Traditional costumes

Traditional costumes of England The 'male' English National Dress alludes to the colours of St George. The ‘female’ English National Dress design employs the light Blue of St Edmund the Old English King. Both orders of dress are practical, stylish, yet modest and easy to make. They use wool, leather, steel, linen and simple dyes. Solid silver jewellery is worn. For those who wish, man-made materials can be used. Simple hand making with square and rectangular cloth cutting is core to this to cut down cost. The knife in the custom made leather sheath hanging on the front is called a Seax. It was worn by the Old English as a sign of being free born English. Both designs are shown with the models wearing their own footwear. There are no hard and fast rules to the footwear. Here they wear ground boots as they are safe, practical, unisex, and well made.

Female English National Dress

Traditional costumes of Latvian The Latvian national costume is a composite of a variety of festive outfits. There are many local varieties that are combined based on the five cultural-historical or ethnographic areas of Latvia. It is possible that at the basis of the older, barely determinable distinguishing marks of the traditional costume are the outfits of Baltic tribes and living in what is now the territory of Latvia. Yet in every historic period the various costumes have shared many features in common. The costume has changed over time, retaining something of the old and supplementing the new.

The basic element of the traditional costume is the shirt, which is an undergarment and an over-garment. Women’s shirts were long, coming down to under the knee and serving both as a blouse and a petticoat. Over the shirt, the women put skirts, bodices, jackets; whereas men wore a vest and a short jacket or a longer or shorter overcoat. The full outfit was not thinkable without a headdress: a crown for girls from their teenage years to the day of their marriage and a hat or a headscarf for married women; the men’s hat wearing was not so strictly regulated. A part of the costume was also knit woolen or cotton lace socks and black flat heel shoes for men sometimes boots. The shirt was closed by one small brooch or several ones, the big brooches were used to keep the cape in place. Another element was the woven belts.

Traditional dance https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kXMSZ10c Wh4 Latvian folk dance has its origins in the traditions of the Baltic tribes that arrived in the Baltic region. Dances portray the day-to-day life of rural communities (sowing, harvesting, fishing) as well as specific events (courtship, marriage, birth) and reflect the surroundings important to Baltic culture (animals, birds, nature in general, the changes of the seasons). Over time, these folk dances were formalized into choreographed presentations based on traditional dance patterns. Dancers wear folk costumes made of wool and linen. The decorative elements incorporate the signs of ancient, pre- Christianity deities and the costumes are chosen to represent specific areas of Latvia where a dancer's family has its origins. The woman's marital status is shown by her headdress. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kXMSZ10c Wh4

Traditional costumes of Croatia Croatian national costume or Croatian dress refers to the traditional clothing worn by Croats living in Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, with smaller communities in Hungary, Montenegro, and Romania. Since today the majority of Croats wear Western-style clothing on a daily basis, the national costumes are most often worn with connection to special events and celebrations, mostly at ethnic festivals, religious holidays, weddings, and by dancing groups who dance the traditional Croatian kolo, or circle dance.

The females of Croatia usually wear the dresses that consist a plain white dress or blouse or underskirt which is usually the basic form of the costume. It is then added with other clothing and decorations, which may include another overdress or skirt a decorative jacket or apron scarf kerchief or shawl which are usually decorated with a floral or animal motif. The embroidery is very intricate and is usually red, white, blue, gold, or black.

Also wear a lot of traditional jewellery, ranging from necklaces, earrings, bracelets, and rings could consist of gold, silver, beads, pearls, or even corral from the Adriatic . Hair is interwoven into one or two braids and decorated with red ribbons for girls or women that are unmarried, while married women wear woven or silk kerchiefs on their heads.

For the Croatian males, the traditional dress which is their phenomenal heritage usually consists on loose, wide slacks and a shirt, and both are usually either black or white, or both. The men of Croatia may wear a decorative or plain vest over his shirt, and possibly a waistcoat. The man almost always wears a cap, varying in shape and design depending on the region.

Traditional dance Croatian dance traditionally refers to a series of folk-dances, the most common being the Kolo. Croatian dance varies by region, and can be found throughout the various regions of Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Hungary, and Romania. The traditional kolo is a circle dance, where dancers follow each other around the circle, is relatively simple in form and widespread throughout other Slavic countries.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-JIeD5bFvuY