Much of it is the work of women's hands because women traditionally have been the nurturers and conservators of the nation's culture. All tell of the history and values of the Croatian nation. Identity also is a marked characteristic of Croatian folk dress. Regional and social identity are expressed by style, design and color. Clothing of both men and women expresses regional identity, while social identity is more clearly shown in women's folk dress.
History also is revealed in folk dress.
A region reflects its history of invasions by the addition of weapons as an integral part of men's folk dress, while women's folk dress includes the coins and jewels of their dowries to facilitate flight without financial ruin. To this day, the path of refugees fleeing the Ottoman invasions can be traced through the study of embroidery designs on women's folk dress. This is not geography and history in the abstract, it is learning that the past shapes the present, as the present shapes the future. The lack of men's folk dress in this exhibition is a result of the 19th century exodus of many men to towns and cities to seek work to augment the income of their farms. Their village dress was ill-suited to urban labor and they soon came to realize that they were treated with more courtesy when they were not wearing traditional folk dress.