1. National costume of
Dzūkija
Made by Tautvydas Jokubauskas 8a
Inga Sabutytė 7a
2. The Clothing of Dzūkija
Traditional clothing was worn in
many parts of Dzūkija longer
than anywhere else in Lithuania,
even into the first decades of
the twentieth century. Fancy
dress worn by villagers varies
greatly among the different
parts of this region. The woven
cloth of garments
from Dzūkija is distinguished
from that of other regions by its
bright colors and smaller
checkers and stripes.
4. Headwear
The headwear of women of Dzūkija
depended on the woman's age and the
time of the year. Girls decorated their
heads with crowns and galloons made of
ribbons, sashes, and various refinements.
Married women wore bonnets and white
linen stoles
5. Bonnets
Married women wore bonnets, which
in Dzūkija were especially varied. They were
sewn from linen-netted lace, white or colored
cotton, wool and silk. Their front edges were
usually decorated with embroidery, various
pleated ribbons, laces, beads, and additional
shiny ornaments.
6. Headbands
Headbands were made from folded and cut
into strips of canvas. They were usually
white and red. The spaces between the
strips were are sometimes filled with small
tassels of wool, amber, pearl and coral
beads.
8. Winter scarves
During the cold winter women wore
winter scarves. They were squared of
two colors and made of wool.
9. Skirts
Skirts were usually
patterned with fine
checkers. It appears that
the oldest color
combinations in use there
were similar to those in
Aukštaitija, red and green
combinations were
enriched with one or two
additional colors. Later,
the checkers of skirts
become finer and new
color combinations of dark
red and violet appeared.
10. Bodices
Women sewed their
bodices for special
occasions from
purchased cloth
(usually silk or wool).
Their favorite colors
were dark red, green,
blue and black. Most
typical bodices were
sewn with four
gradually widening
laps, which did not
meet in the front.
11. Aprons
Earlier aprons in Dzūkija were
made of linen with white and
red or white and blue colored
checkers. In the second half of
the nineteenth century, darker
aprons, usually finely
checkered or striped in red,
blue or brown hues came into
fashion. These were
decorated with horizontally
woven stripes of brightly
colored wool, and sometimes
with finely textured overlayed
patterns on the lower edges.
12. Sashes
The small space on the waist
was left especially for a sash,
which remained an important
part of clothing in Dzūkija for a
long time. Women wore sashes,
woven in pick-up patterns, and
sometimes more modern
overlaid ones. Their geometric
ornaments, which were of
ancient origin, were usually red,
green, blue, or violet in color.
13. Shirts
Women's shirts were sewn and decorated like those in Aukštaitija. They
had red woven-in pick-up patterns with a finer texture that was typical of
textile decoration in Dzūkija. After the mid-nineteenth century, white work
embroidery (broderie anglaise) replaced this older style of decoration. The
parts of the shirts that could be seen from under the bodice were
embroidered. These included the collar, shoulder tabs, chest and cuffs.
Plant patterns, along with this western European embroidery technique,
were often changed and reflected the influence of older local geometric
ornaments.
Men's shirts in the second half of the nineteenth century in Dzūkija were
rather densely decorated with white or colored embroidery.
14. Pants
Long pants were made of the same cloth,
from finely checkered grey, brown or dark
wool, or of a half-woolen cloth.
15. Footwear
The most valued women's footwear
in Dzūkija was leather shoes.
However, fewer people here were
able to afford them. Leather
soleless shoes (naginės) were also
less common than elsewhere. Bast
shoes (vyžos) were worn more
commonly. Women also wore very
unique shoes, the čempės, which
were crocheted from thick tow
threads decorated with knitting of
colored thread.
16. Caftans
Women's caftans (sermėga) were sewn widened
at the bottom and were decorated with black
velvet or other dark cloth trim and decorative
thread.
Men wore caftans (sermėga) of undyed grey
matted woolen cloth. These widened toward the
bottom and were decorated with dark trim as
well as decorative threads.
17. Fur coats
Fur coats were sewn from
white, yellowish or brownish
sheepskin. Neck and sleeve
flaps were made from the same
sheepskin, just it had been
curly and shorter hair wool.
