Unlike France, Spain or Italy, Romania has developed printing on fabric very little. Still very attached to their ancestral traditions, Romanians still seem to prefer embroidery and woven or knitted fabrics. Admittedly very colorful and refined, they are not formed by a print on fabric, but rather formed of threads dyed in multiple colors, which are then embroidered, knitted or woven.
In Romania alone, there are more than 500 traditional costumes. A characteristic feature of Romania, each Romanian territory has its own regional traditional costume. The patterns of traditional Romanian embroidery are mainly composed of floral and plant motifs. The colors chosen are bright and contrasting, such as purple, green, yellow and white.
After some research, we discovered the origins of the traditional Romanian costume. “Nicknamed the Carpathian shirt or the Dacian shirt, its origins can be traced back to the ancient Dacian culture, and it can be found on bas-reliefs from 2000 years ago. Specialists call it the Wallachian shirt and consider it one of the Romanians’ contributions to European clothing diversity.
But Romania is also the main country where we find the Roma people. Who are the Roma (or also called Romanichels)? According to Wikipedia: “The Roma arrived in Romania in the 14th century, through Central Asia and Anatolia where they served as wheelwrights, horse breeders, servants and scouts for the Mongols and the Tatars. , who protected them and left them, in exchange, a share of the booty.”
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roma_of_Romania
They were therefore native to the Indies before their migration to the West. More than 600 years later, they find themselves scattered in several European countries, mainly in the Balkan region. This large region encompasses several countries: part of Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Bulgaria, Montenegro, Macedonia, Albania and Greece. It was originally a culture of nomadic people who moved from one territory to another. Over time, they developed villages and regions that are now recognized as belonging to them.
The Roma clothing culture is rather simple for men and more elaborate for women. Men from Roma culture mostly wear dark pants and a t-shirt with a known sports brand. The women wear a dark top and very colorful skirts. The women obtain very colorful fabrics printed with floral motifs by buying them from Chinese merchants who trade them in Romania.
A very interesting study by Iulia Hasdeu has made the results of her research available on the following website: https://www.cairn.info/revue-etudes-tsiganes-2008-1-page-60.htm. The article s titled “Body and Clothing of Roma Women in Romania, An Anthropological Look” from the book “Gypsy Studies”. Released in 2008.
