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The Breton Clothes

Name:       Breton Clothes               Place:  France

 

Origin:      Since 1789                      Materials:    Cotton, Lace, Linen                                                                         

Occasion:       Festivals (music, dance), religious feasts (ceremony)

    Bretons had two types of costumes at their disposal, one for work, worn every day, and the other was reserved for special occasions. The latter had an important place in the traditional Breton society: it was enough to mark the place or town of origin and the social class of his/her owner.

 

    There were no typical garments in Brittany before the French Revolution in 1789. It is from this period that the clothing differentiations according to regions gradually appeared, influenced at the beginning by various Paris fashions...

 

    Until the1950s the wearing of the costume remained more or less usual, then we can say it gradually disappeared. But advertising, tourism, caricaturists always use it as a symbol evoking straightaway Brittany and it remains very present in Celtic parties.

   All the feminine Breton costumes are constituted of:

  • A headdress. The photo, above, shows a “Bigouden” costume. This headdress was only 5 cms at the beginning of the 19th century. Then it began to rise on a mode effect and to grow rich in embroidery. Nowadays it reaches 35 cms. To wear it, hair is pulled back in a chignon.

  • A linen shirt which is worn with an embroidered vest.

  • A skirt with folds. It falls below the knee.

  • Gloves. Today, the dancers of Celtic circles wear them. Originally, gloves were kept in the hand and served only to put up a front (in particular for the newlyweds to take the photo).

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