Belarusian traditional clothes historically influences European fashion

24 октября 2017

By Natalia Bordilovskaya: Ethnographers fr om all over the world met in Minsk. Scholars and masters of applied arts from Russia, Poland, Lithuania and Ukraine gathered at the forum wh ere they learned more about the Belarusian traditional clothes and explored every exhibit with great care. Once, these countries were historically one state – first, as the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, then the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, and the Russian Empire. Therefore, it is obvious that the clothes of these people – the cut, colours, and decorations – have a lot in common.

The exhibition brings together clothes for peasants and the nobility. Both are authentic monuments that characterize our national portrait. Outfits dating back to the times of the Radziwills times Sapieha families almost did not survive in its original form, but they were carefully reconstructed and have long since become part of the set in theatres.

It seems that Europe always set the trends in fashion. However, it was in the Belarusian lands that many of the famous women’s dresses first appeared and then became fashionable in Paris and other cities regarded as major fashion trend setters.