Summer work costume

During summer girls wore shirts called „westki” or „kabaty” and shirts, under which they wore special petticoats called „odspodki”. They walked barefoot around the house, and to work in fields they put on wooden shoes shoes called “kloce”. Married women’ dress was similar to the dress of adult girls. The only difference was that married women wore petticoats (“kabaty”), girls wore bras. When married women worked in the field they put on an apron onto their skirts and covered their heads with flax scarves. Older women, called “grózki” wore costumes similar to costumes of married women. Only during cold days they were dressed in fur slips, called “watówki”.

Summer work costume of bachelors consisted of white linen shirt called: “shirt with talar” and long, linen, skin-tight trousers called: “portki” or “buksy”. On colder days they put on their shirts, red, blue or dark blue waistcoat called “westa” and then blue or dark blue jacket called “ jaka” or “żakiet”. They wore high leather boots called “skórzańce” or another kind of shoes called “klumpy” and “ korki”. Their head was protected by grey, felty or straw hat.

Winter work costume

In winter girls wore shirts with long sleeves, velvet bras called “barchanowe wistki” and dresses with long sleeves. Also they wore elastic stockings and wooden shoes (“kloce”). Older girls wore overalls and underneath they wore petticoats. To work they were dressed in striped aprons. Married women were dressed in lacy shirts, which reached knees, with long sleeves, smocks, underneath they wore warm petticoats. On the shirts, called “kitle” they put on aprons. They protected their legs with stockings and heads – with black woolen shawls, covering back and front part of the head. They had also woolen gloves on their hands. “Grózki” were dressed like married women; the only difference was that they wore several shirts and slips, mostly made of cotton and wool.

Both bachelors’ and married men’s costumes consisted of linen shirts, male tights made of flannel, black T-shirts, trousers made of flannel material and special leather boots called “jutowe skórznie”. During work done near the house, they put on wooden shoes. They also wore woolen stockings, knitted gloves with one finger, woolen or cotton scarves and ram hats.

Festive costume
Festive costume of young girls consisted of white, linen shirt with long sleeves, woolen bra in winter, but cotton one in summer and also red, blue green or bright dress. During summer older girls, instead of dresses, wore smocks sewn together with shirt or tight shirts and wide skirts, shirts and petticoats. On the shoulders they wore white or colourful shawl. Girls wore caps which were a little bit different from the caps of married women, because they were tied under their necks with narrow ribbons so that it did not cover their faces. Married women’s festive costume is not much different from the girls’ costume. Married women did not put on aprons and smocks, but only kind of smocks called “kabaty”. On their heads they had special hats called “czepce” which covered part of their faces.

The main difference between festive and work costume was that individual elements were made of better quality materials. Undoubtely, the ornament of festive male costume was a special kind of coat called “sukmana”, and in Warmia it was called “sukman”. Those poorer peasants wore those coats made of linen, dyed into blue, dark blue or green colour and those richer ones’ coats were made of blue, dark blue or brown material. “Sukmana” was quite long and came down to the calves; it had a fastener made of two rows of buttons. It had a coloured linen belt called “krajka”.

Male festive shirts – white, linen, with narrow collar – were fastened at the front with a button or colourful string. A kind of half-shirt was put onto the shirt. It was usually made of black cloth. Festive trousers were made of dark blue or black cloth. Waistcoats were made of cotton and wool material, and they were blue, dark blue, dark red, green, and brown, and sometimes they were stripped. The richer hosts had fur hats called “kołpaki”, which were made of black or grey ram skin. They also wear special kind of boots, called “skórznie”.

Children’s costumes

A newly-born child was dressed in a short, flannel shirt. While the christening it was dressed vests and nappies, and a small cap called “mycka”. Older children wore costumes similar to adult costumes. To school, boys wore linen shirts, which were attached to trousers with lapel. From the age of ten they wore trousers, wool stockings and wooden shoes (“kloce”), and the richer ones wore leather shoes called “trzewiki”. They put on caps or fur hats on their heads. During summer girls were dressed in short, linen. White T-shirts, on which they put on a kind of a bra fastened with buttons (it was called “wistek”) and it was attached to panties. Their top costume consisted of “klejda” – a dress with or without sleeves and stripped apron. Summer dresses were cotton, of different colours, but mainly blue, red and grey. Daughters of rich host wore woolen dresses. Girls’ dresses reached their knees, but after First Holy Communion they could wear longer ones, that reached the half of the calves.

Paulina Matejko z kl. VF oraz Martynę Kluczyk z kl. VB, zdjęcie z Muzeum Mazurskiego