Embroidered, richly decorated blouses, brilliant head ornaments, wide skirts, glittering boots - when we talk about folk culture, our thoughts almost immediately turn to folk costumes, as the sight of these dazzles viewers. In recent years, more and more attention has been paid to the values of our region, but it was not easy to identify Rye Island costumes, yet the periodical Új Nő managed to find it, not elsewhere, but on the Csilizköz Market which declares to revive traditions and boost community life!
According to the Hungarian Ethnographic Lexicon, the population of villages and market towns was not characterized by traditional costumes. Rye Island belonged among these as well, its population was typically wearing commoner, urban attire. “The skirt is of different widths, normally long, sometimes reaching to the ground. It is made of the same material as the blouse. If an apron is worn in front of it, its material is the same as that of a skirt or a black lüszter or klott apron.” the lexicon shares.
Having done excessive research, seamstress Barbara Méri managed to find and prepare the Rye Island folk costume - first as a performance dress for her folk dancer girls, then for the Rye Island Folk Dance Ensemble and the Dunaág Folk Dance Workshop.
What could the Rye Island wear look like?
After a long search, Barbara sketched the outfit, which follows the original clothes in both its material and pattern. The tiny floral printed cotton material (chintz) forms the basis of the women's wear - the blouse, the skirt reaching below the knee and the accompanying apron are also made of the same material. Laces and braids also appear on the costume: they ornate the round collar of the blouse, the row of buttons, and the ruffles of the skirt. Under the skirt, a multi-layered petticoat accentuates the wearer’s waist. They adjust the waistline with a bow, so the skirts adapt to the different life cycles of the changing female body. They wore the dress with oxford-shoes, and sometimes made it more festive with a multi-row red pearl necklace. On weekdays, a simpler apron was tied in front of the skirt. The upper clothes were rarely washed, rather only the underwear, the petticoat, and shirt.
The ethnographic lexicon also talks about the clothes of men in Rye Island - here too, the effect of urbanization can be traced. While in the 19th century it was recognizable by the attire what kind of craft the wearer was engaged in, the change also made the attire more civic. But, for example, the colour of the millers’ gray baize attire in Rye Island would still be reminiscent of their craft.
