ANCIENT COSTUMES

Wairarapa Times-Age, 7 September 1938, Page 2

ANCIENT COSTUMES

MOVE FOR PRESERVATION IN FRANCE. A decided movement in France has set in for the preservation of ancient costumes. Few countries possess more interesting costumes than France, and in regions where local costumes were being discarded there has recently been a tendency to revive them. There are many reasons for costumes becoming more rare. To cite only the case of the picturesque lace bonnets of Brittany, it is increasingly difficult, in this machine age, to find laundresses who can launder some of these complicated bonnets. It has been particularly noted recently that in parts of Normandy where local costume had been discarded it is appearing again. Almost every costume in Brittany tells its tale, and the experienced eye detects at a glance the condition of the wearer, whether he or she is single or married, and the part of Brittany from which the wearer comes. Four • hundred different lace caps and bonnets areworn today by the women of Brittany, and their costumes are of almost as many different kinds. One part of Brittany is famous for long silk shawls, another for elaborate silk aprons. The women of the island of Sein wear a fairly close-fitting dress always of black, the only relief being a narrow white collar. The women of the island of Ushant all wear their hair long on their shoulders. While most of the costumes of France are very ancient, that of the Arlesienne is comparatively modern, less than a hundred years old, a flowing, long skirt, short waisted bodice, handkerchief worn round the breast with point hanging down the middle of the back, and a black velvet perfectly round toque on the head. Generally tall and slim, the Arlesienne is full of grace, whether walking, or sitting on horseback behind one of the picturesque “jGardians” of the Camargue, the cowboys of France.