In the last few weeks I have read a few times that people wish for cards with people in traditional clothes. Seems to be a popular wish.
I have no idea how that could apply to Europe. Perhaps Bavarians in a Dirndl (but I do not live in Bavaria), but I have no idea what could be meant here in the East of Germany where I live. Clothes from the East German Republic, “Pioniermützen”? Furs from the Neanderthal area?
Same for the US - it cannot mean native American costumes, can it?
Perhaps I am just not thinking straight… any idea?
Hello !
In France we don’t have a “French” traditional clothe but each part of France has its one.
For example I live in Britany (Bretagne in French) and there are traditional clothes in this area of France. We don’t wear them everyday, but sometimes there are some traditional fests and people wear them.
I don’t think you have to send anything strictly from the area where you live. I think traditional clothes from any part of Germany will please most recipients. Even traditional clothes from neighboring countries that are similar or near Germany might also appeal to some people.
The phrase “traditional costume” often used interchangeably with the terms regional or folk costume which express an identity of that place through what people wear, not necessarily out of fashion history. So in my opinion, even classic everyday costumes that changes over time or modern-like clothes that are unique of your country could fall into this category. For the US, it could be cowboy hats, boots, western shirts, etc.
I think “traditional” as in “ceremonial”, like wearing a particular outfit for an armed forces parade or to take part in a particular festival. In the UK, that could be people doing morris dancing.
thank you. I understand what you all mean. I do not think I am going to buy cards like that, I just tried to understand what it could mean for Europe generally…
I found this one on an market stall. It’s an old fashioned card of traditional Welsh dress. I only see it worn by staff in museums, or if children are dressing up on St David’s day.
I’d say anything that has been featured on this blog and is from your area would qualify or in other words I would use the same definition of traditional / folk costume as used on that site.
Searching for Germany on the blog shows costumes also for the eastern part of Germany, but they do state “As in many parts of Western Europe, the survival of Folk costume in Germany is very spotty.”.
In Switzerland you can find people in “Trachten”, so I would consider such cards as appropriate. People wear them for special occasions, like singing in a choir, jodeling, dancing or local festivities. i am not a huge fan of traditional clothes so I don’t have such cards in my stock and unfortunately I also do not know where to get them.
I don’t see why not, as long as the people wearing them are Native American. Many tribes hold festivals and ceremonial events where their traditional dress is worn.
When I think of a “traditional” American costume for white folks, it would probably be like “pioneer” era clothing, with the women in bonnets and stuff - which you only see in historical reenactments now.
As someone who asks for that kind of card, I just mean something more or less unique to your country/region. There is not ONE type of clothes representing a country, even in small ones like mine (Portugal)! USA, for example, could be native American, or cowboys, but also Hawaii girls with straw skirts, or Inuit/Esquimo from Alaska! The fun is the diversity …
I also have a doll collection, and these are my German dolls:
Yeah, this is a tough one. I live near Tombstone, Arizona (which I avoided for many years as it is one of those touristy places you only ever go back to when someone from out of town is visiting and never been). People dress up like wild west days of 1880’s, but is part of the whole history and now tourist draw. This has been the closest to “traditional clothes” for me…and a reminder I need to go back and stock up, because I also do see this request a lot.
This is an example. I loved this experience as when I got this card, the guy working behind the counter at the OK Corral gift shop, was actually one of the ones in the photo. Was early in pandemic so he pulled down his mask and laughed saying “don’t you recognize me”
This would be hard to determine for the US…it could include Indigenous people in ceremonial regalia (sadly lots of tourist cards show a stereotype), cowboys, colonial era historical re-enactors, Amish, etc but it leaves out many other communities such as Asian Americans & African Americans so I don’t think there is a single answer for us
I can easily associate “traditional clothes” or dresses the ones that people wear for traditional dances. As you and Roz35 say, here in Europe, even if our countries are “small” compared to world map, on the largest ones there’s a huge variety of them depending of regions (that maybe were independent countries not long ago), of areas into the regions and in them depending to events… I show you different ones from Spain: Catalan Pyrenees,
I think including Native American tribes’ traditional dress in with “traditional American clothes” in the USA sense is kind of complicated, considering the history there. There are definitely arguments for and against it. But the USA is so young I think that we are still developing our “traditional clothes.” Honestly, I predict that in 200 years people will see traditional American dress as blue jeans and peacoats! After all, we’ve been wearing both of them since the late 1800’s and show no signs of stopping.
There is the World Fashion series that is sold on postcardsmarket. The USA ones feature Native or indigenous dress and Western style cowboy dress. The Natives appear to be pow wow dress. Most Natives at least from my point of view have a developed a certain costume for the pow wow dances which appear here. Even tho Native dress before colonization was not standardized.
The other one which Cowboy dress varies a lot. A first glance one could think Texas. But its very broad. It looks more like Hollywood cowboy style or stage performance than a traditional style of cowboy. Its Western themed for sure.
or in other words I would use the same definition of traditional / folk costume as used on that site.
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