Embroidered peasant blouse from Breaza.
The embroided blouse is the most important piece of traditional costume.
The embroided blouse from Breaza has expanded at a time. Thus, in the nineteenth century and the first decades of the twentieth century we used to wear the sherherd embroided blouse, house made of canvas called “fisherman’s canvas” on hand loom. The colors used were red and black embroided blouse decorating. Red dominates the embroided blouses for young women, while old women and widows wore blouses embroidered with black dominating models.
The sherherd embroided blouse had wide fold, blouse mouth from one side, and upper bordered by a band (ribbon) made with a model similar to the one used in decorating theme embroided blouse. The embroided blouse was completed manually with “small key” in loose cotton red or black, including “alticioara” under sleeve and “gusset” linking sleeve, chest and back.
In the interwar period, it appears the parade embroided blouse decorated with silk, loose cotton, sequins “butterflies”, beads, metallic thread. The color palette is filled with blue, blue, green, gray, beige, etc.
Traditional interwar embroided blouse had ample sleeve with ornamented fabric at the top of the sleeves (“altiță”), three rows or “rivers” on the sleeve, lined with “whites” made with silk or white thread. The term “white” was kept until now even if there were used other colors like yellow, blue and cream. The chest of the shirt was decorated with three or four rows bordered by whites, mouth of the embroided blouse was placed in front, interrupting for a few centimeters the fold made with different designs ( “Rhombus”, “Triangle”, “The large flower”, “Floweret”), without ribbon at the top. The backside of the embroided blouse, much more simply decorated, had 16 to 36 “chickens” (tiny parts of the model used in the decoration of the blouse).
The post-war embroided blouse, made after the establishment of the Cooperative “Art Housewife” in 1948, has more stylized model, the loose cotton is replaced with mouline and thread, homespun is replaced with cotton canvas made with mechanic loom. In many cases the”white” with its model becomes a model itself. Thus appeared the embroided blouses with “The Shuttle”, “The Fingernail of the Big Kite”, “The Buclava”, “The Zucchini”, “The Flower of the Queen”, “The Star with 16 Spikes”, “The Ear-Spike Star”, “The Paw”, “The Buck’s Horns”, etc. As well, there appeared embroided blouses with broken chain stitch.
At the end of the twentieth century and the beginning of the 21st century it appears the commercial embroided blouse, simplified without ornamented fabric at the top of the sleeves, with a simplified fold called “cow’s belly”, decorated with silk or mouline that no longer comply with the colouring specific to the embroided blouse from Breaza.
The text material was made with the support of the history teacher Mr. Vasile Focşeneanu.
Shop for embroided blouse from Breaza:
Arta Casnică SCM Breaza: manufactures blouses, shirts , “ii” , doublet , macramé, carpets
No. 57, Republicii street
Contact number: 004/0244 – 340741.
Official website: https://artacasnica.blogspot.ro/
S.C. Victorion Luxury Fashion S.R.L. manufactures “ii”, blouses, accessories, tablecloths etc. (administrator: Anda Mănescu)
No. 76, Republicii street
Contact number: 0730.492111.
Official website: https://iibreaza.ro
Prăvălia cu ii: manufactures and merchandises traditional and modern “ii” with different models, starting 180 ron
Contact number: 0735.418601.
Official website: https://pravaliacuii.ro
P.F. Oproiu Gh. Ecaterina: manufactures “ii” with national motifs, specific to Muntenia area.
No. 24, Griviței street,
Contact number: 0244.341383.
Official website: https://artizanat-breaza.ro
Ia Românească/P.F.A. Bolintineanu Alexandra Cristina: manufactures and merchandises online “ii” with national motifs, handmade in the local households.
Contact number: 0722.456732.
