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Wedding dress

Here we have described the festive clothing of the 19th century, as worn by the Suiti, the originals of which have been in the collection of the National Museum of Finland since the beginning of the 20th century.

Linkainis

In the picture: The linkainis cloth modeled after the original stored in the National Museum of Finland. The bride’s head was decorated with her maiden crown, on top of which was placed the linkainis, which was wrapped around the head so that a horn was formed on the left side of the head. The other end of the cloth hung down the back. In order to hold it in place and keep the folds in tact, it was fastened with several brooches.

The National Museum of Finland preserves a linkaitis robe from Alsunga, made of white, fine and narrow linen fabric. Fabric density – 1cm /20 threads. It is 2.5 meters long and about 0.65-0.67 meters wide. The fabric is woven in the required width, with one end folded into a 5.5-6.5 cm wide ribbon, which is folded like a crown and fastened with 7 brooches.

Drawing from: Heikel A.O. Die Volkstrachten in den Ostseeprovinzen und in Setukesien. Helsingfors: Societe Finno-ougrienne, 1909.

In the picture: Linkainis. National Museum of Finland.

Lupata (a rag)

The headdress of a Suiti wife consists of four layers – a rag, an aube, a horn scarf and a headscarf. In the collections of the Finnish Museum, there is one of the very few preserved headdresses – a rag, which in terms of its pattern and dimensions is identical to the rag in the collection of the Latvian National Museum (can be viewed in the book Latviešu tautastērpi. II Kurzeme p. 75, fig. 127).

In the picture: the edge of the rag. National Museum of Finland. Size 94 x 92 cm.

Pictured: The edge of the rag. Latvian National History Museum. Size 94x104cm.

Drawing from: Heikel A.O. Die Volkstrachten in den Ostseeprovinzen und in Setukesien. Helsingfors: Societe Finno-ougrienne, 1909.

In the picture: A copy of linkainis made after the original kept in the National Museum of Finland.

Socks and gloves

Wedding as well as festive clothing of the Suiti included gloves and socks decorated with bright patterns and colors. The patterned socks are decorated with patterns all the way to the toes. Thus, when wearing shoes or boots, the bright patterns are clearly visible. The socks remain unmarked only in the upper part near the knees. The patterned gloves, including the mittens, were also delicately patterned down to the fingertips.

Mēļie brunči (blue skirt)

Back in the 19th century, one part of the bride’s dress was the long blue skirt. Their name is related to the color of its base fabric, mēļš, which means dark blue color. In addition to blue skirts, red skirts were also worn. The name of red skirts is also related to their color, although the color range of red skirts includes both orange, pink, violet, and, of course, brighter and duller shades of red.

The Finnish ethnographer A. O. Heikkel writes that the blue skirt belonged to the bride’s wedding dress. In such cases, men were in white overcoats. Heikel also stated that blue skirts at the time of his expedition have not been worn for 50 years.

Since the tradition of wearing these blue skirts disappeared already in the middle of the 19th century, they have not survived. Thus, the blue skirt, which is in the Finnish museum, can be considered a unique specimen. Blue skirts as well as red ones, consist of two parts – the upper part, called the top and the skirt part. The two parts are sewn together. The part of the skirt preserved in the Finnish museum is woven from dark blue linen, which is the darkest shade of indigo.

The fabric width of the skirt part is 78 cm, it is woven in a quadruple weave atlas pattern. The skirt part is sewn from 5 pieces of fabric and pleated at the top with small pleats, about ½ cm wide. The folds are sewn with linen thread. About 2-3 cm below, the folds are fixed with a thread from the inside. A pocket is embedded in the front of the skirt on the left side, which is sewn into the slit between the folds so that it is not visible from the top. The pocket is sewn from dark linen fabric.

Close-up of the top fabric and close-up of the dark blue fabric.

Patterned woolen shawls

With the festive dress of the bride and other unmarried women, when the mēlene (blue shawl) is worn, another shawl, aizsitene, always partially covers it, so that it is covered about a palm’s length above the bottom of the mēlene, so that its decorative pattern remains visible. Both shawls are fastened on the chest with a large brooch.

Dimensions of the original shawl: 134 × 103 cm.
Warps – cotton, the weft – wool.
The white part of the shawl is woven in a two-sided trinity of fours 2/2. There is no pattern woven into the shawl.
The pattern is folded into a triple fabric.
The width of the pattern is 6.3 cm. The cut edge file is folded twice and hemmed by hand. File width – 0.5 cm.
Dimensions of the original shawl: 130 × 110 cm. Warps – cotton, the weft – wool.
The white part of the shawl is woven in a two-sided trinity of fours 2/2.
The width of the pattern is 9 cm.
The cut edges are processed by folding twice and hemmed by hand. File width – 0.5 cm.
Dimensions of the original shawl: 105 x 144 cm. Woven wool in wool. 5 linen threads on the edge of the shawl.
The white part of the shawl is woven in a two-sided trinity of fours 2/2.
The width of the pattern is 9.5 cm. The width of the bottom edge is 2 cm.
The cut edge file is folded twice and hemmed by hand. File width 0.5 cm.

Already in the beginning of the 20th century, mēlene and aizsitene shawls were very rare. There is very little information about them in literature and museum collections. A white patterned shawl has been preserved in the collection of the Latvian National History Museum, the image of which has been published several times and after which many such Suiti shawls have been made. The ends of these shawls are decorated with a blue and green pattern arranged in quadrangular squares, which line up one behind the other. The ends of the shawl are decorated with colorful fringes. Basically, it is the only known sample of a Suiti aizsitene shawl known in Latvia.

Svārki (men’s dark overcoat)

The Finnish museum has preserved several components of the Suiti men’s clothing, including two long overcoats, formerly known as svārki. One of them is made of loose broadcloth, and the other is made of white woolen fabric.

Both men’s overcoats are unique, as they have not been preserved in Latvia. Information about them is available only from the description of the outfit, photos and drawings. In addition, similar overcoats were also worn in the neighboring regions of Ventspils and Kuldīga. Both types of men’s overcoats were sewn according to the same pattern with minor differences.

The dark overcoat is sewn from a dark gray broadcloth and lined with a linen fabric woven in a twill technique, popularly called the broken trinity. The lower back is cut with a flare that creates a fuller fall. The back is richly decorated with pleats, which are fastened inside with linen thread.

Overcoats were outdoor clothing, they were taken off indoors. A jacket was worn under the overcoat, leaving the overcoat open at the front so that both rows of buttons of the jacket were visible. Everything was tied around the waist with a woven belt.

Festive coat

In the 19th century, the festive coat was worn by the groom. It was sewn from white woolen fabric, fastened with hooks and tied with a sash or belt. On the feet it was boots, shoes or pig skin pastalas with patterned socks. A top hat (made of felt) was put on the head. According to tradition, on the wedding day, the groom wore the patterned socks and gloves given by the bride, as well as the embroidered shirt and a silk scarf, which he received as a gift from the bride on the day of the dowry.

Festive coats were worn only on big occasions, such as weddings. In warm weather, the front part of the coat was also worn a little open, so that the embroidery of the shirt could be seen, which sometimes reached to the waist. The collar of the shirt was tied in front with a cord or fastened with a brooch and wrapped with the silk handkerchief folded in the form of a ribbon, which was tied in the front.

The long festive coat is sewn from white woolen fabric, woven in the technique of four-quarter triplet. The front part of the coat is lined with a linen lining woven in the twill technique, popularly known as the broken trinity. The edge of the collar and closure is embroidered with dark blue thread. The edge of the closure from the collar to the lowest hook of the closure is complemented by a decorative embroidery pattern.

Researcher and author of the text: Kristīne Vasiļevska-Stepanova