Our costumes date from the end of the 19th century during the years 1850-1880. One should know that these years are significant with regard to the colours of fabric for shirts, aprons and blouses. In fact, in early years, colours were highly valued by women, especially pastel shades as well as red.
After the 1870's the fashion for black established itself. There was not much difference in the composition of outfit for work or weekdays and that of a celebration or Sundays. The difference for women lay in the wearing of a blouse and white undergarments; for men, white shirts.
We present the Festival costume or "Sunday" outfit:
Womenwear a white blouse covered with a shawl made of cashmere or sometimes embroidered. The shirt is long, reaching ankle length with a dark apron on top, also called the "devanti". During dances the undergarment can sometimes be noticed. These consist of an underskirt and some sort of trousers which our grandmothers call "braille" or "panti", a more modern word. Each of them is bordered round the small part by lace and of course, the beauty and quality of lace were a sign of wealth. On the head, a cap of white lace is worn, decorated by a broad embroidered ribbon, or in some earldoms, the cap is completed by a straw hat. Each earldom, each region and even each village has its own style of caps and because of this, by looking at a woman one can easily guess her home town.
Men are dressed in a blue or black shirt also called "biaude" and black velvet trousers. This costume was worn by peasants, men who were a little more fortunate, enjoying therefore a higher social status, used to wear a sleeveless black velvet waistcoat, a waistcoat with sleeves called for respect. The waist is encircled by a flannel belt. Men used to have a cashmere scarf around their neck (a sign of social status) or more simply, a wide checked hankerchief. A black felt hat tops the outfit. Whether a weekday or a festival, men and women wear clogs, in local dialect "esclots".
Do we still wear these period costumes today?
One should know that if by chance in the course of our research, or by the lineage of family inheritance, we acquire period costumes, these are often worn out or damaged which makes them very fragile. We leave the choice up to each one of us for it is perfectly understandable that when one owns an authentic blouse, underskirt or some undergarments, the owner would wish to preserve its condition. The majority of the components of our costumes are therefore copies, but faithful copies, carried out by our "home seamstresses".
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