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The 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.

Romanian traditional women’s outfits

These costumes aren’t full sets. Romanian women also traditionally wear headdresses and shoes (leather shoes or boots). Unmarried girls wear wreaths, ribbons, and similar headgear; married women use kerchiefs with different bonnets or coifs underneath.

But the most important part of a Romanian dress is the embroidered shirt. It should have a long sleeve and be white and decorated with at least some embroidery. Everyday shirts have few patterns, while festive ones are richly decorated.

Traditionally, there were different shirts for various occasions: wedding shirts, garments for Christening and religious rituals, blouses for young girls, married females, and widows, special shirts for certain traditional ceremonies, etc.

Also, the color of embroidery on a women’s shirt mattered – it wasn’t picked randomly. Yellow and golden yellow was a color for kids. Orange color was used by young girls who were ready for marriage and were looking for a husband. Brides wore shirts with red stitching. Young women who have just become mothers preferred light-blue embroidery for their shirts. Elder women used garments with black and dark-blue stitching.

Romanian bags

Handmade bags from Northern Romania. The spinning of wool and weaving were performed by hand.