Clothes, like cuisine, perfectly reflect the spirit and specifics of nations. At the same time, the 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. As a result, a folklore style of clothing for women appeared. Let's talk about its origin, specifics and possibilities of using it in the wardrobe of a modern resident of the city.
Concept
A special phenomenon - folklore style - in clothes was formed in the second half of the 20th century. And since then, it has not lost 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. Folklore style is clothing with pronounced ethnic motifs, they can be manifested infabrics, colors, finishes and cuts.
National elements can be a direct borrowing or a topic for designers to think about. The advantages of this style are convenience and beauty, understandable to everyone. However, to wear things in this style, you need 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 style in clothes 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 folklore theme for hippies was a way to return to the origins, roots, naturalness. In addition, such clothes were very comfortable and were 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 was officially recognized 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 appeared as the boho style, completely based on ethnic motifs. Today, this kind of folk style is represented by several branches: gypsy, eco, Provence, Scandinavian style, etc.
Characteristics
Any style can be recognized by the main distinguishing features,by typical cut, materials, prints. The ethnic style also has its own set of features. The folklore style of clothing is characterized by:
- highly comfortable and loose fit;
- natural fabrics, as folk culture predated the invention of synthetics;
- bright colors: all the peoples of the world sought to express their worldview through colors and their combinations in their clothes;
- 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.
Inspirations
Designers and fashionistas who love ethnic motifs draw ideas from different cultures of the world. It can be seen that this tradition is not new at all. For example, Chinese motifs in the European fashion of interiors, and then clothes, were widespread as early as the 17th century. In general, humanity tends to periodically get carried away by certain regions. Now, in times of globalization and general 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, with a la russe costumes, gypsy themes, African motifs. Today it has already become a common thing in fashion. Therefore, designers look for inspiration not in large cultures, but in the costumes of small nations. For example, in our country, the coloring of modern clothes in the folklore Bashkir style began to appear massively after Buranovskiye Babushki performed at Eurovision in the national costumes of the Udmurts and Bashkirs.
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 21st century.
Fashion designers
Many famous designers created collections with ethnic motifs. Among them are masters such as Yves Saint Laurent, John Galliano, Valentino, Pierre Cardin, Jean-Paul Gaultier, Roberto Cavalli, Giorgio Armani and many others. They periodically find inspiration in the 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 Sergei Diaghilev and his Russian Seasons.
Later, Vyacheslav Zaitsev, who was even nicknamed "Red Cardin", made a significant contribution to the popularization of the Russian theme. Of the contemporary artists, Denis Simachev and Anastasia Romantsova are well-known, who use Russian motifs in their collections. And the Russian folk style in Ulyana Sergeenko's clothes has found such a creative development that her collections diverge in the wardrobes of world celebrities almost instantly.
Fabrics
Natural materials are the most important sign of folk style in clothes. The photo shows that cotton, wool, furs, leather, linen, silk prevail in this style. This is natural, because this style goes back to old folk traditions, when artificialmaterials did not exist. Also, this style allows the use of velvet, brocade to create elegant images, for example, oriental.
Colors
Description of the folklore style in clothes is impossible to imagine 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 folk costume, any color is allowed, except for black (it is usually used only in decoration), as well as except for frankly chemical shades, for example, fluorescent ones. Preference is given to basic, primary colors: white, red, yellow, blue, green, brown, tones of nature.
The color scheme can be bright or pastel, depending on the people and the season. Many patterns and ornaments are also used. Almost all folk cultures are characterized by the presence of unique geometric ornaments that designers willingly use. There are also favorite prints, for example, in Russian culture this is a pattern 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
Folk style in clothes is characterized by loose cut. For national clothes, comfort is important, it should not hinder movement. Therefore, the most popular silhouette is straight or trapezoidal. Another difference of this style is the length, it varies from medium (to the middle of the knee) to maxi. The miniskirt is nottheme for folklore style. Also, the national costume is built on the principle of layering. Therefore, it often uses a variety of wraps, vests, layered skirts.
Decor types
Folk style involves a lot of hand finishing. Embroidery, braid, decoration with beads, ribbons are used. Assemblies, ruffles, flounces, folds are also actively used. The folk costume of different peoples is characterized by the use of patchwork and appliqué techniques. All this is reflected in modern clothes in ethnic style.
Stylist Tips
Designers encourage women to boldly use folklore style in modern clothes. However, you should not forget some rules. Since things in ethnic style are very bright and expressive, it is better to combine them with other more calm 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 things, it is desirable that they belong to the same national culture. The best option for everyday life would be images from simple modern things and one bright ethnic one, for example, a blouse, vest, jacket or skirt.
