The
Romanian blouse, "ie" by
its original Romanian name, is not a simple traditional peasant blouse, but it
became a symbol of Romania, with its legends, stories and deep significance. The "ie" (pronounced "ee-eh") is a blouse, commonly worn by
Romanian girls and women, and it has overcome its historic peasant confines,
as it became an important source of inspiration for the fashion designers in
Romania and abroad (high-ranking names, such as Tom Ford based his 2012
collection on the Romanian traditional motifs). The "ie" is entirely hand-made from a special
fabric (called approx. in English "sheer lawn"), with exquisite embroideries on the chest, back and sleeves, with designs
preserved for centuries. The
signs and symbols embroidered on the Romanian blouse aren’t just random
decorations, but each has its own significance, depending on the region, the
seamstress, and the person who wore it.
Every "ie", along with the other items of the traditional folk costume, has its own story. Among the symbols embroidered on the blouse there is the tree or a tree-like design, which is the symbol of life, wisdom and rebirth. The fir tree is particularly drawn on the Romanian blouse, especially in the mountain rural areas, and symbolizes the immortality, a motif seldom found in Romanian mythology.
Every "ie", along with the other items of the traditional folk costume, has its own story. Among the symbols embroidered on the blouse there is the tree or a tree-like design, which is the symbol of life, wisdom and rebirth. The fir tree is particularly drawn on the Romanian blouse, especially in the mountain rural areas, and symbolizes the immortality, a motif seldom found in Romanian mythology.
The
circle or a sunflower represent the sun, day or Divinity; in Romanian
tradition, the sun was at the core of life and often associated with abundance.
Other
motifs related to daily activities can be found ranging from one region to
another: water (either as a river or as
sea waves) and fish in the fishing villages along the rivers and sea coast,
wheat or corn stems in agricultural villages, wheels or coin in crafting
traders’ villages, and so on.
At
the same time, the colors on the blouse also vary according to the geographic
region; green and gold symbolize the plains, gray, red and brown for the
mountains and blue for the rivers. For
instance, in the past, young girls from the countryside, who were not married
used to wear merry colors on their blouses, combinations of red, yellow, pink & light colors, while the dark ones (brown, black, dark green) & gold were
usually worn by older women, married & having a certain social statute.
