National/folk costumes

Slovenia is a bit special in regards to folk costumes in that it has a particular that has become its national costume, which represents the whole nation. This occured in the second half of the 19th century when preassure from germanisation became more intense and nationalism rose on both sides - the Slovene and the German one. Slovene folk costumes are almost exclusively festive costumes of peasents as people in cities dressed differently - which was usual in most of Europe, I dare say. Yet in that time Slovene burghers in Carniola started to dress in folk costumes as well, which became a way to express their national identity and support for the Slovene cause. But they didn't choose just any odd costume. A certain type of costume from Upper Carniola (Gorenjsko region) became the go-to type. In itself it is a typical Alpine type of folk costume (as opposed to the Panonnian type), not terribly different from other costumes in southern Carinthia, western Lower Styria, parts of the Slovene Littoral or Lower Carniola. Yet became a sort of uniform and thus standardised in a way like no other. Through time it changed slightly to serve different purposes, certain elements were added to it, many were taken away. In this post I will try to show some of these changes.

First up are two types of Upper Carniolan costumes which can be seen as a sort of base for it.





From this we get the typical more standardised national costume. The women's costume can feature two distinct headdresses, the "peča" (left in the follwing picture), with it's typical lace knot on top, and the "avba" (right in the following picture), which resembles certain German (Haube) and Russian headdresses. Women also sometimes wore the so called "black costume", which is quite a rare sight today.









Nowadays you sadly don't see this anymore, but men used to wear jackets with their costumes and the distinctive "žlajfica" or "smrtnica" underneath their hats (those were often decorated with grouse tail feathers). I'm guessing the žlajfica stopped being worn after ww1 and survived only in reconstructions worn by folklore groups. It is however still possible to see it in use among Carinthian Slovenes in Austria, especially in the Gailtal/Ziljska dolina at events like štehvanje/Kufenstechen. The žlajfica hat by itself used to be as much a symbol of Slovenedom in the 19th century as later the whole costume together, but nowadays it mostly fell into obscurity ...

Next up are folk costumes from Upper Carniola, the surrounding of Ljubljana and Ljubljana itself, to give an idea what was the source from which the national costume of Slovenia was created.



Bled




Bohinj




Kranjska Gora




Ljubljana




Ljubljana - Krakovo




Ljubljana - Šiška




Ljubljana - Trnovo




Ljubljana - surrounding areas




Motnik




Podkoren




Polhov Gradec




Polhov Gradec (without the cloak)




Rateče




Smlednik




Smlednik




Škofja Loka




Škofja Loka

These Breton headdresses are very distinctive indeed and very nice as well! The second variety reminds me of something worn by women in Bohemia and Lusatia. Maybe I can dig up some examples.

Next up is one of my favourite folk costumes, that of Slovenes from the lower Gailtal/Ziljska dolina in Carinthia (Austria). The men's costume is very similar to other Slovene Carinthian and Upper Carniolan costumes, even today it retains the jacket and the "žlajfica" although the latter is either worn on its own and not under the hat as in the past, or it is stuck in a boot, behind the belt or hangs from a jacket pocket. Young unmarried lads usually wear characteristic brown lether boots that go above the knee, while married men often wear knee high socks with their Lederhosen. In certain areas towards the upper Gailtal (around Brdo/Egg and the Pressegger Lake, if I'm not mistaken) it is however usual for all men to wear blue kneehigh socks (typically Carinthian) in which they tuck their white linen pants, above which the Lederhosen is worn. Their waistcoats are often made of the same material on both the back and the front, especially the more local variety with distinctive striped or even checkered patterns (sometimes they are double breasted), while in Carniola nowadays the back is made of a plain black cloth and only the front is embroidered (this change occured in the second half of the 19th century as a cost cutting measure). The women's costume is famous for it's skirt, which is so short that you can see the red garters underneath. Legend has it that Empress Maria Theresa wanted to forbid it from being so short. In the past the women's blouse (rokavci) were most often brought from Bohemia and Moravia as the Gailtalers were famous for transporting and trading goods with their carts all over the Empire. Another special piece of the women's costume is the embroidered belt. Nowadays you will usually see women and girls wear a scarf on their head, but in the past a more distinctive white headdress with many folds was worn. In the Gailtal many costumes, especially the women's ones are handed down through generations.
As I have explained in another thread, my avatar is a man in the Gailtal costume as well.