Romania

Romanian suman avaRomanian queens, princes, and princesses often preferred local folk costumes to universal European court clothes in the late 19th – early 20th century. There are old photos and postcards to prove that. Even when most European courts dressed by the latest fashion trends, Romanian royalty made embroidered clothing and traditional accessories the symbols of Romanian national identity and even the means to replenish the state budget – by exporting these authentic items to neighboring and far-away countries.

Romania avaRomanian folk dress is one of those traditional outfits that have survived almost without any serious changes throughout centuries. The costumes show a lot of typically Slavic features, like embroidered shirts, sheepskin vests and hats, bright kerchiefs, narrow white trousers, etc. Of course, there is a great diversity of regional folk outfits. But let’s look closer at Romanian traditional attire and try to define its main characteristics.

Transylvania avaIn Romania, the art of embroidery is preserved until today, just like in many Slavic countries. And there are a lot of craftswomen who continue to decorate folk clothing with stitchwork. The traditional Romanian embroidery looks festive and makes the whole outfit kind of alive and unique. In this material, we’ll talk about the folk costume of Transylvania (central Romania) and its traditional needlework. So, let’s find out what Transylvanians wear and how they embellish their folk dress.

Romanian avaThe traditional costume of Romania is typically Slavic. Romanian women were very skilled in folk clothing crafts – they spun wool, wove different pieces of clothing, sewed garments, adorned them with beautiful embroidery, etc. Of course, today, these crafts are almost forgotten because most people buy industrially-made clothes. But Romanians still try to preserve their tradition of folk crafts with a help of museums, communities of craftsmen, and folk art schools. We’d like to share the beauty of Romanian traditional outfits with you – here are several photos.

Dior vs Bihor avaThere’s a huge scandal in our fashion industry this year: Romanian people blamed the world famous brand Dior for copying their folk clothes in his new collection. Dior just took beautiful Romanian pieces of clothing, recreated them in modern materials, and presented them as their own pre-fall collection. When Romanians showed in media and social media their authentic garments, everybody saw that the patterns and decorations on Dior’s insanely expensive items were identical to those made in Romania centuries ago. And now, Dior’s lie is exposed. Sadly, Romanians didn’t get any money from Dior.