Evening star., 1937-10-03
POLISH PEASANTS
MAY GUIDE STYLES
Brilliant CoIors in Tradition
al Costumes Sought Our
by Designers.

ever in search of fetching nio'iIs Tor
their clothing creations, ha'e Ao' eoii'e
months been studying the line and
color eeects of the traditional Polish
peasants costumes.
Already more than dozen design
ers from New York, and almost as
MANY more from Paris have come to
Poland to study the possibilities of
these age-old peasant designs, Eight
students of American art schools.
winners of Kosciuszko Foundation
scholarships, recently sailed for Poland
TO study peasant arts and crafts at
LoWlcz and zakopane, with particular
attention being paid to costume de-
signing and novel color combinations,
Ihese stylists do not intend intro
ducing vogue for Polish peasant
Clothes, but to adapt their lines and
colors for every day and evening
wear. Already advance reports indi-
cate that the dresses Of the Lowicz
district, just west of Warsaw. will
leave the mark of their brilliant pur-
pies. scarlets and yellows on milady's
evening dress, as we'll as hint of their
dainty fullness of line.
Peasants Cling to Tradition.
In no corner of the world have the
inroads of modern fashion in dress
made less headway than on the Polish
countryside among the peasants. The
spinning wheel and the loom still hold
their place of honor in the cottage, and
homespun is still the garb of rs per
cert of the peasants. In no other
country will one find such diversity of
old peasant garb
One New York designer who has
high hopes of his Polish studies, be-
lieves that in looking for new motifs
among peasant women, two things are
vital. first the peasant dress art must
be lived through the centuries, and
second, there must be a tradition of
feminine good looks.
There are good looking women
everywhere. but my impression is that
Poland has more than her share he
said. Also there are striking peasant
l.
lean toward those of Poland. Before
long you will see the concrete results
OF these studies. They will knock your
eye OUT
There are four main groups of peas
ant costumes in Poland. The two most
striking are in and around Lowicz, and
on the southeastern border of Poland
among the Huculs. The other two are
to be found among the Gorals in the
zakopane district western Carpath-
ian Mountains) and in Upper Silesia.
Rainbow Wool.
In describing the LoWicz clothes
one must use almost every word in the
English language which has to do with
brilliancy and color. Lowicz skirts
are made from the famous rainbow
wool, showing wide stripes of orange
and canary yellow. alternating with
narrow stripes of blacks and browns.
violet and amaranth, rich chocolate
hues, deep purples green and rose But
yellow seems to prevail. yellow as
radiant as the California poppy. The
fashion comes straight from the native
soil, for the women weave just what
they see through their door; long
narrow fields which at a distance look
like vari-colored stripes on the land
scape.
These women wear close fitting
vests with horizontal stripes and their
white linen blouses have loose sleeves,
sometimes gaily embroidered
The Huculs run to bright colors. but
would be considered somber if COM
pared with those of Lowicz Red. black,
white, green blue, and purple charac-
terize them. A UNIQUE feature is that
the women wear aprons instead of
skirts-one apron fore and another
aft. The result is close-fitting gar
ment with plenty of looseness for rid
ing and mountain climbing (they live
in the Eastern CarpathianS). And this
Is being considered by stylists for
sports wear as variation on the
coulettes that have recently been the
rage.
Lamb Goats Sleeveless.
The sleeveless lambskin coats worn
by these women are also adapted for
Winter sports. They are usually made
with the fur side in and the outer
skin embroidered in gay colors. They
give plenty of free arm play and keep
the torso toasty warm. Hucul women
wear them all Winter in the icy
mountain blasts
In the Tatra Mountains. the elabor-
ately ornamented costumes, colored
embroidery and linen drawn work of
the Coral mountaineer women embody
many suggestions for needlework
technique and modern decorative mo-
tifs. The Goralkas costume consists
Of studded corselet. full bright skirt
usually covered with pattern Of
roses, vari-colored ribbons at her open
throat, full sleeves often embroidered
and a lovely bright shawl for her head.
In Upper Silesia the background of
peasant dress is mostly white. On
this, which may be either wool or
linen, are the most intricate and deli
cate embroidered figures, mostly Of
conventionalized flower form These
figures offer motifs for stylists for use