historia tradycyjnych ubrań w Rumunii

The costumes that are in existence today, and are recorded on photographs and film, date mainly from 19th and 20th centuries. There is very little evidence, except for a few paintings, showing costume worn outside towns before 19th century. In most countries the wearing of traditional clothing died out by 1900 due to the process of industrialisation, but in Romania folk costume has continued to be worn and to develop through most of the 20th century which is why there is such a wealth of information available today. Although over time the embroidery on Romanian clothing has become very detailed and elaborate the basic garments retains a structure which may date back to Neolithic or Bronze age times, the original characteristics being retained due to the remoteness of large areas of Romanian.

Historical and documentary evidence of costume elements

Details of evidence from within the land which is now part of Romania and surrounding Balkan countries:

Period	Document/Monument	Details
Neolithic period 5500 - 2200 BC	Venus of Craiova	Oldest iconographic evidence of costume on soil of present day Romanian dates back to Neolithic period. It is a ceramic figure known as Venus of Craiova, which according to Al. Tzigara-Samurcaş (L’Art du People Roumaine 1925) shows decoration on costume
	Hamangia culture (4000-3000BC)	Clay statuettes found in 1956 in tomb of Neolithic necropolis of Cernavodă, Dobrogea called “the thinker” and “woman sitting"
	Turdaş culture	First prototype of an opinca încreţită /îngurzită can be seen on the 'piciorul de vas de la Turdaş' now in Cluj Archaeological Museum
	Cucuteni culture, Moldavia and Transylvania	Representations of simple fabrics and knitted fabrics have been found on Neolithic pottery.
Bronze Age 1800-1150 BC Migration of Indo European tribes to west Early Dacians	Zagreb stele	Zagreb stele shows fotă worn with corner turned up under the belt which indicates the prototype of thefotă may be Illyric. Similarities between Dacian and Ilyrian costume indicate that the origin may be termed Thraco-illyrian.
	Ceramic figure in Careii Mari museum in north near Satu Mare	Bronze Age figure in Careii Mari museum shows necklaces, cloth made into a suman and distinct motifs on front and back like “brădut” on female shirts in some zones of Transylvania.
	Clay Statuettes discovered in the Cârna necropolis, Dolj County, Oltenia (discovered 1950s)	Number of statutes found in necropolis of Cârna on Danube show women wearing chemises and catrinţewith waistbands, decorated with ornamental motifs. These belonged to the "urnfield" culture of certain Danubian tribes with Indo-European elements prior to the separation of the Thracians and the Illyrians.
	Căşei, Transylvania	Cojoc on stele found at Căşei in Transylvania.
	Moldavia (Republic of Moldova) - sites of ancient fortified towns by the villages of Mateutsy and Poyana of Rezina District and Gansk of Kutuzovo District	Jewellery from Thracian period including gold and silver neckpieces, ear-rings with droppers, decorated with grain-gold, blue glass-beads, silver and gold bracelets, fibulae (fasteners),
Iron Age 1000-800 BC	Kostelitz, Bohemia, Hallstadt	Representation of an opancă without a peak on a clay vessel similar to the piciorul de vas de la Turdaş'
	Dürrnberg, Hallein-Austria	First representation of an opancă with a peak found in a salt mine in Dürrnberg
6th C BC	Bihac (Bosnia)	Funeral stone showing a person wearing a opincă
514-513 BC	Herodotus	Herodotus describing Getae at invasion of Darius mentioned that the Thracian-Dacians used embroidery to decorate their clothes. He also makes the first mention of cojoc as he describes the Tracii, wearing " fox caps, tunics and long mottled fur coats (cojoace) with applications of leather". (Herodotus, Histories, VII,75)
1st C AD	Roman poet Ovid, in Tristia	Ovid mentions the natives who wore cojoc. the "fur clad Getae"
2nd C AD 109 Romans & Dacians	Monument at Adamclisi in Dobrogea	Tropaeum Traiani erected to commemorate Trajan’s conquest of the Dacians has 49, bas relief’s which show the Roman campaign. Dacians represented on it are wearing opinci, creased iţari (tight fitting and long & gathered trousers) and heavy sheepskin coats (cojoace). The later frightened the Roman poet Ovid, in exile at Tomis (Constanţa) who called them “pelliti Getae”. Women are wearing chemises andfotă. This proves these garments were in existence in Dacian times and hence have had a Dacian or earlier origin.
2nd C AD 113 AD	Trajan's Column in Rome	Show representations of the Dacians who had come to negotiate with the Romans. The men can be seen wearing cloaks (gluga), creased trousers, and opinci, the women are dressed in a chemise with rounded gathered neck, with belt at waist in a different style to those on monument at Adamclisi.
5th C AD Huns 375-453	Priscus, 5th C Byzantium historian	Priscus, saw the Slavonic women in Attila's palace embroidering fine linen with threads of various colours
6th C AD Slavic invasions	Moldavia (Republic of Moldova) Early Slavic settlement near the village of Trebuzheny, the Orgeyev District	A bronze periapt-pendant, dating from the 6th or the 7th centuries, figuring a man with his arms bent was found during excavations. He is clothed in a long tunic with a slit at the front and a belt at waist and high boots with tapered toes.
14th C Middle Ages	Frescos	Medieval costume of rulers and nobles represented in a large number of frescoes in churches & monasteries e.g. Mălâncrav in Sibiu, (mid 14C) Curtea de Argeş (1384), Căliu (NW of Craiova) etc. Frescos in Curtes de Argeş show women in cămaşă with altiţa and pleated vâlnic.
1358	Chronicon Pictum Vindobonense	Oldest pictures of medieval Romanian folk costume in 2 miniatures in Chronican Pictum dating from first half of fourteenth century and showing the battle of Posada (1330). Shows peasant archers wearing belted white shirts, trousers (iţari), leather shoes (opinci), shepherds cloaks (sarice).
Beginning 15th C. Ottoman invasions	Documents re existence of trade guilds - customs records, economic statistics, marriage contracts, membership diplomas.	One document mentions existence of a number of noteworthy Cojocari in villages. "Guild members of snuff box makers, Cojocari, shoemakers, in towns of Transylvania and in Moldavia, which make trade with neighbouring countryside". Membership diplomas of furriers guilds list guilds in Suceava, Iaşi, Siret, Roman, Braşov, Orăstie, Bistriţa, Câmpulung, Târgovişte, Buchureşti.
1402	Embroidered altar cloth, Putna Monastery	Euphima, a Serbian nun, daughter of Vojihna, together with her daughter Euprasijka embroidered an altar cloth for Putna Monastery (Bucovina) in gold thread.
1488	J Thurocz - book Cronica Hungarorum (Vienna)	Engravings in J Thurocz book Cronica Hungarorum
1553	Serbia - Hans Dernschvam	"Women in Morava district wore shirts with neck, front and sleeves embroidered in woollen thread in many colours". Church embroidery in gold thread and twisted silk
1556	Badges of Jewellers Guild in Braşov	Badges of Jewellers Guild in Braşov show women in costume
16th C	Antonius Wranacius Sibenicenisis Dalmata - De situ Transilvaniae, Moldaviae et Transalpinae	This contains data regarding Romanian costume.
1536-1538	Cronica evenimentelor moldovene între 1536-1538	"Moldavians are stoutly attached to their clothing and whoever adopts the clothing, the dress or any such things from the Turks or from any other nation suffers capital punishment".
1541	Georgio A. Reicherstorf - Moldaviae quae olim Daciae pars - Vienna	Contains descriptions of costumes
1560	Pigafetta re Serbian costume	Pigafetta says women in Bela Palanka on the Nišava wore the sleeves, necks and skirts of their blouses embroidered with all kinds of remade wool and silk.
1640	Book by Valentin Frank leader of Transylvanian Saxons	Contains a drawing of a Romanian shepherd in belted shirt, tight cioareci, fur cap and cojoc.
1666	Johannes Troester - Das alt und neue Teutsche Dacia – Nuremberg	Describes youths going to the hora in pleated shirts embroidered with barburi (M shaped pattern), he also describes the glugă, opincăs, & velitură.
1656-1658	Franz Babinger: "Conrad Jakob Hildebrandt's Dreifache Schwedische Gesandtschaftsreise nach Siebenburgen 1656-1658, Sibiu 1937	A Swedish traveller who comments on women’s beautiful patterns on their blouses.
1662	Laurentio Toppeltino - Origines et occasus transilvanorum – Lugduni	Contains costume data
1716	Dimitrie Cantemir – Descriptio Moldaviae	Contains information on Moldavian costume
1722	Map of Oltenia drawn by Austrian Friedrich Schwantz	Detailed map of Oltenia, illustrated by peasants townsmen in costume.
1730.	Trachten Cabinet von Siebenburgen	Shows a peasant carrying a leather jacket (cojoc) richly decorated in different techniques and women from Mărginamea Sibiului wearing a cămaşe with altiţă on shoulders and coat (şuba înfundată), with belt over aprons, and opinci.
1733	Church murals	Mural in church of Câineni, Ţara Loviştei known as “Jupâneasca Sânziana” shows cămaşă with altiţă and long “twisted" sleeves.
1750	An anonymous text published in Budapest	This mentions gluga and includes cioareci in the Valach costume,
18th (and 19th)	Mural pictures on architectural monuments in 18C	Haine de dimie, are seen in murals in churches in Râşinari, Sibiu 1752, church in Vioreşti, Vâlcea 1801, churches in Leleşti and Pojogeni, Gorj 1834 etc.
19th C	Carol Popp de Szathmary	Watercolours showing costumes from all ethnographic zones.
First half of 19th C	French and Italian artists – Valerio, Lancelot, Doussault, Raffet, Bouquet, Prezziosi	Drawings, engravings and watercolurs drawn by artists who travelled through Walachia and Moldavia. Many seen in collection of Lia Stoica.
Mid 19thC	Nicolae Grigorescu (1838-1907)	Painted many pictures of Romania peasants, one of most famous is "Ţărancă din Muscel”
Mid 19thC	Nikola Arsenovic (Macedonia)	Costume illustrations made by Nikola Arsenovic suggest that Macedonian costumes already heavily embroidered but Serbian and Croatian less decorated than they later became.
1929	George Oprescu "Peasant Art in Romania"	"The national costume is still fairly common. It is tending to die out more especially in towns and along the railways. The habit has been lost in whole regions" e.g. area between Danube Plain and Bucureşti.