The encyclopedic edition “Skirts in Latvia” (Brunči Latvijā) is the latest in a series of scientific articles by the National Museum of History of Latvia. All skirts included in the edition were made and worn in the territory of Latvia.
"The museum's mission is not only to collect and preserve but to promote the museum's stock. We've been doing this for over 150 years and we will also be celebrating the 140-year anniversary of this collection of clothing and textiles this year. It's time for skirts,” said Sanita Zvidra, head of ethnography at LNVM.
The models, albeit seemingly similar, were different in terms of tailoring in different areas in Latvia. For ordinary skirts in Zemgale or Vdzeme, three meters of fabric was enough, but for them to be more voluminous, Kurzeme used more than five meters of fabric.
By the nature of the tailoring and the fabric patterns used, you could recognize the wearer's local affiliation to a particular settlement.
“If we're looking at older skirts, then there's a regular wrinkle that's put on a thread, on a line, or a little fold. Later, the tailoring in the waist began to vary slightly. For example, these have stitches laid at the front. These are relatively old. the first half of the 19th century, Rīga County. There are records that a string was sewn in there. There are also belt ends here, not hooks, but you can tie them too,” says the author of the book, showing the skirts.
She reveals she has also had to deal with previously unnoticed surprises while studying skirts: "These same skirts of Annas civil parish have a pocket. It's a pocket of cotton fabric sewn into a side seam. But for those with this kind of weave in the side seam, I didn't even know how to name them," said Zvidra.
