Woman’s Folk Costume | Jakubany, Slovakia

Description

Origin: Slovakia | Spis region | Jakubany village
Era: WWII era (circa 1930-1950) and Mid-20th century (post 1950)
Includes: blouse, vest, skirt, apron, cap, shawl, sash
Condition: very good; front of skirt dirty from storage (covered by apron); blouse has underarm staining and color transfer from vest; suitable for both wear and display
Measurements (with garments laying flat):
  Vest – across front: 18″ between underarms + additional 4-5″ in tucks
  Vest – length: 16″
  Skirt – waist: 30″ around
  Skirt – length: 29.5″
  Apron – length: 26.5″
  Shawl: 27″ square + 5″ fringe
  Sash: 1″ wide x 108″ long
Additional Notes: Traditional folk costume from the Rusyn village of Jakubany in the Spis region of the Carpathian Mountains. This is a festive variation of the local costume worn primarily by younger women at weddings and other major holidays. The costume includes elements for both a married and unmarried women so historically it should not be worn exactly as shown in the first photo. The shoulder shawl was traditionally worn only by unmarried women (under the vest) and the cap only by married women. For an unmarried girl, instead of a cap there would just be a ribbon tied in the girl’s hair and the cap would become part of the costume only after she was married. At this point a girl would no longer wear the shoulder shawl. Could be worn as a bridal costume with the elements added/removed as necessary during the capping ceremony. Includes a rare, old handwoven white skirt with red stripes around the bottom that is seldom seen today as it has been replaced by skirts of commercially available fabrics. There is some soiling on the front of the skirt that shows how the skirt was stored and tied up to preserve the pleats. The tie strings prevented the dust from settling on the places where it was bound resulting in the criss-cross patterning. The apron is newer and seems a bit short for this skirt so you may wish to either fold over the skirt at the waist to make it shorter or add a band of fabric to the top of the apron to make it longer. The vest has been made smaller by taking in about 2-3″ of fabric on each side, which can be unstitched to make the vest larger. The bright pink color came into favor with the women in Jakubany around the middle of the 20th century and continues to be used for costumes made in the village today.