# {351.} Great Plain

The Great Plain is not as rich as Transdanubia or the Highlands in embroidered, colourful costumes made of various manufactured materials. These costumes are to be found mostly along border areas, among others, along the Danube.

196. Girls from Kalocsa
Kalocsa

197. Young wife from Kalocsa
Kalocsa

The folk costume of Kalocsa and Szakmár, relatively new in origin and abundant in colour, is one of the most celebrated. The girls ornament their pinned-up hair with ribbons, pink or light blue in front, and tie it into a bow on the top. Married women cover their heads with embroidered, white linen bonnets. In the last century clothes were still mostly {352.} made of simple blue-dyed material. After the turn of the century, women began to embroider the sleeves of their blouses with dark blue and black yarn, they decorated the bodice with white flowers, and later on the embroidered flowers were worked in other colours. During the 1930s they tried even more colourful embroidery and began to use red, green, yellow, blue, and lilac yarn, so that today some articles are covered with large areas of multi-coloured needlework. Several petticoats are worn beneath the many-pleated skirt, which may be blue or {353.} green, the front of which is covered by an apron, edged with white lace. Colourful slippers are worn with gay stockings. It is noteworthy that some time ago in Szakmár, just as at some other places in the Hungarian speaking region, brides dressed in dark, or even black clothes.

The folk costumes of the market towns between the Danube and Tisza had a singular position as these towns advanced in their economic development during the last century. This area was part of capitalist development early, and the more prosperous social groups could acquire factory-made products relatively easily. Women led the way in fashion, rejecting folk costume, as opposed to the kind of development which usually occurred in other parts of the Hungarian speaking territory. A note about Kecskemét, dating from 1845, may be quoted, as it is most characteristic: “The commoners’ ladies appear in church and on the promenade in fashionably tailored frocks, made out of silk or some similar expensive material, holding parasols in their gloved hands, alongside the men wearing pantaloons or blue broadcloth pants and subas.“

The attire of the herdsmen of Bugac and the Kiskunság region in general preserves many old elements. The hat is high-topped and resembles the peaked fur cap, with only the rim differentiating the one from the other. A black waistcoat is worn with loose white pantaloons and over the loose white shirt. The waistcoat is decorated lavishly with silver buttons. Cattleherds wore a suba over that, the most beautiful examples of which can be found in the territory of the Kiskunság. The poorer herdsmen of Kiskunhalas used to wear frieze mantles (szűr) instead of sheepskin cloaks (suba). A frieze jacket was called szűrdolmány or kankó, and although it provided less warmth, it was easier to work in. The ködmön (sheepskin jacket) or dakuködmön reached to below the waist; it has a 3 or 4 cm wide red suede overlay sewn on its edges all around, and was embroidered with flowers in colourful yarn. The shepherds’ trousers (rajthuzli) widened below the knee and with a row of yellow copper buttons on the side the lower part could be unbuttoned. Pointed-toe, high heeled boots were worn with this ensemble.

198. Herdsmen from the puszta of Bugac
Bugac

The costume of the herdsmen of the Hortobágy differs from the latter in many features although the clothes of the Nagykunság herdsmen were very similar to those of the Kiskunság. A wide-rimmed herdsmen’s hat is worn on the Hortobágy to this day, and rubbing it with lard often makes it not only waterproof, but also so heavy that if a disobedient horse or donkey is hit on the nose with it, the animal immediately becomes docile. Bird feathers are pinned to the hat, always on the left side, all the more easy since the region is extremely plentiful in birds. Bustard, heron and egret feathers indicate the herdsman’s rank, since a high price had to be paid for the feathers, especially those of the egret. The shirt and gatyas of the horseherds are blue. These elements of costume had spread in use in the middle of the last century, because some units among the cavalry in the Hungarian War of Independence in 1848–49 wore dark blue shirts and gatyas. Herdsmen usually liked to imitate the clothing of soldiers, especially those who fought for freedom. Horseherds and cattleherds wore boots; swineherds, on the contrary, usually wore laced-up sandals. Among the top wear they {354.} generally wore the frieze mantle or szűr, and especially in winter, the sheepskin suba and ködmön were worn until recently. The shepherds’ shirt and gatyas were of linen, and later on of cambric. Two white and two greased gatyas belonged to each shepherd’s stock of clothes. The latter was soaked with ashes and tallow until it became impregnated to guard against rain. These clothes were worn for sheep shearing or any other dirty work. The rajthuzli made of leather or broadcloth became popular here in the winter, worn with cambric gatyas underneath. The {355.} simplest among the garments were those made of skins, the melles and the bőrlajbi (sheepskin waistcoat), which here was buttoned in front. The sheepskin cloak was called bunda and was simple and generally made of six skins; or a szűr was used, the type without a stand-up collar.

The costume of the Hortobágy herdsmen influenced almost the entire central and northern section of the region beyond the Tisza. Similarly, Debrecen set the example in fashion for many of the towns and villages. Girls pleated their hair into a single braid and tied a wide ribbon on it; they decorated their heads with a beaded párta, and wore garnet necklaces. The head of a married woman was covered by a kerchief. The skirt and waistcoat were usually made of dark blue or black material. A short sheepskin cloak called kis bunda was worn in the winter, its leather tanned brown and flowers sewn with black silk. A broadcloth mantle with sleeves, similar to the hussar’s pelisse or mente, was worn in the summer with decorated broadcloth appliqués. Shoes soon came into use as did cordovan holiday boots. The men’s high-peaked hat came into fashion during the last century. Men wore a vest, embellished with silver or pewter buttons, over a shirt and gatyas made of cotton. In the winter they wore dark blue broadcloth and coat cut in Hungarian fashion, and wore a suba or a szűr over it. The feet were covered by boots, made of cordovan or other leather, and spurs with a point or a knob were fastened on its heels. This costume in its characteristic form lasted only until the First World War.

The many-skirted folk costume evolved only in a few places of the region beyond the Tisza (Tiszántúl). Among these, Ajak of Szabolcs County is one of the most interesting. In the last century women’s costume was not as wide skirted, because fewer petticoats were worn and the top skirt was longer than mid-calf. Increasing the number of skirts simultaneously caused their further shortening. A flower-print apron covers the front of the top skirt. Different types of blouses have been made here for a long time, on which collars with a frill are worn for little girls, and collars with two frills for older ones. At the end of the 19th century the girls used to wear boots all winter from All Saints’ Day until Palm Sunday. In summertime they wore shoes. Until recently a bride still wore a black shoulder shawl. Men’s wear consisted of a shirt and gatyas, made of linen; they began to wear trousers only toward the end of the last century. Earlier gray, later black gubas were worn. In the summer men wore laced sandals as well as boots treated with oil.

No fanciful, attractive costume developed in the Bodrogköz, an area isolated by rivers and marshes from its surroundings. The girls braided their hair with colourful ribbons into three braids, and from the end of the last century, into two. They put on a little blouse (litya), made from colourful material, worn with a cambric blouse. Cashmere or silk skirts were put on over five to six starched petticoats which were called kabát and a zsalikendő (shoulder shawl of cashmere) was tied over their shoulders. Women also wore black boots, the heels studded with yellow copper nails and the fronts decorated with pale, yellowish-coloured braid. Women’s short sheepskin jackets (ködmön) were richly embroidered. Young men wore loose-sleeved cambric shirts and wide gatya. They tied on a buttoned belt, from which colourful fringe and ribbons {356.} hung all the way down to their heels. The waistcoat, made of black material, was edged with wide trimming and braid. More prosperous people wore the black gubas of Ungvár and Debrecen.