During the year 2000 the Dvorana dance workshop created a model reconstruction of the traditional folk costumes for men and women for the purpose of folklore dancing. The costumes originate from one region of Northern Moravia called Valachia and more specifically from the surroundings of Vsetín. They sum up the essential values of this regional type. These costumes consist of the following parts:
Women's costume - linen shirt (rukávce), red bodice with green trimming (kordulka), white unsewn skirt (kasanka), blueprinted apron (fěrtoch), knitted socks with patterns, leather shoes (krpce), red scarf over the head, brass wrought clasp (kotula), a woven band in the waist.
Men's costume - linen shirt with embroidery, red vest decorated by blue string, whitish trousers decorated by blue string (nohavice), long nailed belt, felt socks (kopytce), leather shoes (krpce), brass wrought clasp (kotula).
The costumes described above bear the appropriate essential characteristics of the Valachian Vsetín costume in a convenient and qualified stylization necessary for the folklore usage. The stylization concerns certain materials (instead of cloth douvetin of convenient coloring is used), some decorative elements are simplified (embroidery on shirts, the stringing), etc. Still the costumes keep the right proportions, patterns and coloring. The apron traditional blueprint and other complements such as the socks, kopytce, krpce, kotuly - are in the original form. The embroidery is well designed in a simplified form and handmade. Only some elements of trimming are replaced by machine sewn embroidery. The traditional decoration of shirts was thus simplified.
It is therefore affirmed here that the style of the costumes described above corresponds to the style of traditional Valachian costumes from the Vsetín region and that they are fully convenient for the use of folklore ensembles.
PhDr. Jiřina Langhammerová is an eminent connoisseur of the folk costumes of Czech Republic. She worked as a specialist on folk costumes and textiles in the National Museum in Prague for many years. During this time she elaborated a number of costume reconstructions and designs for Czech ensembles. She has published many scientific and expert studies. The last aggregate work is a book: Czech Folk Dances, Prague 1994.
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