The Country of Romania is located in Southeastern Europe and shares borders with Hungary, Yugoslavia, Bulgaria, the Black Sea, Ukraine and Moldova Republic.  To be Romanian means to be Romance/Latin(Latin “Romanus”) and the Romanians are the only Romance people in Central and Eastern Europe. The Romanian nation emerged in the first millennium AD when the native Dacians and other Romance people were conquered by the Romans. The native Dacians separated and left to form an island of Latinity among Slavic people to the south, east and north and the Hungarians to the west. Many historians regard the fact that Latinity remains preserved in Romania as a miracle of history.

The regions or zonas of Romania have always been rich in colorful folk traditions passed down from generation to generation; with each area cultivating its own unique culture; customs and traditions. The long-term, peaceful coexistence of nationalities within Romania’s varied regions, such as German, Saxon and Hungarian, is reflected in the spiritual life and creation of folk art, ethnography and folklore.

The Romanian people have a deep respect for tradition, symbolism and values. Their folk customs, traditions, songs and dances comprise a vast wealth of folk spirituality reflective of their respect for the cycle of life; agrarian seasonal activities, calendar events, rites of passage and religious beliefs. The unique Folk Costumes worn to mark these occasions have been compared to images of the Dacians featured on Trajan’s Column and to images of medieval frescoes on the princely foundations.The cloth of these beautiful Folk Costumes, whether wool, cotton, linen or hemp, is home-woven.

The Folk Costumes are decorated with rich, luminous colors; blouses/tunics have white background and simple functional cut. Traditional thread colors of yellow, red or blue are mostly used for the women’s costumes; black thread for the men’s. The colored threads are used to design the elegant embroidery work which usually consists of intricate floral and geometric motifs. The skirts are white/ecru with the hem discretely embroidered in yellow; dark colored aprons (depending on the region) are embroidered with horizontal stripes or bands of color complimented by beads and golden or silver threads.

Romanian Folk Costumes are highly valued works of art that demonstrate the unique Romanian ability to combine functionality of form with aesthetic beauty- Romanian, yet reflective of the centuries of coexistence with other nationalities.

This Elegant, Traditional Romanian Woman’s Folk Blouse is truly splendid. Made from hand-woven, light-weight linen, off white in color, featuring an abundance of finely embroidered design work. The geometric patterns embroidered from red, yellow and blue threads are prominent on the wide sleeves, front and neckline of this beautiful blouse. The embroidered areas are bordered with tiny hand made sequins and further defined by rows of intricate open weave stitching of various patterns. The back of the blouse is plain with no design embellishments.

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