Saturday was museum and fair day for me. There was a folk costume exhibition I wanted to visit as I like these traditional wears and always visit the exhibition if I have the occasion. What I'm going to show you today are Romanian folk costumes, specific to the Tarnave area, Transylvania.
When I arrived at the museum, I knew this one was not free, but even with a 3€ ticket, it worth it for me as what you see is fascinating, it's not only (folk) fashion, but also handicraft. At the entrance, when I wanted to pay for the ticket, I was told that if I would have come dressed in a folk shirt, the entrance would have been free. Well, first of all I did not know and secondly, I don't have such a shirt. Not to mention, these shirts cost a fortune these days. Anyway, the initiative is great. This is how you promote folk costumes.
What you see here is most likely a wedding. I can't see the groom, so it's possible it is just festive costumes.
This guy greeted every visitor at the entrance. He had some corn in his hand, which seemed strange. I mean corn has been and maybe still is considered staple food in Romania, but that's not what you greet people with.
Then there was this piece of furniture, which was transformed in a cabinet with a glass top. It's made of wood and had painted. Back in those days these chests were very common. Clothes and bedding was stored in these.
I took a photo of the story as it's an interesting one, worth reading.
This is the wedding photo that was mentioned above. Back in those days and maybe even now, village people (and maybe not only them) had the habit of hanging their wedding photos on the wall. Look at the decoration of the photo.
These are the documents found along with the wedding photo.
And another one, a receipt for paying the taxes, from 1913, which means from 110 years ago.
This costume was a bit shocking. At first I thought it's from a carnival, but then I remembered the ritual some regions still have. It's called bride request and basically the groom goes to the house of the bride, to ask her out, to take her to the altar. Custom has it that first they send out a man dressed in woman's clothes, then they send out an old woman, then a very young girl and only after that can come the bride.
Maybe this costume and mask is part of the ritual.
These were most likely the parents of the groom or the bride.
Look at that vest. It's made of sheep skin and embroidered.
The bride had a beautiful one too.
I'm not sure who these men supposed to be, maybe guests. Or maybe the man in the middle is the groom?
Another nice chest, which was needed, as the bride had to have her dowry and that was carried in chests like these.
Beds and bedding like these were also a must. Those embroidered pillows were the decoration of the room. There were no bedding chests, so all the pillows and quilts were placed on the top of the bed.
Another lovely chest, which is not only a chest, but it serves as some kind of bench as well as you could sit on it. Don't look for comfort as they had no idea what comfort meant back in those days. There was no comfort in their lives. Maybe the wealthy knew what comfort was, by those times standards, but not the poor.
The earth ware can't be missing as that's what they were using those days.
In the middle of the room, the traditional wedding table, with a handmade table cloth and the traditional bread they have.
Looking back, I'm glad I wasn't born back then. Knowing the life we have now, I don't think I could have lived like that. However, it's nice to look at these costumes and have an idea where they come from and where they are now.
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