East Moldavia and across the Danube. These were home woven of thin white cotton or muslin or bought ready made and are often fringed with lace and beads.

Straw Hats

Straw hats made in specialist workshops are worn by women along the Carpathians, and in south and central Transylvania. They are worn in the fields in summer, often over a scarf as protection from the sun and for festive occasions when they are decorated with coloured ribbons, tassels, beads, flowers and small mirrors.

Bonnets

In Banat and southwest Hunedoara small cloth bonnets are worn mainly by married women. These are made of flax or cotton fabric which is embroidered with woollen, silk, cotton or metal thread. There are many different styles, some based on late 18th century bonnets found in other parts of Europe. 

Belts

Belts made of woven fabric or leather form part of traditional costume in most in regions. Men wear either leather or fabric belts or both depending on the region, whereas women usually wear fabric belts. Fabric belts are woven by women at home, whereas the production of leather belts has taken place in workshops since the introduction of the guilds in 1600's.

Leather belts

These are made from folded leather and differ in width and decoration from zone to zone. They usually have a covered pocket which is used for keeping money or tobacco.

Romanian peasant footwear

Peasant sandals - Opinci

Are made of a single rectangle of cow, ox or pig hide gathered round the foot in various ways.

Foot wraps

Used to be were worn with peasant sandals . These were rectangular pieces of white woollen cloth which were wrapped round the feet and legs and held in place by hemp cords.

Boots Boots were introduced during Ottoman times, and were worn first by the upper classes, only becoming available to the richer peasants in the 19th century. Initially the Hungarians in Transylvania banned the Romanians from wearing boots, but boots are now widely worn by men especially in west and north Transylvania and also  by women in some regions of Transylvania such as Ţara Oaşului, Sibiu, Făgăraş .

Romanian peasant footwear

Peasant sandals - Opinci

Are made of a single rectangle of cow, ox or pig hide gathered round the foot in various ways.

CostumesMuntenia

CostumesBanat

CostumesOltenia

CostumesMaramureş

CostumesMoldavia

CostumesTransylvania

Copyright:

http://www.eliznik.org.uk/RomaniaPortul/

This project is financed with the support of the European Commission through Lifelong Learning

Programme - Multilateral Comenius Projects 2010. This presentation reflects only the author’s point of view and

the European Commission is not responsible for the possible utilization of the information it contains.

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