Tales of the past 6. National costume

Do not worry, this is the last post dedicated to my granny's treasures. (Well, I had not had only one granny LOL). So today I am showing the most valuable bits (for me, of course). The national costume.

Latvian national costume had similar principles like Scottish kilts only instead of one family colours and patterns each village had their own. For women its mostly woollen skirt, linen shirt and bodice. Large woollen scarf with embroidery, rich knitted socks and the head bits - from simple ribbon for young girls to really a crown like creation for the bride and down to colourful head scarfs for married ladies.

In my drawers there are actually parts of two different national costumes, as my granny was the only child. She got them from both sides of the family and so they were kept.

This one is from Barta region - black skirt with the red line at the bottom, red bodice and white shirt with black embroidery. It has been well worn and some things are missing - for example, the silver brocade ribbons which decorated the bodice, but otherwise all in all in good condition.




Skirt

The wrong side (you can see that the decorative ornament is not weaved but just sewn in)

 

The shirt

Linen, with black embroidery

 The sleeve ends are wide and flat.

 The bodice

Bodice has been worn a lot and is really worn out. It has sateen lining which also is starting to break apart so now it needs a copy to be made. But anyway - I will keep it and I will pass it to my oldest dayghter... People here are strange to keep such old pieces but by some reason we are really proud to still have them.

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This shirt is part of Lielvarde national costume, the other part which is still alive is the belt I told before here. The united bodice/skirt bit my mother had been wearing during the WWII as a daily dress and it didn't survived.

The shirt also had been worn a lot and the sleeves needed some serious repair. I remember how my granny started the job, nearly did all the embroydery and then she had a heartattack.

The needle is still holding the red threar. And now I think - do I really need to finish the job or keeping it how it is it will have the memories about my granny.







The original sleeve end, Below the expanded copy (original is the narrow one), made by my granny (not finished, still one row missing)