Romanian folk costume from Bihor

                      Romanian folk costume from Bihor from century 19 th 

From a geographical point of view, this area corresponds to the Beiuș-Vașcău depression, and the 19th-century traditional costume specific to this region falls into the typology of the folk costume from the Western Plains of Romania. Thus, the traditional women's costume from Bihor consists of a blouse called "spatoi" and a skirt called "poale," a wide skirt, gathered at the waist on a high belt. The skirt is decorated with "fodre," which means ruffles.

                              Romanian folk costume from Bihor

The traditional women's blouse that appears in the Romanian folk costume from this region only in the 19th century is called the "spatoi cu guler rasfrant" or blouse with a folded collar. In this blouse, the sleeve is attached from the shoulder, and the cuffs, or "pumnarii," are 10 cm wide and richly adorned with embroidery. They end with lavish ruffles.

                                              Vintage Romanian blouse with folded collar

The Romanian traditional blouse from Bihor features embroidered or simple fabric applications on the shoulders. The embroidery is either counted thread embroidery or needle weaving. A characteristic of the folk costume from Bihor is the large, folded collar in the shape of a ruffle, made from thin fabric, lace, or hand embroidered hemp fabric.

              Romanian folk blouse from Bihor with lace collar

The embroideries used on the Romanian traditional blouse from Bihor include:  embroidery worked according to a pattern and "trasureasca"( in Romanian ) or counted thread embroidery. The most commonly used traditional motifs in embroidery are various versions of clover, which bring luck to the wearer of the traditional Romanian costume adorned in this way, the lock and key, or other geometric symbols whose meanings trace back to the distant history.

The color scheme of the embroideries is applied based on the age of the woman who will wear the costume.

Elderly women have their costumes embroidered with black, violet, or golden yellow-colored embroideries. 

           Black embroidered vintage Romanian folk costume from Bihor

Young women have their traditional shirts and skirts embroidered with red or various shades of blue. 

           Traditional costume from Bihor with blue embroidery 

The Romanian traditional costume from Bihor with white embroidery is intended for brides or young women and is especially distinguished by the care with which it is embroidered and decorated, being a ceremonial costume.

                Romanian folk costume from Bihor - bridal costume

The traditional white skirts, like the shirts, are the pieces that women from Bihor pay great attention to in terms of ornamentation. The skirts are decorated with specific Bihor-style ornamental motifs, using the same color scheme as the traditional Romanian shirts from Bihor.

The "zadia" or traditional apron, a single piece worn in the front, in combination with the shirt and skirt, forms the traditional women's costume from Bihor.

The oldest "zadii" (aprons) are the ones used for special occasions, made of black wool embroidered with multicolored wool. Among the newer types, noteworthy are the aprons made of store-bought fabric or fabric woven on a loom with carefully chosen patterns, using red for young women and green for older women.

                  Romanian folk apron from Bihor - new style

 During the summer, the "zadia de vara" or summer apron  made of white handmade fabric with white embroidery is used.

                      Antique white embroidered Bihor apron

In the past, women used to wear large white headscarves made of home-woven fabric , " stergare de cap " in Romanian. Only towards the end of the 18th century did they start wearing woolen headscarves with silk embroidery.

Here you can find various pieces of traditional Bihor folk costume: traditional shirts, skirts, folk ensembles, aprons, and folk costumes :

Vintage Romanian traditional blouses

                                                                                                       written by Greatblouses -Romanian blouses 

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