Moldovian Dress

THE CULTURE OF MOLDOVA IS A COMBINATION

OF ROMANIAN AND SOVIET CULTURE.
Peasants
from Abrud.
Painting by Ion
Theodorescu-Sion
Ițari
The ițari are typical for Moldovans and represent a pair of
long peasant trousers that were sewn from țigaie (a special
breed of sheep wool) and had a length of 2 m, but being
narrow, they were crimped on the leg from ankle to the knee.
They were worn during the summer and the winter. Ițarii for
summer wear are made of bulky cotton (pânză de sac).
Cioareci
The cioareci are very tight peasant pants of white woollen cloth
(dimie or aba) woven in four threads, therefore thicker than the
ițari. In Banat, the cioareci are known as canvas or baize
stockings worn by women during the winter. In Moldova can be
found cioareci without creți that are worn in the working days.
Here, they are also known as bernevici.
Opinci
The oldest type of footwear is peasant sandals (opinci) worn with
woollen or felt foot wraps (obiele) or woollen socks (colțuni).
Evidence for this style of footwear can be seen on a clay foot found
in Turdaș, dating from around 2500 BC. Opinci were worn throughout
Romania and over a wide area of south and east Europe being
known as opanke (Serbia), tservuli (Bulgaria), opinci (Macedonia),
etc. Opinci are made of a single rectangle of cow, ox or pig hide
gathered round the foot in various ways.
Suman
The suman is a long peasant coat (knee-deep) made of
brown, gray or black cloth and richly decorated with găitane.
It is also known as țundră, zeghe or dulamă.
Căciulă are worn all over Moldovaand in most of
the surrounding Balkan countries in winter. Fur
hats are made by furriers and are most often
black, although white căciulă are worn in parts
of Banat and grey in central and north Moldavia.
There are four types of căciulă found in
Romanian countries:
 High conical cap – căciulă țuguiată, moțată – this is made of
four pieces joined together lengthwise. It can be worn
peaked, with top bent forward, back or sideways, or with top
sunk inwards, depending on local fashion. It is worn
in Moldova, Muntenia, Oltenia and Banat, originally by the
"free men". In Banat Mountains, the cap is sometimes worn
with fur inside and a narrow white fur hem at base.
 Round low cap known as cușmă
rotilată in Maramureș, consisting of two
parts: a long band forming a cylinder and a
round top sewn to the upper edge of the
cylinder.
Caps made of a single piece of fur are also
found in Maramureș and Oaș. These are made
by stretching the raw fur on a spherical wooden
shaped block which makes it take the shape of
the head. This simple "skull" cap was formally
worn by serfs.
 Căciulă joasă – cylindrical fur cap with the top larger than
the base. This is
called mocănească, rotată, retezată or turtită and is worn
by shepherds on both sides of the southern
Carpathians (in Mărginimea
Sibiului, Oltenia, Muntenia andVrancea) and also
in Bărăgan Plain and Dobruja due to this area being used
for summer pastures by the Carpathian shepherds, and
also in Maramureș.
Women's clothing

Elisabeth of Wied, Queen of Romania, in

a complete national costume
Ie
Ie is the type of shirt of a typical gathered form of the collar,
which exists since ancient times. It is also known as the
"Carpathian shirt", similar to the Slavic (Bulgarian, Serbian,
Ukrainian, etc.) peoples. The three-part decor code of this
pleated shirt is almost always the same: in addition to the
underarm embroidery, the altiță (derived from Serbian ла̏тица),
there is a single horizontal row on the sleeve, known as increț,
and diagonal stripes below the armpit and shoulder, the râuri.
The underarm embroidery characterizes the entire costume, it is
traditionally seen as the culmination of embroidery and
decoration.
Fotă
The fotă is a richly-ornamented wrap-
around skirt made out of a rectangular
piece of woolen fabric worn at the waist.
Alternately, it can be made of two pieces
of woven material that cover the front of
the body (like an apron) and the
back. The fotă has several names,
according to the ethnographic
region: pestelcă (in
Muntenia), opreg, vălnic and zăvelcă (in
Oltenia),catrință or cretință (in
Moldova), păstură and zadie (in
Transylvania), peștiman (in Bessarabia).
Maramă
Among the elements that should not miss
in women's clothing are the "head
coverings". They have a great aesthetic
and social value for women. Young girls
accustom to walk bareheaded, but after
the wedding ritual – "bride's binders",
"bride undressing" – the godmother puts
her a beautiful basma or maramă.
The maramă is worn mainly in southern
Romania, southern Moldovoa and
southern Transylvania. Marame possibly
have an oriental origin and are decorated
with white patterns woven onto a white
background and often grouped toward
the ends. In Argeș, the patterns can
include coloured geometric motifs.
A Romanian girl
with maramă on the head.
Painting by Nicolae
Grigorescu