The Wendish Research Exchange - Pawlikowa, Andrea: The Traditional Costume of the Catholic Sorbs

Lětopis Abstract 2008 1: Pawlikowa, Andrea: The Traditional Costume of the Catholic Sorbs

The traditional costume of the Catholic Sorbs in Lusatia is one of the last still worn today in Europe. This piece evaluates the empirical studies, which were carried out in preparation for the exhibition “Traditional Costume as an Act of Faith. The Traditional Costume of the Catholic Sorbs” (24. 9. 2006–18. 2. 2007) in the Sorbian Museum in Bautzen. It should be seen as supplementing the results of costume research from the 1950s and the 1980s and concentrates on the knowledge of the few women, already advanced in years, who have always worn their costume in their everyday life. Many different examples show how the costumes of everyday life and those worn on feast days were adapted, despite strict norms, to fit in with modern fashion influences; this has ensured their survival to the present day. The search for a symbiosis between handed-down traditions and modifications, which are up-to-date from an aesthetic and practical point of view, will determine the future of traditional costume.