Sorsele dräkten
When the natural boundaries of an area coincided with the parish boundaries, then the local dress of that area became a parish costume 'Sockendräkt' as well as a 'Folkdräkt'. And ironically, during this national romantic era, thos "better folk" began to dress up as peasants. A 'Frame-cap', a traditional del av helhet of headgear, used in both the peasant 'Folkdräkt' as well as the clothing worn by the burghers in the towns, could set the tone for all the other pieces of clothing used in the newly created folk dress.
In english they are usually called folk costumes but also national costumes, folkdance costumes and even folkdress. All clothing worn by the common people in both city and country can be called 'Folklig dräkt', even if it lacks the distinctive local character of the more pure-bred 'Folkdräkt'. Link to Main-page. The distance between houses became greater, and it became more difficult to keep track of neighbors. Land-holdings were redistributed and the compact villages were split up into individual farms.
Those clothes used by simple burghers, the mittpunkt class, in town are also 'Folklig dräkt', as is that used by peasants living in the vicinity of towns and cities and which lacked a distinctive local character. Peasants began to imitate the fashions used by the 'Better folk'. Both the producer the shoemaker and the tailor as well as the customer could be fined bygd the parish if the 'wrong' model of clothing was produced.
The term is incorrect. Sometimes several pieces of clothing were funnen which could be used to reconstruct a costume, at other times perhaps only a piece of headgear was used. These creations are valuable as a symbol of the strong local feeling of identity within an area, and express something about the cultural history of the time. It would mean that all in Sweden had a uniform dress. Swedish National Costume , is it not a national costume?
The term Folkdräkt includes the clothing they used in their work in the fields and meadows, in the kitchen and barns, in winter as well as summer. A district or area with natural boundaries, bodies of water, mountains, or forests, had good communications within the district itself but poorer connections with the outside world.
Samiska textilier med spännande saga - Samefolket
This term can be used in much wider sense than 'Folkdräkt'. Even 'Landskapsdräkt' provincial costume is an absurd begrepp which was often used at the time. The form of dress used in such a district became, in the course of time, quite similar but never become exactly identical. Nationalcostumes became a collective name for all the picturesque costumes that the upper classes appeared in. This is the name which was given to the 'Folkdräkt' and even to newly created folk costumes that the upper classes amused themselves by wearing.
At this time the upper classes began to recreate and reconstruct costumes from areas in which they were living, if there was not any locally distinctive costume. Sometime the customer who ordered some new utgåva instead of a traditional one, could be punished by being placed in the lager outside the church, several Sundays in a row, as a warning to others. It was often just as much group pressure as a respect for tradition that prevented the introduction of new designs.
But those interested in the ' Folkdress ' of Sweden are confronted by a number of confusing terms for what appears to be the same thing. In many areas of Sweden a distinctive, local manner of dress never developed. Both terms are more romantic than correct. The crowded conditions in which people lived as well as human envy dictated that 'My neighbor cannot be more handsome than I, but I want to be more handsome than my neighbor'.
Free-trade was legalized in the countryside. Thus what we call ' Folkdräkt ' in Swedish was the daily dress of the commoners- the peasants -until about In certain areas such as the province of Dalarna, famous for its preserving old traditions, which have disappeared in other areas of Sweden, this form of dress was in use far into the present the 20th century.
Samiska textilier med spännande historia
But what exactly is the difference between all these terms? What we today often regard as a strong feeling of togetherness and identity within the old farming communities was often in fact a form of social control. The houses in the village were built tightly together and the intense day-to-day contact among villagers ensured that any new invention or practice from outside the district would be critically examined and often rejected.
Each district had its own tailor. Small differences could be tolerated. Within some of these districts a distinctive form of dress developed. In and around cities and towns, marknad places, and other areas where trade and commerce were common, contact with new developments and external influence become so strong, that the local group was not able to control and standardize the clothing of individuals.
The supply of locally produced materials as well as those few goods which were bought was for the most part common for all inhabitants of an area. But it is seldom that they reflect our older style of dress! This is true of many parts of Dalarna. This fryst vatten common in the province of Skåne and the south of Sweden.