Clothing, like the kitchen, perfectly reflects the spirit and specificity of nations. At the same time, a folk costume is the embodiment of people's ideas about beauty and convenience, it is a kind of concentrated experience of ethnic groups. And designers could not get around such a rich resource of ideas. The result was a folk style of clothing for women. We will tell about its origin, specificity and possibilities of using a modern resident of the city in the wardrobe.
The concept
A special phenomenon - folklore style - is formed in clothes in the second half of the 20th century. And since then does not lose its relevance. From time to time, you can see that fashion looks more closely at some individual national traditions: Scandinavian, gypsy, African, but in general this topic does not leave the fashion agenda. Folk style is clothing with pronounced ethnic motifs, they can appear in fabrics, colors, finishes and cuts.
National elements can be a direct borrowing or a topic of thought for designers. The advantages of this style are convenience and beauty, understandable to everyone. However, to wear things in this style requires a certain courage, because in such things it is impossible to go unnoticed, to merge with the crowd. This is the choice of brave girls.
History
Folk clothing style owes its origin to the hippie culture. It was they who in the 60s of the XX century began to actively use ethnic motifs in their costumes. The hippie folk theme was a way to return to the roots, roots, naturalness. In addition, such clothes were very comfortable and beautiful and bright. All this was organically combined with the philosophy and aesthetics of the hippie movement. And only then, looking at the children of flowers, designers began to create collections using ethnic motifs.
The style officially received recognition in 1968, when couturier Yves Saint Laurent created a bright series of clothes with elements of African culture. The folklore theme gained immense popularity in the 90s, when even such a trend as the Boho style, completely based on ethnic motifs, appeared. Today, this type of folk style is represented by several branches: gypsy, eco, Provence, Scandinavian style, etc.
Characteristic signs
Any style can be recognized by the main distinguishing features, by typical cut, materials, prints. Ethnic style has its own set of attributes. The folklore style of clothing is characterized by:
- high comfort and loose fit;
- natural fabrics, since folk culture arose even before the invention of synthetics;
- bright colors: all the nations of the world sought in their clothes to express their attitude through colors and their combinations;
- an abundance of details and decor: almost all national cultures used the costume as a kind of code, so a lot of information about its owner was encrypted in the decoration.
sources of inspiration
Designers and fashionistas who love ethnic motifs draw ideas from different cultures of the world. You can see that this tradition is not at all new. For example, Chinese motifs in the European fashion of interiors, and then clothes were common in the XVII century. In general, it is human nature to periodically get involved in certain regions. Now, in a time of globalization and universal similarity, it is national motifs that can give the costume originality and originality.
So the world fell in love several times, at the suggestion of the French, in a la rus costumes, gypsy themes, and African motifs. Today it has already become commonplace in fashion. Therefore, designers are not looking for inspiration in large cultures, but in the costumes of small nations. For example, in our country, the coloring of modern clothes in the folk Bashkir style began to appear in large numbers after the "Buranovskie Granny" in Udmurt and Bashkir national costumes performed at the Eurovision Song Contest.
Often the attention of fashion designers is attracted by the outfits of small tribes of the equatorial zone, small peoples of the North. Although large national groups continue to be a source of ideas. For example, the theme of Ukraine was popular in European fashion at the beginning of the XXI century.
Fashion designers
Many famous designers created collections with ethnic motifs. Among them are the same masters as Yves Saint Laurent, John Galliano, Valentino, Pierre Cardin, Jean-Paul Gaultier, Roberto Cavalli, Giorgio Armani and many others. They periodically find inspiration in a national costume. There is such a thing as Russian style in modern fashion. It began to take shape in Paris at the time of the incredible popularity of the Russian ballet by Sergey Diaghilev and his Russian Seasons.
Later, a significant contribution to the popularization of the Russian theme was made by Vyacheslav Zaitsev, who was even called the “Red Carden”. Among contemporary artists, Denis Simachev, Anastasia Romantsova are known, who use Russian motifs in their collections. And the Russian folklore style in the clothes of Ulyana Sergeenko found such a creative development that her collections diverge from the wardrobes of world celebrities almost instantly.
Fabrics
Natural materials - this is the most important sign of folklore style in clothes. The photo shows that cotton, wool, furs, leather, linen, silk predominate in this style. This is natural, because this style goes back to the old folk traditions, when artificial materials did not exist. Also, this style allows the use of velvet, brocade to create elegant images, for example, oriental.
Colors
It is impossible to imagine a description of the folklore style in clothes without a story about prints and colors. Ethnic cultures go back to the traditional ideas of peoples about the symbolism and semantics of color. In a folklore costume, any color other than black is acceptable (it is usually used only for decoration), as well as except for frankly chemical shades, for example, fluorescent ones. Preference is given to basic, basic colors: white, red, yellow, blue, green, brown, tones of nature.
The color decision can be bright or pastel, depending on the people and season. Many patterns and ornaments are also used. Almost all folk cultures are characterized by the presence of unique geometric ornaments, which designers willingly use. There are also favorite prints, for example, in Russian culture this is a drawing in a small flower, in the east - a paisley pattern, in Africa and South America - bright geometric patterns. All this fits perfectly into modern fashion.
Styles
The folklore style of clothing is characterized by loose fit. Comfort is important for national clothes, it should not hamper movement. Therefore, the most popular silhouette is straight or trapezoidal. Another difference of this style is the length, it varies from middle (to the middle of the knee) to maxi. Miniskirt is not a topic for folk style. Also, the national costume is built on the principle of layering. Therefore, it often uses a variety of capes, vests, layered skirts.
Types of Decor
Folklore style involves a large number of handmade finishes. Embroidery, braid, decoration with beads, ribbons are used. Also actively used are assemblies, ruffles, shuttlecocks, folds. For the folk costume of different nations, the use of patchwork and applique techniques is characteristic. All this is reflected in modern clothes in ethnic style.
Stylist Tips
Designers recommend women to more boldly use the folklore style in modern clothes. However, do not forget some rules. Since things in ethnic style are very bright and expressive, it is better to combine them with other calmer things. Shoes in folk style sets should be comfortable and simple, usually with low or low heels.
When collecting onions, you need to carefully pick up things, it is desirable that they belong to the same national culture. The best option for everyday life will be the images of simple modern things and one bright ethnic, for example, a blouse, vest, jacket or skirt.