It would be more correct to say – collect.
If you are preparing a personal performance at a carnival and intend to win the main prize for the best costume, my advice may not be very suitable for you.
But for a New Year’s corporate event or a fun party for another occasion, this is just right, because I played the gypsy just at work on New Year’s Eve.
This was a long time ago, the Internet was still largely unavailable, so everything was invented from the head and from memory. The memories, however, were vague, and they were based on what I saw in childhood: images of gypsies whom I occasionally met on the street, infrequent appearances on TV by the gypsy theater "Romen" and the probably cult film "The Camp Goes to Heaven", which I watched it for the first and last time on a big cinema screen at the age of 10.
The impression was so strong that I never watched this film again.
Gypsy costume
I imagined this and only this:
- Bright colorful skirts with a very wide hem
- Blouse with wide flounce sleeves
- Scarves on the head and/or waist
- There are a lot of decorations on the neck, shiny and jingling when moving - beads, chains with gold coins, medallions, etc.
It is very possible that the gypsies themselves would have corrected my costume, but when I entered the hall where the corporate party was taking place, no one doubted that it was a gypsy who had entered. And this is the most important thing for us. And this despite the fact that no one saw me in my outfit before the performance, except for one girl in the office, and I am not a black-eyed brunette, but a gray-eyed brown-haired woman.
How to make a gypsy costume for a corporate event.
More precisely, how we did it.
First we came up with what we needed - see above.
Then we began to figure out what we had from this ourselves. It turned out that there was almost nothing - just one skirt that didn’t seem to be the most suitable color. There was almost no question about buying something in addition - it was expensive, and there was nowhere else to go, and there was no point in buying it for once.
They began to quietly ask their colleagues, trying not to reveal the secret. As a result, we were given several large fringed scarves, another skirt and a whole mountain of chains and beads))
They brought a large box, wrote “Gypsy Costume” on it, put all the collected goods there, and put a large list on top - who brought what and when it needed to be returned.
Some people wanted to pick up their item immediately after the party (and I myself would have been calmer that way), others, on the contrary, asked to give it back after the holidays, since they had no time for it before.
I’ll say right away that everything was returned on time with gratitude, and this list helped a lot. I strongly advise you to also put everything into thematic boxes and be sure to write them down immediately and then cross them out. Because at first it seems that you will remember everything, but when you collect several boxes with different costumes, props for performances, and plus the excitement fills your head - you can never completely get rid of it until the very end of the event - then you forget everything completely! Your head is either empty, or smart thoughts are rushing through it at breakneck speed in hindsight))) So add it up and write it down right away!
Let's return to the gypsy costume.
The problem turned out to be finding a blouse. A few years later, I accidentally got the blouse I needed - at least go perform again! -, but then there was nothing even close. It seems they brought something, but it was small and very open - I refused. After much thought, I decided to just wear my usual black dress, with both skirts over it and a large scarf over one shoulder, tying it diagonally at the waist. On the neck - almost all the jewelry brought, it seems, there were also some bracelets, on the head - a scarf, tied at the side.
The skirts turned out to be the same length, and so that their beauty and quantity could be seen, I tucked the edge of the overskirt into the belt, thereby showing a piece of the skirt underneath.
In the photo, this very edge was included in the frame - thanks to our amateur photographer who called out to me as I was closing the office. He managed to click the shutter while I was turning around. That’s why the tassels of the scarf in the photo still continue to fly))
All the other few photos from the party, unfortunately, are either fuzzy or very dark.
There is another photo of me in a gypsy costume in the article, where the wardrobe was moved.
It may also be useful for you to create the image of a gypsy.
Of course, the number of my skirts was very far from the number of skirts of the Rada)) Especially for this article, I watched the film “The Camp Goes to Heaven” in fragments and found this shot: the white one is a scarf, everything else is the skirts of one housewife, which are drying on the shore!
But my two, I think, are still better than one))
Read also the gypsies - they will be useful to you at the holiday. And for now I say goodbye
with wishes to successfully make a gypsy costume
and feel good in it!
Your Evelina Shesternenko.
Information for sewing a traditional gypsy costume for professional dance
Skirt
The skirt should be wide and loose so that it is comfortable to move while dancing.
The length of the fabric is approximately 9-13 meters with a fabric width of 1.5 meters. From this fabric there should be 2 suns + frills along the edge of approximately 15-20 cm in 2-3 rows. Some sew skirts and 2.5 suns, but only experienced dancers can handle such a quantity of fabric.
The fabric should not be very light or transparent, otherwise you can get tangled in such a skirt, but you shouldn’t make it heavy either, otherwise it will “carry away” while dancing.
It is best to choose a material for a skirt that is light, but quite dense, preferably one that wrinkles little and flows well. Satin, rayon, polyester, blended fabric or staple are best suited for this purpose. Natural fabrics, for example natural silk, certainly look very beautiful, but they have an unpleasant tendency to stretch, which can cause the skirt to become skewed and it will be ugly and uncomfortable for dancing.
The skirt must fit snugly at the waist (the elastic band in the waistband DOES NOT FIT!)! In gypsy dances, exposing your stomach and legs is unacceptable! Therefore, the main skirt is not enough for a real gypsy costume. It is also advisable to make an underskirt. It may not be as wide as the main overskirt, for example a sun or half-sun. You also need to sew a frill to it. Basically, the petticoat is sewn in one color, often from cheaper material.
A frill is sewn onto the main overskirt. The frill can be in one layer, but also in two or three layers. Of course, your gypsy skirt will be noticeably heavy, but such costumes look gorgeous. The main skirt (if you want to make a traditional gypsy costume) is made of printed material, that is, with a pattern, usually floral, sometimes a polka dot pattern is used. In this case, it is better to make the frill one color. This will create a beautiful contrast. The shape of the frill can be different. The simplest is a gathered frill, in which a strip of fabric is gathered onto a thread and sewn to the skirt. You can cut out flounces, these are frills cut out on the bias in the form of semicircular strips, which are then sewn together and sewn to the skirt.
Some gypsy costume sewers prefer to insert a fishing line into the edge of the petticoat, which will give the gypsy costume additional pomp and airiness.
The shape of the blouse can be different, the sleeves can be made tight or very wide “gypsy” or decorated with flounces and small frills. Traditionally, in gypsy dance the belly was always covered, but many modern performers allow themselves blouses that tie in the front and leave the belly open.
A very beautiful addition to a gypsy costume is a corset belt. It is better to make it semi-rigid and not too wide, while it will favorably emphasize the dancer’s waist and will not restrict movement. And of course, no gypsy costume would be complete without a beautiful shawl. It also serves as an important dance accessory. The shawl should be large enough, at least 1.5 meters, so that it can be loosely tied around the waist and hips or draped over the shoulders. Pavlov Posad shawls are suitable as shawls. It is desirable that they have fringe. Most often, shawls are half-woolen or wool, but you can also use silk scarves with a beautiful pattern and fringe.
If you want to create a completely traditional, camp look of a gypsy, you can accessorize your gypsy costume with a headscarf or scarf tied in a knot in the gypsy style.
All that remains is to put on ringing earrings, more bracelets, a monisto around your neck and your costume for the gypsy dance is ready!
Now about tailoring
To sew the suit, I took 6 m of printed stretch satin (fabric with roses) and 3 m of black chiffon, both of which were 1.5 m wide. Threads to match. Bias tape 20m black and 20m burgundy, elastic for a wide waistband (6cm) and elastic for a frill on the neckline 2cm wide
The skirt is the basis of the costume, so let's start with that.
We cut out two flared suns:
We take two measurements, the waist circumference and the length of the future skirt. The length of the frilly skirt should be ankle length.
The lower tier of the frill can be made 10-25cm. Therefore, let's first calculate the frills.
In my case, two frills: the bottom, black, 20 cm, and the top, made of the same fabric as the skirt, 15 cm.
We measure the waist circumference and calculate the radius of the opening for the waist using the following formula:
R = OT/2P, where R is the radius of the circle, OT is the waist circumference, and P = 3.14.
For example: OT = 54 cm/6.28; R = 8.6 cm
We calculated this radius for one flared sun, but we have two of them, which means we divide the radius into two “suns”, i.e.
R/2 = 8.6 cm/2 = 4.3 cm
Next, add the length of the skirt to the radius OT without frill.
For example: 4.3+70 = 74.3
We mark the floor of the “sun” on the fabric if the length of the skirt together with the radius is more than 73-74 cm, but do not fold the fabric.
The details will be arranged like this:
Or a quarter of the “sun”, if the length of the skirt together with the radius is equal to or less than 73-74 cm and for this we fold the fabric in four. It looks like this:
In this case, we will get a circle that will need to be cut along the radius, along the shared thread. Why exactly by share? This way the fabric will not stretch when you sew two “suns”, and the fabric will stretch along the transverse thread!
In my case: I folded two pieces of fabric 150cm by 150cm into four (each separately).
Don’t forget to leave 1-1.5 cm from the edge of the skirt to sew on the frills.
Now we carefully cut it out so that the fabric does not move, you can initially pin it with pins, but be extremely careful here, the pins must be very sharp and without burrs, otherwise you can make puffs and holes in the fabric.
Next we sew the parts of the skirt. Since our fabric is thin, we can sew the parts together using a backstitch. And we should get this
Frill
To calculate the length of the frills, we need to know the perimeter of the two circles of our “suns”.
We calculate the perimeter using the formula P=2PR, i.e., P= 6.28*70=440 cm (the perimeter of one circle), and we have two of them, which means 440*2 = 880 cm (the length of two circles.
Now we calculate the frills 880 * 2 = 1760 cm i.e., the approximate length of the frill is 17 m 60 cm (approximate length of the frill)
I took 18m for the frill and calculated them on the fabric like this:
Black frill: 150cm / 22cm, resulting in 6 stripes 3m long and 22cm wide. (3m*6 strips=18m)
Frill with roses: 150cm / 17cm, resulting in 6 stripes 3m long and 17cm wide.
We also sew the strips with a backstitch into a huge ring 18m long.
Now let's get ready. To do this, we lay the strips on top of each other
black down, colored up (how they will be sewn to the skirt)
and on the front side we lay a line, stepping back from the edge 1-2cm.
In this case, set the stitch on the machine to a length of “5” 
It should look like this: 
Next, carefully distribute the gathered ruffles along the bottom of the skirt. We remember how much “gathering” we got for a certain section of the skirt. We do this in order to sew the frill evenly.
We are patient and slowly sew the frills on the machine, carefully distributing the “gathering” on the previous line, trying not to tear it. It's better to do this in small sections. Gathered - stitched, gathered - stitched.
For me personally, this was the most difficult stage in sewing a suit and it took 9 hours!!! 
In the end it should look like this 
Belt
The belt must be cut according to all the rules and, for rigidity, glued with interlining or maybe even double-lined.
But everything was much simpler for me. The teacher asked that the skirt have an elastic band. (THIS IS NOT CONVENIENT!!! When you hold the skirt by the waistband, the elastic band in it wrinkles and can twist, no matter how rigid it is. You also need to sew the elastic band and the waistband together)
It's easy to do. I cut out a strip slightly larger than the waist size.
I don’t even remember how many cm, I did everything quickly and by eye. The main thing is that the width matches your elastic and just sew it on, leaving a hole for inserting the elastic.
This is what happened 
And from the inside out 
Hooray! The skirt was sewn. Left just a little bit.
Top
He looks like this 
And it’s very easy to sew.
We cut out a rectangle from the remaining fabric equal in width to 2 waist measurements and the desired length.
And sew it with a bobbin elastic band 
Cut out strips from leftover fabric 1.5m was enough for me.
We edge it with bias tape. 
And stitch it so that you can insert an elastic band.
Like that: 
So: 
Now the top and ruffles can be simply “grabbed” a couple with hand stitches in several places.
I already did this during fitting.
And we get this:
Ugh! All!
P.S. Full photos of the costume can be seen here.
Every mother wants her child to be the most beautiful at the carnival party. An original outfit for a girl will be a bright and elegant gypsy costume, which any mother can sew with her own hands.
How to sew a gypsy costume with your own hands?
A traditional gypsy costume involves a long and fairly wide skirt, a bright blouse, a colorful shawl and massive beads.
To sew a gypsy carnival costume you will need:
- brightly colored fabric;
- black chiffon;
- black and colored bias tape;
- wide (6 cm) elastic band for the belt;
- elastic for frill on the neckline, 2 cm wide;
- matching threads;
- scissors, sewing machine.
Skirt
1. To sew a gypsy skirt, you need to cut out two flared suns. To do this, we take two measurements - the waist circumference and the expected length of the skirt (do not forget that there will be a frill at the bottom of the skirt). We calculate the radius of the hole for the waist: R = OT/2P, where OT is the waist circumference, and P is a constant value equal to 3.14.
Example: 54 cm/(2x3.14) = 8.6 cm.
Since we need two flared suns, we divide the resulting radius by 2, i.e. 8.6 cm/2 = 4.3 cm.
Example: 4.3 cm + 70 cm = 74.3 cm.
2. We make a skirt pattern for a gypsy costume and transfer it to the fabric.
3. Then carefully, so that the fabric does not move, cut out the pattern. We should have two pieces of fabric 150 cm each. Next, we sew all parts of the skirt.
Frill
Belt
- We cut out a strip, a little longer than the waist circumference and the width of your elastic band. Sew the belt to the skirt, leaving a hole for inserting an elastic band.
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The skirt is ready! Now all that remains is to figure out how to sew a top for a gypsy costume.
As you can see, sewing a gypsy costume with your own hands is quite easy and quick; all that’s left is to complement it with a bright shawl, appropriate accessories and makeup.
Clothing is the most important ethnographic source.
A very common point of view is that the gypsy folk costume of women has always been bright and complemented by monists. A number of authors admit that the cut of clothing was influenced by different cultures, but in general, according to them, elements of the ancient Indian style have survived to this day. This costume complex supposedly included a wide colorful skirt for women and a vest for men.1
This view is in all respects incorrect. Ethnographers have already proven that ancient gypsy clothing had nothing in common with the one that exists now.
There are two ways to study the gypsy costume: analysis of literary data and analysis of visual material. Both methods have already been used in science. There is a work by the Polish scientist Lech Mroz and a short article by the French researcher Vaux de Folitier. We work using the same methodology, but we use much larger material and, accordingly, have the opportunity to draw deeper conclusions. For the first time, we have compiled a comprehensive periodization and identified four stages in the development of costume. The original “Indian” stage is deliberately not considered, since literary and iconographic sources are completely absent.
Like everything else, the costume must be viewed in historical context. From this point of view, the following patterns can be traced:
The evolution of gypsy clothing.
Table 11
With regard to the original layer of material culture, it now seems possible to make only a few comments, related rather not even to costume, but to the attitude towards nudity. As already mentioned, the Gypsies have a system of taboos called "pekelimos". These taboos relate to the lower part of the female body. The practical consequence of this system of views was that gypsies were quite indifferent to bare breasts, but sought to cover their legs with at least a shabby piece of fabric. In India, women from a number of lower castes were required to walk naked to the waist.2 Surely the gypsies are not descendants of these particular castes, but without a doubt the pagan perception of nudity as a natural state affected the gypsy worldview.
“They often wear a fluffy cap, while they themselves are barely covered with a piece of linen, and their sooty chest is exposed to the whole world,” writes Grellmann in 1783.3 There is a lot of evidence of this kind, and in addition to them there are sketches and photographs, confirming the correctness of the “father of gypsy studies.”4 By the way, contrary to what modern gypsies think, the skirts of gypsy women in the old days could be very short, often knee-length. This can be seen in many of the illustrations in this publication. Undoubtedly, both the poverty of the nomads and considerations of everyday convenience had an impact here.
It was possible to isolate three more features that are a legacy of the Indian origin of the gypsies and their wanderings in the East: the way of carrying children on their backs, the manner of women walking barefoot, an exaggerated love of jewelry
These three features were common to most Roma groups.
It is customary for many eastern peoples to carry a child on their back. It is not surprising that the gypsies retained this method even when surrounded by Europeans. Their lifestyle forced them to constantly take their children with them to work, and not to part with them when moving. At the same time, the woman needed freedom of her hands. The antiquity and prevalence of this custom is confirmed by extensive visual material.
The manner of women walking barefoot is explained not only by Indian habits, but also by the distribution of activities in the family. Initially, neither men nor women had shoes (like the entire population of ancient India). Having appeared in Europe, the gypsies realized that in this region shoes were an attribute of solidity and prosperity. Men traded the products of their craft and horses, therefore, in order for the commerce to go well, they needed to show themselves as equal partners in the transaction. Hence the appearance of boots, which became an almost obligatory sign of a gypsy. Women, in turn, earned money by begging and telling fortunes. For these activities it was more profitable to go barefoot. Firstly, it was an external sign of poverty that evoked sympathy. Secondly, the barefoot fortune teller looked like an exotic daughter of a distant, hot country (according to the prevailing opinion at that time - Egypt). This worked especially well in cold European countries in winter. The gypsies themselves, having been hardened since childhood, did not experience any particular inconvenience.5
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| The custom of carrying children on your back can still be seen on Moscow's Arbat. |
Finally, the hypertrophied craving for gold and silver is explained by purely material factors. It is known that in India even the poorest families strive to have capital for a rainy day in the form of gold bracelets, earrings, rings and the like.6 Naturally, the corresponding eastern habits could not help but take hold among the gypsies, who, due to their nomadic lifestyle, were deprived of the opportunity to invest money in land and real estate. Moreover, it was inconvenient for the nomads to bury treasures, or, when leaving to earn money, to leave their only wealth in the tent - under the unreliable supervision of small children and old people. The custom of wearing gold and silver affected the mentality of the gypsies, which differs sharply from the European one. If a European, having earned a certain amount, first of all acquires a house, decent clothes, and only then puts on jewelry, then with the gypsies everything is different. Literature is replete with descriptions of barefoot gypsies dressed in rags, wearing earrings, rings and bracelets made of gold and silver. Already the Parisian chronicle of 1427 testifies that women's clothing “consisted only of a dilapidated bedspread, made of very coarse fabric and tied over the shoulder with braid or ropes, underneath there was only a wretched shirt. In short, these were the poorest creatures who had ever been in France in human memory... Most, or almost all, had both ears pierced, and in each ear there was a silver ring, or even two...”7
Three centuries later, Grelman made a surprising remark about the gypsy scale of priorities. In the winter cold, a gypsy will not buy a fur coat lined with fur, but will willingly buy a worn jacket with silver or gold braid. These jackets, with shiny buttons the size of acorns, are worn by men over dirty rags - and they walk with such arrogance as if they are the masters of the world.8
Another century and a half later, already in 1930, the Romanian professor S. Popp-Serbianu described the gypsies of his homeland as follows: “Prosperous women wear gold monistas on their chests, others wear fake necklaces and pearls. Every woman has long earrings, rings on her fingers and various kinds of bracelets on her wrists. They all go barefoot.”9
I. “Byzantine” gypsy costume. Before appearing in Western Europe, the gypsies lived for two hundred years in Byzantium. It was there that the nomads adopted the clothing that had existed since the 5th century: an undershirt with long sleeves and a cloak made of heavy fabric. As you know, this style was a development of the ancient toga.
During the Romanesque period, all of Europe experienced the influence of this fashion. Judging by the visual material, the cloak and shirt were widespread in all Western countries. However, the Gothic era introduced tight-fitting styles, and “Byzantine” fashion became a thing of the past.10
In the 15th century, when the first gypsy camps appeared in Western Europe, they looked exotic primarily because the Byzantine-Romanesque style was already “a well-forgotten old one.”
Records from Arras dating back to 1421 describe the nomads in detail. The men are dark-skinned, with thick beards and long black hair. The women wore turbans on their heads. The loose collars of their shirts almost revealed their chests. Over their shirts, the gypsies wore a blanket of wide cloth, tied over the shoulder; They wrapped babies in this cloth. Both women and children had rings in their ears. The French researcher Vaux de Folitier rightly noted that all this was very unusual. At that time, men in Western Europe shaved their beards and cut their hair short, and earrings were still unknown.11
We emphasize that the indicated elements of the costume (shirt and cloak over the shoulder) are found not only in literary sources, but also among artists of that era. We were not able to find a single painting or sketch dating back to the 15th-17th centuries that would have included such “iconic” gypsy attributes as a monista, a headscarf, or a colorful skirt with a frill. On the contrary, all authors depict a “Byzantine” cut. Here is a far from complete list of artists who painted gypsies in that era:
France: Jacques Callot, Jacob Grimmer, Georges de la Tour, Vallentin de Boulogne, Vouet Simone.
Italy: Nicolas Regnier, Filippo Napoletano, Matteo Pitocchi, Mattia Preti, Leonello Spada, Michelangelo Cerquozzi, Vincenzo Gemito, Michelangelo Caravaggio.
Germany: Weigel Christoph, Guler von Weineck.
Netherlands: David Teniers, Jan Van Goyen, Hieronimus Bosch, Gerrit Adriaensz de Heer, Ferdinand Bol, Jan Wouwermans, Abraham Govaerts, Maerten de Cock, Paul Bril, Lucas van Valckenborch, Jan Cossiers, Bartholomeus Breenbergh.12
The paintings of these artists can be considered as a reliable source, primarily because they reflect with impeccable truthfulness the costumes of nobles, peasants and townspeople - representatives of indigenous nationalities. Undoubtedly, the appearance of the “Egyptians” is reflected on the canvases, thanks to sketches from life.
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| Outfit of an "Egyptian woman" from a painting by B. Brenberg. Fragment. Mid-18th century. |
It is interesting to note that brightness and variegation, which was a distinctive feature of a gypsy’s costume at the beginning of the 20th century, were not typical in those days. The color scheme was most often dull: gray, brown, and faded blue were not uncommon. There were even black robes. In our opinion, this is explained by the high cost of bright colored fabrics, as well as the fact that gypsies wore the same clothes for a long time: they got dirty, faded in the sun, got wet in the rain, etc.13
As for fabrics with patterns, in the late Middle Ages and the Renaissance only the European nobility could afford them. The ornament was embroidered by hand, and such clothes were very expensive. Cheap printed fabrics with colored patterns appeared only in the 19th century - and only then did gypsies begin to buy them for their skirts.
When it first appeared in Western Europe, both men and women wore turbans. We will not dwell on this, since gypsy headdresses are discussed separately at the end of the chapter, and in development.
The “Byzantine” cloak existed until the time when numerous anti-Gypsy laws appeared in Europe, and was gradually replaced by European dress. This does not mean, however, that he disappeared without a trace. In Russia in the 19th century, it was worn by the so-called “cloaks”, immigrants from Moldova.14
The following evidence comes from Poland in the 19th century: “Women are dressed in whatever they can find, their hair is capriciously scattered over their backs and shoulders. However, trying to preserve the national taste in their clothing, they wrap themselves in sheets, which are not sewn, but are worn in the manner of a Roman toga, wrapped over the shoulder, so that their right arm, over which the sheet is tied, remains free and uncovered.”15
However, these and similar descriptions refer only to individual relict groups (most often the eastern branch of the Gypsies). Already in the 18th century, a transition to the second stage took place - when European dress began to be worn in camps.
II. Adapted suit. The change of costume by the gypsies living in Western European countries was largely forced. In the seventeenth century, anti-Gypsy laws were adopted everywhere, and it became dangerous for the nomadic people to differ in appearance from the surrounding population. In Provence, women caught in gypsy clothing were flogged. Similar laws were passed in Portugal and Spain.16 But it was not just a matter of the legal ban on wearing a gypsy costume. Perhaps more important was the general situation in which arrest threatened men with death, and women with flogging and branding. Changes in clothing can be judged not only from paintings, but also from official papers. During arrests, descriptions of signs were compiled. Folitier cites one of these documents dating back to 1748, which talks about the arrest of four gypsy girls aged 75, 30, 20 and 14 years. The things that the arrested were wearing were the same as those of the German women: bonnet, dress, skirt, apron. The color scheme was very discreet, dominated by black, grey, white and brown. Only the girl had a reddish skirt and bodice. Two out of four even had shoes.17
The fact that in this case we are dealing specifically with mimicry is shown by the further history of the Sinti. When it became safe to appear on the streets in the 19th century, German gypsies, preserving the local silhouette, began to wear brightly colored skirts and catchy colorful scarves.18
Returning to the beginning of the transition to an “adapted” costume, we emphasize that this process was inevitable, since even in Eastern Europe, where there was no terror, clothing was strongly influenced by local traditions. Thus, we are talking only about the time period during which the gypsies moved from the so-called “Byzantine” costume to clothing more appropriate to the given situation.
Gypsy clothing shows a pattern common to all nations, noted by ethnographers: women's costume is more conservative than men's. Gypsy men switched to European dress about 50-100 years earlier, which is proven by the famous engravings of Callot, created in the 17th century. The gypsies on these graphic sheets are dressed in trousers, jackets, boots and wide-brimmed hats with feathers, while the gypsies have not yet had time to put on French dresses. They are still wearing shirts and spacious capes over their shoulders.
Assimilation processes had to take place also because the camps did not have their own weaving production and sewing of finished products. In essence, the gypsies and gypsies dressed in what they could get from the local residents. This gave rise to one 19th-century author making an apt remark: “The clothing of the gypsies is simple and fantastic; they do not have their own folk costume, but they usually cover themselves rags of the country in which they roam"19
These words, spoken more than a century ago, are, in fact, an exhaustive description of the second period. The nomadic tribe wore dresses begged from local inhabitants, or bought for next to nothing - these were rags vaguely reminiscent of the national costumes of European peoples. Thus, the relatively unified Eastern Byzantine outfit broke up into dozens of directions in which, depending on the country of residence, Slavic, French or Spanish features appeared.
The most indicative is the outfit of Russian gypsies, recorded in a sketch by the English traveler Atkinson. This artist published an album about life and costumes in Russia in 1803. In his sketch from life, the gypsies appear in kokoshniks, shower warmers and shawls. Their hair, like that of Russian women, is braided at the back and tied with a ribbon. Only the child behind him gives the picture a “gypsy” tint.
Naturally, sundresses and kokoshniks did not remain signs of Russian gypsies for long. Already in the middle of the 19th century, the kokoshnik became an anachronism even among the peasantry, and the general changes that took place in the costume of the Russian common people immediately had an impact on the gypsies. The Russian Roma ethnic group began to wear more modern village clothing. Borrowing went in all directions. Mirrors, a samovar, and Orthodox icons penetrated into everyday life, forming a “red corner” in the tent.
The same borrowing processes took place in other countries. In Poland, Serbia, Germany, Belgium we see women wearing lace-up bodice. In England - bonnets and very revealing bodices.20 Of particular interest is the book by George Borrow, who described the male and female appearance of the mid-19th century: “The woman was portly, she was thirty or forty years old. Her head was not covered with anything; long hair, parted in the middle, hung almost to the waist in two ponytails... Her arms were bare, her chest was half covered with a frivolous-looking bodice, below which there was only an underskirt made of coarse fabric - and nothing more.”
The husband was dressed more elaborately:
“A peacock feather protruded from a slightly pointed hat; over a sleeveless vest made of untanned sheepskin, he threw on a rough reddish-brown jacket; short trousers, which must have once belonged to a soldier... covered his legs to the knees; he had blue wool stockings on his legs, and huge old-fashioned buckles on his shoes.”21
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| Bouguereau. "Gypsy". 1890 |
A German author from the same period, Richard Liebig, notes the Sinti ethnic group's predilection for boots with shiny spurs. In this he saw a craving for external effects characteristic of the gypsy mentality.
The most important distinguishing feature of gypsy clothing was extreme poverty. Very expressive are the sketches from life made in the French Vosges mountains by the writer Merimee and the artist T. Schüler. There are no monistas or variegated fabrics on them. Both authors depict young barefoot gypsies in short skirts hanging in rags and simple shirts slipping off their shoulders or barely wrapped around their chests. The same lapidary simplicity is reflected in the engraving “Gypsies”, created by the French artist Manet in 1862. His gypsy guitarist is dressed in store-bought clothes and his headdress is a cap.
The visual material on the Kale gypsies is very large. The close relationship between the Spanish folk costume and the kale dress does not require proof. Short men's jackets, women's scarves wrapped crosswise around the chest, skirts with a polka dot pattern and numerous frills have become signs of Spanish gypsies.24
Of greatest interest to us is the adapted costume of the Eastern European branch of the nomadic people. Here, development also did not fall outside the law common to all groups, but it was the gypsies of Romania and Hungary who managed to synthesize, on the basis of local material culture, what is now mistakenly called traditional gypsy costume.
In the 18th and early 19th centuries, the clothing of nomadic gypsies, in fact, was only a more primitive copy of Vlach or Moldavian clothing. Here is how Dahl describes the young gypsy blacksmith: “He was wearing a shirt and trousers, both of which seemed to last forever, permanently, black, tattered. Instead of a belt, he wore a wide belt, decorated with copper plaques and buttons; there was no hat on his head at all, and in a coal sack lay what may once have been a blue caftan, all in rags.” 25
The blacksmith’s young wife is described by the same author in another work: “... Her clothes were the same as the others and as all Volosh and Moldavian gypsies wear: a woolen, striped skirt, the same belt the width of a palm, a scarf on her head , tied in a gypsy style, that is, hanging at one angle along the back: a shirt on the shoulders, bare feet..."26
However, some groups are already beginning to show the first signs of a “true gypsy” appearance. Thus, the painting by the Romanian painter Theodor Aman depicts an ordinary peasant outfit: a gypsy woman is dressed in a red skirt with a black pattern and a white shirt of the Romanian style; on her neck are simple red beads. At the same time, the method of tying a scarf, moving it to the back of the head and specially braided hair are the first shoots of the Kalderar style.
III. Kalderar costume and its derivatives. The Calderar costume is not just an adapted version of a European dress - it is a synthesis of all the best that existed among the western and eastern branches of the gypsies. This synthesis would have been impossible without nomadism throughout the European continent, but the history of the Kelderars developed in such a way that in the second half of the 19th century they moved from Romania and Hungary to all countries of Western Europe, and in a short time completed the process of creating a national costume. A number of extremely favorable factors of a psychological and economic nature coincided here. The gypsy craving for gold, not previously supported by material opportunities, with large earnings was realized in rich jewelry. While the gypsies roamed within Romania and Austria-Hungary, we do not see monists and silver coins woven into braids in the paintings. We do not see these expensive decorations in the first sketches made by artists during the period when the first “Hungarian immigrants” set up their camps on the outskirts of French cities. In the sixties of the 19th century, women wore ordinary beads on their necks. However, as soon as the hardworking artisans earned their first substantial sums, the women wove coins into their hair and decorated their necks with gold monists. This cannot be considered a strictly gypsy attribute, since throughout Eastern Europe it was customary to decorate hair, clothes and headscarves with coins. Moreover, Eastern European women most likely came to this fashion under Turkish influence (the Balkans were under Ottoman rule for centuries). As soon as the material opportunity presented itself, the Kelderarki decorated themselves with golden monists, which they had previously been deprived of, and in the West this was perceived as an element of a purely gypsy costume.
Monistas were part of a married woman's outfit. A girl could wear only one coin around her neck as a sign that she was betrothed. Likewise, the headscarf, curled at the sides and tied at the back, reflected marital status. The gypsy woman tied a scarf around her head and put on an apron after the wedding. The apron served primarily to protect household utensils from being soiled by the skirt (the tabu pekelimos system, which we have already mentioned). A married Calderar woman was curling her hair at her temples with a plait; these braids were called amboldinari. A braided ribbon was woven into the braids, with telari coins sewn onto it (a gypsy corruption of the word “thaler”). Apparently, this hairstyle, when braids or strands hung from women’s temples, existed for many centuries in a row. It may even be part of the Indian substrate. This detail of a woman’s hairstyle can be traced already in the earliest European sketches, and then in Callot’s graphics, a 17th-century painting by Georges de Latour, and in a German 18th-century engraving.27 Kalderarki only gave the ancient tradition a complete, expressive look.
The Kalderar skirt is an unstitched form of waist-length clothing. The skirt is split at the front, meaning it is a piece of gathered fabric with a frill at the bottom. The slit exists so that the woman does not wear the skirt over her head and, thus, does not dirty her upper body. At the stage of their migration to Western Europe, the skirts of the Kelderars were without frills. This is important to emphasize, since, in our opinion, the synthetic nature of the national gypsy costume lies in the fact that the Kotlyar camps very successfully borrowed the frill on the skirt from the Spanish gypsies of the Kale ethnic group. The visual material allows us to conclude that this borrowing occurred in the 1880s, and by the beginning of the 20th century, thanks to the exceptional mobility of tinker camps, it had taken root among the Kalderarok throughout Europe. It should be noted that the borrowing was not blind. Spanish gypsies loved to sew frills in several tiers and preferred fabrics with a polka dot pattern. The Kotlyarkas liked colorful store-bought fabrics with floral patterns, and there was only one frill on their skirts (it was about a third to half the length of the skirt). A frill also appeared on the apron.
The second borrowing from Spain was the cut of the sleeves. Before leaving the Balkans, the Kelderarki wore ordinary peasant shirts with cuffs or simple straight sleeves. They saw a beautiful expanding silhouette of the Spanish gypsies. Thanks to this, in the same eighties of the 19th century, a classic women's jacket appeared in two varieties: with a sleeve up to the wrist or a shorter one - up to the elbow. This jacket was sewn from fabrics of bright colors, often not smooth, but covered with patterns. This new gypsy fashion spread back to the Balkans and Russia.
An addition to the women's outfit was a shawl. On the one hand, this was a reflection of women’s fashion of the 19th century, common to all of Europe and Russia. On the other hand, the reasons for the fascination with this detail of clothing were deeper for the gypsies. As we have already shown, throughout history, the tradition of wearing capes and bedspreads has been very strong in camps. They were used to protect themselves from the rain, they were used to wrap children in them, and they were stretched over their heads on branches during stops. Hence the huge variety of ways to wear a shawl, inaccessible to other European women. Romanian, Russian, and French women threw a scarf over their heads or shoulders. In addition to this, gypsy women wrapped a shawl around their body, tied it over their shoulder, tied it on their hips, and so on.
Kotlyarsky men's costume was no less expressive than women's. He was very beautiful and imbued with a sense of proportion. His main influence was the Hungarian national costume. Like the Hungarians, the Kalderars had jackets, vests, and trousers decorated with embroidered appliqués. High boots made of leather with patterned trim were also a tribute to Hungarian fashion. It is interesting that the Hungarian gypsies had massive silver bud buttons already at the beginning of the wave of migrations, which can be traced from the sketches of that time. The wide leather belts and headdresses are also clearly of Eastern European design. However, all of this as a whole was already exactly gypsy, thanks to the thoughtful proportionality of the details.
Additional accessories for a man's costume were a scarf, a staff and a pipe. The scarf was attached to the jacket, forming an arc in front and hanging in folds from the hip. It did not carry any functional load, and was needed only for beauty. A tall staff with a silver knob and a pipe emphasized the masculine solidity and slowness of the gypsy. However, women also smoked. The pipes were richly decorated with polished wood, bone and metal.
Thanks to the intensive migration of the Kalderars, their complex of men's and women's clothing influenced other gypsies. Many of its elements entered into use among other gypsy groups.
IV. Second adaptation. The twentieth century turned out to be hostile to any national identity. Industrial civilization destroyed almost all types of folk costumes in Europe. Naturally, the gypsy costume could not resist the global trend for long. As the first time, at first men submitted to the average European style. Instead of vests with silver buds, they wore ordinary jackets; boots gradually gave way to boots. Already by the time of World War II, the disappearance of the male gypsy costume was a foregone conclusion. Gypsies retained their originality in clothing longer. But in our time, even the most traditional groups (Kelderari and Vlachs) cannot fully retain the achievements of previous generations. The actual transition to settled life led to the fact that it became safer to keep gold jewelry at home rather than wear it on oneself. Nobody wears silver coins in their hair anymore; gold coins have become family heirlooms at best. At weddings and celebrations of most ethnic groups, both men and women dress in modern European style. The richer the gypsies, the faster and more successfully they master new fashion trends. Even the diversity of colors, which throughout the twentieth century seemed an indispensable attribute of gypsy taste, has almost completely disappeared. Nowadays in Moscow preference is given to black suits and evening dresses. Making a forecast for the future, we are sure that in a few generations what we call traditional gypsy costume can only be seen in films and on stage.
The evolution of headdress among gypsies. For ease of understanding, we consider this topic separately. The analyzed sources allow us to trace the evolution of hats over the past five hundred years.
The oldest gypsy headdress known to us is a turban, intertwined with ribbons around the rim. Men did not wear such turbans for long - already a century after their appearance in Western Europe, they became accustomed to caps, hats and berets of local styles. It’s much more interesting to follow the transformations of women’s hats.
The first major change was the tie around the chin. At first it was just a wide strip of fabric that was tied around the head, pressing the turban on top. This happened towards the end of the 15th century.
The next stage dates back to the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. At this time, gypsies began to wear the same thing as all the women around them: first, bedspreads made of smooth or patterned fabric, and then ordinary European caps, as well as scarves tied in a knot under the chin.
Only in the 19th century did women in Kelderar camps begin to wear kerchiefs twisted at the sides with a tourniquet.
*****
So, images of clothing in painting and graphics can serve as an important ethnographic source. They make it possible to trace the migrations of Roma, even if there is no literary data. Having a pictorial series, you can not only determine whether the gypsies belong to any ethnic group, but also simultaneously study the material culture: occupation, tools, method of setting up a tent, type of cart, etc. However, we emphasize that you can use this source only after a comprehensive study of a very large amount of materials. As is the case with literary sources, it is necessary to filter out unreliable information caused by ignorance or the imagination of artists. You should be well versed in art history (to know how realistically this author reflected the surrounding reality). You need to be a specialist in the material culture of the surrounding gypsy peoples (to identify borrowings). The authors of this monograph consider themselves prepared to solve these problems due to their ethnographic and artistic education, as well as long-term professional work in these areas.
1. Rom-Lebedev I. From the Gypsy Choir to the Romen Theater. M., 1990. S. 44-45.;
Smirnova-Seslavinskaya M. Rajasthan is the cradle of gypsy culture. Shunen romale. M., 1998. No. 1. P. 16.
2. Snesarev A.E. Ethnographic India. M., 1981. P. 215.
3. Grellmann H.M.G Histoire des Bohemiens. P., 1810. R. 80.
4. Asseo Henriette. Les Tsiganes; une destinee Europeenne. Gallimard, 1994. Ill. P. 46;
. A tarsadalom peremen; Kepek a magyarorszagi ciganyok eletebol. Budapest, 1989. Photo No. 9, 107;
Szuhay Peter; Barati Antonia. Kepek a magyarorszagi ciganysag 20. Szazadi tortenetebol. Budapest, 1993. Photo No. 55;
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Grigorescu. Bucharest, b.g. rice. on S. 21;
Hayes John. Gainsborough, paintings and drawings. Great Britain, 1975. Ill. P. 113;
Block Martin. Zigeuner. Lpz., 1936. Photo No. 28.
5. Gypsies. Nature and Geography. St. Petersburg, 1864. T. 3, No. 3. P. 82.
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Clebert Jean-Paul. Les Tziganes. P., 1961. R. 55-57.
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Bernt Walther. Die Neederlandischen maler des 17 Jahrhunderts. Munchen, 1969. Vol. 1.Ill. P. 193, 241, 437;
Bernt Walther. Die Neederlandischen maler des 17 Jahrhunderts. Munchen, 1970. Vol. 3. Ill. P. 1216
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. Le Louvre. P., 1971. Vol. 2.Ill. 211;
Dutch Prints of Daily Life. Kansas, 1983. Ill7 P. 144, 149;
The Italian followers of Caravaggio. Massachusetts, 1967. Vol. 2.Ill. 172, 310, 310;
La mostra della pittura Napoletana del secoli XVII-XVIII-XIX. Napoli, 1938. Ill. P. 309;
Leveque Jean-Jacques. L'Ecole de Fontaine-bleau. Neuchatel, 1984. P.139;
. The National Gallery Collection. Lnd., 1987. Ill. P. 143;
Musees de France Repertoire des peintures italiennes du XVIII siècle. P., 1988. Ill. P. 146, 259;
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Schweers Hans F. Genre Bilder in deutschen museen. Munchen-NY-Lnd-P., 1986. Ill. 154;
Vallentin de Boulogne. Milano, 1966. Ill. 2.,Ill. VII;
Zeri Federico. La Galleria Spada in Roma. Sansoni-Firenze, 1954. Ill. 47.
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Le musee d'Art Ancien Bruxelles. Bruxelles, 1988. Ill. P. 54
Mille peintures des musees de France. Gallimard, 1993. Ill. P. 225, 243;
14. S.S. Gypsies in Russia. Illustrated newspaper. St. Petersburg, 5.II.1870. No. 6.;
Moscow Gazette. M., 1864. No. 153. with a footnote to the Odessa Bulletin.
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19. Gypsies in Romania. Illustrated newspaper. St. Petersburg, 1870. No. 17.
20. Hayes John. Gainsborough, paintings and drawings. Great Britain, 1975. Ill. P. 113.
21. Borrow George. Lavengro the Scholar, the Gypsy, the Priest. NY., Lnd., 1905. R. 29-30.
22. Munchner Maler im 19 Jahrhundert. Munchen. 1983. Vol. 4.Ill. P. 358;
Etudes tsiganes. 1980. No. 4. Ill. R. 19.
23. Macfie Robert. With gypsies in Bulgaria. Liverpool. 1916. Ill “A Zagundzhi woman”;
Nature and people. 1901/1902. No. 8. Ill. on S. 125;
Pittard M. Eugene. Les Tziganes ou Bohemiens. Geneve. 1932. Ill. 45;
Lacio drom. 1981. No. 6. Ill. P. 29.
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La Fotografia en Espana hasta 1900. Madrid. 1982. Ill. P. 51;
Mondejar Publio Lopez. Las Fuentes de la memoria fotografia y sociedad en la Espana del siglo XIX. Spain. Ill. P. 138.
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26. Dal V.I. Gypsy. Complete works of Vladimir Dahl (Cossack Lugansk). SPb-M., 1897. T.5. P.43.
27. Clebert Jean-Paul. Les Tziganes. P., 1961. Ill. 24;
Mode Heinz, Wolffling Siegfried. Zigeneur. Lpz., 1968. Ill. 62;
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Gypsies are a cheerful and nomadic people who sacredly honor their traditions. Songs and dances are something without which it cannot be imagined. Therefore, it is not surprising if you decide to choose the image of a gypsy.
What does the outfit look like?
Now you can buy various ready-made costumes, including gypsy ones. But if you want to try yourself as a designer and seamstress, then the following information will be very useful to you. A gypsy costume for a boy consists of the following details:
- trousers;
- shirt;
- headdress;
- shoes;
- additions to the image.
You can use the example of adult costumes to see what one of the variants of the gypsy look looks like.
Trousers
To begin with, I would like to note one thing - this is the opportunity to alter or use things existing in the wardrobe. So, if your child has dark-colored pants, you can use them. If not, then you will have to sew it yourself. In this case, it is better to choose satin or silk, because we need to create a festive and elegant gypsy costume. Take your child’s measurements correctly and start sewing.
When finished, the pants should be wide and loose. Ideally, you should use black fabric, but in the absence of one, dark brown or gray will also work. If desired, you can decorate the bottom of the legs with gold fittings or braid.
There is another option for trousers - these are wide breeches, knee-length. At the bottom of the legs you can create the effect of torn fabric. But when choosing this option, you need special shoes, which we will talk about later.
If you do not want to create a gypsy costume that is too bright and shiny, then choose a fabric without shine and chic, it can be linen or cotton.
Top of the suit
This part of the costume is a shirt with wide sleeves. If you decide to sew a gypsy costume with your own hands, we advise you to adhere to the basic rule - use the same material. If your pants are made of satin, then for your shirt use the same material, just in a different color.
As you can see in the photo, the shirt of this suit is not like what we are used to wearing. Therefore, using existing clothing is not suitable here.
The shirt is sewn without buttons, only a few on top, and even then it is not necessary. You can make a V-shaped neckline, which will look very impressive.
We've sorted out the fabric, now let's move on to choosing a color. As mentioned above, the gypsy costume has no clear rules and boundaries. This applies to the color scheme of shirts, so feel free to choose red, yellow, green and other bright colors.
I would also like to note that the gypsy can be complemented with a vest if desired. We recommend sewing it from the same material as the entire outfit. But it is not necessary to follow the color scheme. That is, the vest may be contrastingly different from the color of the pants and shirt. The result is an interesting and colorful gypsy costume. A photo of this option can be seen below.
Headdress
For greater harmony of the image, a headscarf is almost always used. It can completely cover the entire head or look like a bandage. If you have scraps of fabric left after sewing a suit, you can use them as a bandage.
The color of this accessory does not make a fundamental difference. You can use bright shades that match the overall background of the suit.
But that’s not all; a hat is often used as a unique headdress. Moreover, it is put directly on a bandage or scarf. I would like to note that such a bold decision makes the gypsy costume more interesting.
Now we note that the headdress is not a mandatory part of the image. Therefore, if you do not have the opportunity or desire to use it, then you can completely do without it. In the next photo you can see an example of what a gypsy costume might look like without a headdress.
Shoes
Do you think that no carnival costume can do without shoes? You are mistaken, the gypsy costume is just like that. Gypsies are a poor people who love freedom. That's why they are often barefoot. But we are talking about children's costumes, which means we must remember the safety of children. This option is appropriate if the suit is worn on the beach. Carnivals are often held in children's camps, and a barefoot gypsy costume is suitable for such an occasion.
For another option, choose black shoes or boots. Any available ones will do. Now let's talk about shoes that go under breeches. We have already said that instead of trousers, you can sew breeches that have a torn hem. So, high boots, dark in color, are best suited for them.
Although boots go well with trousers, it is not always convenient to wear them due to the large amount of fabric. In general, as you can see, choosing shoes to match a gypsy costume is not difficult.
Add-ons
One of the main additions to a suit is a belt. In almost every variation of the suit you can see that the trousers and shirt are connected with a belt. You don't need anything special to make it. Long, dense fabric is the belt we need. But again I would like to emphasize that it is better to sew it from the same fabric as the entire suit.
The color of the belt can be combined with a scarf, or, on the contrary, it can be made contrasting against the background of the suit. It should be wide enough and tied to the side so that the ends remain free.
As we have already said, gypsies are a musical people, so you can choose a small instrument as an addition to your costume. It could be a tambourine or a sopilka.
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