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Traditional Folk Costume

The secular existence of some social-economic cultural zone concourses of events created gradually in Transylvania ethnographic areas with a distinct personality; the special aspect of the local folk costume pointed out the identity marks of the areas. Despite the basic unitary structure, the zone costumes belonging to the same ethnic groups had specific features that made them different, as they could become an identity support for the communities which cultivated their distinctive personality.

In the case of some different ethnic groups that co-existed for centuries on a certain territory, the tendency to define them by differentiation was stronger and was made by outlining the specific elements of the costume structure. Developing in time with keeping of a basic structure, the traditional folk costume survived in Transylvania till the epoch of fast industrialization (1960-1965). The exhibition units I-V present folk costume dated at the end of the 19th century.

The exhibition unit I presents costumes that illustrate the identity process described above at the end of the 19th century. The costumes of the pair from Fagaras Country (1) and the ones of the pair from Marginimea Sibiului (2) have common elements but also important differences, although they belong to neighbouring areas and the same Romanian ethnic group. If the male costumes are structurally similar, the female costumes are very different: the Fagaras woman worn over the hems pastura, which covered it almost completely, she had a rich ornamented shirt of Muntenia type and polmesenic on her head while the Sibiu woman worn in over hems a narrow catrinta (peasant skirt), she had a very discreetly embroidered shirt of Transylvanian type and a caita on her head with a different structure. These differences could be explained by the fact that Fagaras Country belonged to Muntenia in the first part of the Middle Age.

The differences between the Szekler costume (3) and the Romanian female costumes are more visible: while the Romanian costumes were completely made within the household and were cut off without losing material, the Szekler costume has also bought materials and some pieces were fitted on the body by using the pattern. The influences of the urban costume non-existent at the Romanian costumes make in this case the wanted identity difference. The access to the materials and costume pieces with superior social status was facilitated in the case of Szekler people by their historical background of small noble men and free peasants without military duties.

The exhibition unit II offers a new example of regional identity expressed by costumes. Although the Oas and Maramures are neighbouring areas and compactly Romanian, the pair from Oas (4) wears - at the end of the 19th century - a costume more similar to the one of the Romanians from Crisana than the one of their neighbours from Maramures (5) in the same period of time. The difference is surprising especially at the female costume, the white dress and the linen apron worn in Oas, belonging to a structural ensemble different to the one that includes two zadii-catrinte (kind of peasant skirts), specific both to Maramures and to the Romanian regions in the whole historical Ardeal. The archaic Romanian mountain piece guba mitoasa worn by the Maramures man is found also at the Oas costume, maybe as a rest of a common archaic fund.

The exhibition unit III presents an interesting case of permeability at the level of identity function of the peasant costume. The two woman costumes belong to different ethnic groups (6-Romanian, 7 Saxon) but geographically neighbouring (Nasaud and Bistrita). Although the Saxon community from Bistrita region owned from even the moment of the colonisation (13th century) a social-economic privileged status, there were adopted two Nasaud pieces specific to the Romanians in the woman Saxon costume from the end of the 19th century: the zadie-catrinta (peasant woman skirt, different ornamented) and the sleeveless fur coat without frontal opening (opened on waist into a specific way). It is possible that even the older status of free privileged peasants of the Nasaud Romanians to make preferred for Saxons such a cultural contact.

The exhibition unit IV includes costumes belonging to a pair from the Romanian area of Aries (8) and a pair from the Hungarian region of Calata (9). The differences appeared from the level of materials (obtained completely in the household at Romanians, bought from the store partly at Hungarians), of cutting out (straight at Romanians, fitted on waist at some female Hungarian pieces), of techniques of decoration (vivid, contrasting at the female Hungarian costume, well-balanced by white at the Romanian one).

There are major structural differences between the male costumes, the Hungarian one having short and large shirt, wide steppe trousers, the Romanian one having long shirt and tight mountain trousers. The zadia-catrinta represents an identity brand of the Romanian female costume and the pleated and fixed on waist skirt (muszuly) is an identity brand of the Hungarian female costume in the Calata region. The Hungarian male coarse-stuff peasant coat (szur) taken from Hungary only by the Hungarian from Calata region had an stressed identity and ceremonial function.

The exhibition unit V contains Romanian costumes from the Western and Southern Transylvania. The costumes worn by the two pairs come from Beius (10) and Ineu (11) regions, being related structurally rather to the costumes from Oas than the ones from Inner Transylvania. The men pants and the short shirts, the woman dresses and white linen aprons (that replaced at the beginning of the 20th century the wool peasant skirt zadia worn even in Beius) even the cutting out of some shirts in the area outline a western area of the Romanian costume in contact with the elements of the Central European peasant costume.

Finally, the presence of the woman costume from Carbunari region (12) near to the one from Padureni region (13) emphasizes the great diversity of the regional types of the Romanian Transylvanian costume. While the costume from Carbunari with catrinta, belt and straight sleeve shirt is related to the costume from Oltenia, the costume from Padureni is different from the one of another Transylvanian regions by the irregular black catrinte, by the presence of the belt (balt), by the large and compact embroidery on the shirt sleeves, by the shape of the bonnet and the long head covering. At the traditional female costume, the hair dress and the way of covering the head illustrated also the marital status, and the adornments marked the social-economical status.

The exhibition unit VI includes Romanian woman head covers and adornments for neck and waist, dated at the beginning of the 20th century: cepse (richly embroidered bonnets of peasant women) from Banat of different types (14), beads latitare for neck (15) and bete (belts) for waist (16) from the same area, zgarda of beads from Bihor (17), muruna (18) worn on head by the girls from Meses region, valitoare worn by wives from Tarnave region (19), beads zgarzi from Bihor and Oas (20).

The exhibition unit VII presents female Saxon head covers dated from the end of the 20th century: a parta for girls (21) from Sura Mica, Sibiu, two cepse (richly embroidered bonnets of peasant women) from the south of Transylvania (22 - Tohanul Vechi and 23 - Cristian) and one from the north of Transylvania (24 - Livezile, Bistrita), two buckles (paftale) (25-26) and girdle (27) from Sibiu.

The exhibition unit VIII contains Romanian cepse (richly embroidered bonnets of peasant women) from Hunedoara region (28, 29, 30, 31) and from Banat (32), beads from Bihor (33, 34, 35) and from Jina (36-37), a belt (38) from Hunedoara, a necklace from Timis (39), two latitare from Padureni (40-41) and a belt with beads from Hunedoara (42).

The exhibition unit IX includes Hungarian head covers from the end of the 19th century: parta for girls from Calata region (43), ceapsa (richly embroidered bonnet of peasant women) for wives from Odorhei (46) and Calata (47), kerchief (naframa) from Rimetea (48).

The exhibition unit X exhibits two Romanian headkerchief-towels woven of cocoon silk obtained in the household in the village Moeciu de Jos, Bran region (49-50, end of the 19th century).