# Transylvania

The folk costumes of Transylvania kept many antique elements, as western influences arrived there much later if at all. The readily-demonstrable mutual influences of the Rumanians and the Saxons in folk costume also lent special characteristics to Hungarian clothing. Several of the groups in Transylvania have kept their folk costumes even to this day. In what follows, we shall enumerate a few of the best known.

Many features of the folk costume of Hungarians living in the valley of the Fekete Körös river point toward the region beyond the Tisza, since at one time they went down the river to the plains to do their harvesting and other work. The two basic articles of the women’s clothing, the blouse (ing) and the petticoat (pendely), were made of linen. The former is ornamented with two or three frills sewn on the end of its short sleeves. The petticoat is very full and the waist section is gathered into folds of palm-sized width. It is tied at the front with a linen ribbon. Girls wear white aprons trimmed with lace; married women wear a black, generously pleated apron. Skirts were worn only since the end of the last century, red for girls, blue for young wives, black for old women, and they are always worn with a bodice or blouse of similar colour. Bodices were embellished with braid trim, and flowers were also embroidered on them. Girls wore red boots, as they did in Kalotaszeg, using laced-up sandals (bocskor) only for field work. The shirt of the men was short-waisted and accompanied by a wide tüsző or gyűszű belt. Young men tied a white neckerchief, and the old men black cravats (galand) about their necks. The most widely used outer wear was the sleeveless, fur-collared, embroidered sheepskin vest (kuzsók), which they wore for work. The suba (sheepskin cloak), guba (frieze coat) and cifra szűr (embroidered frieze mantle) were all worn, but as these existed alongside each other, they indicated social differences. One characteristic coat-like garment was the daróc, sewn of homespun woollen cloth and devoid of ornamentation except for colourful stripes of broadcloth. Old men generally wore a black daróc, while the young men wore red. Laced sandals were worn to work, and in the winter they wrapped a woollen foot rag on the feet. In the second half of the 19th century, boots became primarily festive wear.

199. Young wife from the district of Kalotaszeg
Kalotaszeg, former Kolozs County

200. Székely man coming home after field work
Máréfalva, former Udvarhely County

201. Men in their Sunday suits
Nagykapus, former Kolozs County

The folk costumes of Kolozsvár, specifically, the suburbs called Hostát and Hidelve, conformed largely with the clothing of the other towns of Transylvania and exercised great influence on its immediate and distant surroundings. As we have seen in the cases of Kecskemét and Debrecen, the women’s wear of Kolozsvár began to be urbanized sooner that the men’s wear. During the last century, several underskirts were worn beneath the relatively short skirt. The material of the top skirt was cotton in the summer, and, according to the dictates of fashion, some heavier material in the winter. The girls covered their shoulders with a white shawl (hárászkendő). Men wore pleated, full gatya and collarless, loose, flare-sleeved shirts. Breeches seem to have been an old article of {359.} clothing here and were made of gray broadcloth for weekdays, and of blue for holidays. The breeches were trimmed with braid and equipped with a flap. On holidays a blue waistcoat ornamented with copper buttons was worn. Married men wore white szűrs and black soft-topped boots with pointed, turned-up toes.

The folk costume of Kalotaszeg is one of the most beautiful, both in form and in colour. The girls usually braided their hair, which they had earlier parted in the middle but more recently combed it straight back, and then braided it into one or, less frequently, two braids (tyika). On weekdays they tied a narrow ribbon on the end, on holidays the ribbon was long enough to reach the bottom of the skirt. A beaded párta was worn on the head, with a ribbon attached to it (cf. Ill. 41). Married women put kerchiefs on their heads, as their hair was knotted into round buns. The kerchief was tied on the back of the head on weekdays and under the chin on holidays. There were many kinds of blouses for women. The collar, cuffs, and the tops of the sleeves were richly {360.} embroidered, sometimes with cross-stitch. The petticoat, made of linen or cambric, was pleated in a similar manner as the skirt, and on holidays, several of these were worn together. The characteristic skirt of Kalotaszeg, the muszuj or bagazia, was worn on top of these. It was made of black satin, lavishly pleated. They tucked the two corners of the skirt into the waistband, thus showing off the white petticoat underneath (cf. Ill. 199). Since the muszuj is only a loose, pleated back apron, the front opening was covered with an apron. In the winter fancy vests made of sheepskin were worn. The tops of the red boots of young women and girls recently were decorated with tulip motifs, embroidered with silk. More recently, black boots and different types of shoes are worn (cf. Szék, Ill. 42). The men used to let their hair grow long until the First World War. Their heads were covered by a hat with an oval-shaped top, or by a black cap. In the summer both men and women wear straw hats. The young men pin a bouquet of pearls (gyöngyös bokréta) on their hats, which is so large that it pulls the hat to the side. The loose-sleeved shirt was replaced by the narrow-sleeved, so-called katonaing (soldier’s shirt) since the beginning of this century. Neckties are rarely worn. Wearing of white, loose gatyas and an accompanying small, flower-print apron ceased after World War I. Hose (harisnya) made of white cloth or frieze were a usual winter garment in the last century, resembling the Székelys’ similar garment in appearance. The frieze mantle or szűr, ornamented by appliqué decoration, spread from the middle of the last century, from the direction of the Great Plain. Before its arrival, men used to wear white or brown frieze jackets (daróc) decorated with colourful stripes and fringes. They wore laced sandals (bocskor) to work, while in the majority of the villages of Kalotaszeg, boots became festive wear.

Much of the basic material of the rich, refined costume of Torockó was provided during the last century by factory production. This costume is essentially a peasant version of the 17th and 18th century costumes of the nobility and city dwellers. Women’s blouses are richly smocked, their cuffs have fine ornamentation; the lace edging of the underclothes indicates the splendour and opulence of this costume. The bodice (mellrevaló), the cloak (palást) and the pelisse (mente) are richly ornamented. Red and blue are the favourite colours. Men’s costumes are very similar to that of the Székelys in many ways, with sheepskin vests and jackets, tight breeches called harisnya, a black broadcloth vest, and a jacket made of frieze (condra). During the last century holiday boots were decorated with blue silk tassels.

Székely folk costumes, although similar in their basic elements, still differ in many details. Their common feature is that they themselves produced a significant part of the basic materials for their clothing until recently. The girls braid their two braids from three to four strands of hair, while married women tie a bonnet with frills (csepesz) on their hair, more recently a kerchief. Hair is pinned up in a knot. The blouses of women, made of linen, have a frilled collar and narrow cuffs; linen and cambric petticoats are generally worn. In the summer they wear a tight vest over the shirt, decorated with beading or braid and edged with colourful velvet. Their skirts were made of homespun material, with stripes of black, brown, red, and blue. This was later replaced by {361.} a cotton skirt (rokolya). A woollen or cotton apron of a different colour is always tied in front of it. In the winter they wore a sheepskin vest (bundamellény) or a szokmány or kurti (short coat), made of thick brown or gray homespun frieze. Feet were covered with soft-topped boots, later on with shoes. Beginning with the end of the last century, young men who had served in the army began to wear short hair instead of the usual long hair (körhaj). A wide-rimmed felt hat, or in the winter a fur cap, was worn on the head. Formerly men’s shirts were without collar and cuffs, but these were replaced by linen shirts with collars and cuffs. Here the gatya, made of linen, became underwear at an early stage. The most characteristic garment of the Székely costume is the broadcloth hose (harisnya) (cf. Ill. 16), made primarily of white wool, flapped (with the opening on the two sides) and very tight, on which the decoration indicates social standing. The ornamentation of the sleeveless, braided vest, worn over the shirt in the summer, conforms to that of the hose. A sleeveless leather vest was worn during most parts of the year. The body is protected from winter cold by a brown homespun coat (zeke, szokmány, cedele, bámbán) or by a long leather coat. During the last century the laced sandal was worn on weekdays, the boots for holiday footwear.

202. Women and girls embroidering
Lészped, Moldavia, Rumania

{362.} The Csángós, especially from Moldavia, have preserved several noteworthy ancient customs, including some in the area of folk costume (cf Plates XV, XVI). Older girls rolled their hair on a split wicker ring, 20 to 30 cm in diameter, which brings to mind the 17th century custom of the nobility. The women place a bonnet (csepesz), or kerchief (tulpa) on their hair, which is fastened in a knot. Their necks are ornamented with several strings of beads. The blouse sleeves are richly embellished. A rectangular skirt goes over the long blouse. This skirt opens in front and its left edge is pinned up, so that the bottom of the long chemise can be seen under it. No apron is used in front of such skirts. Among the Hungarians of Moldavia, many men had their head shaved during Turkish rule, yet during the middle of the last century they usually wore their hair shoulder length. The high-topped felt hat represented an earlier style from Transylvania. Among their noteworthy articles of clothing are breeches made of homespun, the two legs of which were not sewn together, a survival of a 15th century western European custom.

Like the entirety of Hungarian folk culture, Hungarian folk costume amalgamates Eastern and Western influences, yet at the same time the results of its own internal development make it characteristically Hungarian. Because we lack the necessary preparatory work, it is extremely difficult to separate these factors, and it is rendered even more difficult by the development of well-defined areas of folk costumes with respect to colour and form during the last two centuries.

The Eastern origin of certain articles of clothing can be indicated not only by their names but much more by their straight-lined cut. This makes the task of sewing and piecing together easier, but almost completely eliminates waste and helps considerably to save on the basic material, which was difficult to obtain. This ancient method of cutting must have been reinforced by the coming and settling of the Cumanians and Jazygians, and later on by a century and a half of Turkish rule. Garments with this type of cut have survived almost until this day (suba, guba, szűr, certain kinds of shirts and gatyas, etc.). At the same time the curvilinear cut must have come from the west and became increasingly popular along with the diffusion of manufactured and factory-made materials.

Besides their cut, Hungarian folk costumes are also characterized by their colourful appearance. This is a relatively recent development, since a few centuries ago the natural colours of the materials dominated (white, yellowish, brown). The folk costumes that flourished in the last century were predominantly red, although blue was also much worn while the older people used the darker colours. With the spread of various types of broadcloth, darker colours became predominant in men’s wear.

All of the above, together with the typical head and foot wear (boots), comprise the characteristic elements of the Hungarian folk costumes of the past one hundred years, which, though they differ by region, yet have much in common.