Latvian Folk Dress - Latvijas Institūts

Latvian
Folk
Dress
Latgale
Northern and southern Latgale dress,
19th century.
Latgale is the region that demonstrates the most international
influences in traditional dress, due to the close ties with neighbouring
peoples: Estonians and Russians in the north and Belarussians, Selonians
and Lithuanians in the south. Latgale dress therefore reflects northern
and southern traditions through the cut, colours and decoration of the
clothing. In the north, linen garments were usually not made in plain
weave, as was the norm in the rest of Latvia. Bird’s eye twill was used
for the upper section of the shirt, sometimes also satin weave. Shirts
also had red inlaid or woven patterns on the shoulders and on the
shoulderpieces. Skirts were usually white with a red-patterned lining on
the lower edge. In the south, linen tunic shirts were of more traditional
cut, sometimes with a very narrow red-decorated shoulderpiece. The
skirt had vertical stripes of naturally dyed, but bright colours. The white
woollen shawls of this area of Latvia can be distinguished by their size
and their richly embroidered ornaments in dark blue, yellow, green and
red. Shawls that reflected the traditions of the 12th century – made
of blue and white tartan linen – were quite common components of
summer attire.
Characteristic throughout Latgale was the intense use of linen in clothing,
as garments such as shawls and skirts for summer festive dress were often
made from linen. In colder weather, large tartan woollen scarves were
tied around the wearer’s head and shoulders. Aprons were often a part
of the festive dress of Latgale, however they were
never worn together with woven sashes. Jackets
were seldom part of festive dress but when they
were used they, too, excluded a sash. Later tartan
skirts of various colours became popular in all of
Latgale, but generally the use of the traditional
dress ceased in the 1870s and 80s. Latgale was
the region where industrially-produced clothes were
seldom used by peasants: all garments were usually homemade.
In Latgale, bast footwear from linden bark or tow cord
was more popular than in other regions.
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