The 20th century Clothing Culture in the Slovenian countryside
The 20th century provides a lot of sources for the study of fashion. There are numerous written sources and photographs and even more people who still remember the fashion trends of their youth. While examining the conversations and the photographs from Moravče and its surroundings, it was established that the clothing of the 20th century did not differ regionally. At the beginning of the century women’s skirts were still long but after the world war they became shorter because of poverty and lack of fabric. They were less creased as well. The clothing was mostly produced by the dressmakers or tailors who also came to people’s homes. They often remade the new clothes from the old ones. The fabric was darker; a white blouse was sometimes worn on special occasions. An apron was a necessary part of the working outfit. It is believed that everybody owned different outfits, one for normal house wear and the other for holidays or special occasions. The special outfit was not much different from the one worn at home, except that the fabric was better and the skirt was more creased. At the end of the 20th century ready-made clothing appeared.
Our Grandparents’ Clothing
In December we started a project dedicated to old clothing. We brought different pieces of old clothes, examined them and talked them over. We tried to establish which time they were from and which occasions they were used for. We saw a lot of different clothes but the pieces we liked the most were Vojka Napokoj’s apron (our kindergarten is named after her), a scarf of a castle cook and the flax fabric, which is around a hundred years old. We also thought the tablecloth from the beginning of the 20th century and the silk scarves, which are around 70 years old, were wonderful. We chose some items of clothing and exhibited them in the display cases at our school. What we also collected were our grandparents’ photographs to get a better picture of what people wore in the old days. We made a catalogue of old clothes and prepared an “oldies goldies” fashion show at the Primary School Vrhpolje (our branch school).
(C) Andreja Vavpetič & Zdenka Wicher
