The Traditional Romanian Blouse - from Peasants Clothing to Today’s Urban Closet

 Abstract — An element of identity that reflects the local origin, the social and civil status, the economic power and ethnicity, the Romanian blouse called `ie` was the identity card of every Romanian woman. It was sewn in secret and it represented one of the most important elements of the traditional attire. While realizing one’s blouse, the woman knew that the outcome would not only talk about her origin and social standing, the blouse being also a representation of the wearer as a whole. By looking at the way a blouse was made, one would know if the girl was going to be a diligent, hard-working wife or a lazy one. So, no matter the financial prowess of one’s family, every household had to have handsewn festive clothing for both the men and women. Before the industrialization period, the entire process of crafting the clothes, including the blouse was placed in the intimacy of the household, but as the technology and industrialization advanced, the textile related practices ceased to be created only in the home and the people have started to change, simplify or give up entirely on the Romanian blouse. Given these changes, I have chosen to study the evolution of the Romanian blouse in the XXIst century. While studying the evolution of the Romanian blouse, I have encountered a group of people that recreate it today’s age by the authentic and traditional standards, as much as the technology and materials allow them to. To describe the people prom this group, I will use the term „rejuvenator”. In this article I will present not necessarily the evolution of the blouse, but the evolution of those involved in creating it. Once belonging to every peasant woman, the blouse, the authentic one, now belongs to a much narrower group of a different cultural, social and economic standing. The results emerged after analyzing a number of 16 in-depth interviews conducted with the „rejuventaors”. The analysis was conducted through a grounded theory methodologic perspective through the help