Saturday, July 17, 2021

A Closer View of Breton Costumes; part 7; Roazhon or Rennes

 


Hello all, 
Today I will cover the costume of Rennes.

Bro-Roazhon in Breton

Rennes, or Pays Rennais in French



As you can see, this costume is not only found in all of Rennes province, but was also worn in a large portion of inland St. Malo province, and in border areas of the other adjoining provinces, as well as in some detached localities in Normandy. The image at the head of the article is of this costume. Here are a couple other images. 

There are three coifs associated with this region, called the catiole, the poupette, and the polka. The images above are all of the older version of the catiole, which is what performing groups usually wear today. Here are some old images of the costume.

These first two images are from Antrain.

The catiole, which resembles the original coif of much of Brittany, [and France as well], consists of two parts; the coif itself, and a cap or bonnet which is worn underneath, the serre-tête. 

Here is a sequence of photographs which show how the catiole is put on. 

The catiole later became made of lace, and for a while grew and became more extravagant, 'a grande cul'.




Then in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, it gradually shrank to miniscule proportions, in the later stages losing the under cap.  


A few images showing this progression [regression?]. In the next couple images, two versions are shown, an older country version and a slightly younger city version. 







Again, this dance group is presenting costumes and coifs from two different stages, as well as being country and city costumes. 




The hair was still dressed the same way, and the catiole was mounted on top, and the wings pinned in front. 




In the southeast part of this region, around La Guerche, Janzé,  Vitré, Retiers, etc. The catiole was replaced by the poupette. 

This is essentially the same coif, but the lappets are shorter and wider, and are not pinned to the top, but rather starched so that they stand out like wings. 



The third coif is the so called polka. This is an urban style bonnet that resembles those of Brest or Goelo, but is simpler, being simply a circle of lace or tulle with ties and a bow on the rear. This is found in all the urban centers of this region. 


The men dressed in a suit with cutaway jacket for dress, and a blue embroidered smock for more everyday occasions, showing influence from France and Normandy. 



Just a few more images from this region. 








This concludes this article of the series. 

Thank you for reading, I hope that you have found this to be interesting and informative. 


Roman K. 


email: rkozakand@aol.com


Source Material:

Victor Lhuer, 'Les Costumes Bretons', 2001
Pierre Jakez Helias, 'Coiffes et Costumes de Bretagne', Chateaulin, 1983
Josepj Jigourel & Yanna Fournier, 'Costumes de Bretagne', Brest, 2000
Bruno Helias, 'Breton Costumes', Florence, 1997
Yann Guesdon, 'Costumes de Bretagne', Quimper, 2011
Yann Guesdon, 'Coiffes de Bretagne', Spezet, 2014
R. Y. Creston, 'Le Costume Breton', Paris, 1974
Charles Freger, 'Portraits in Lace - Breton Women', London, 2015
Jean-Pierre Gonidec, 'Coiffes et Costumes des Bretons', Spezet,  2021
Pierre Rochereau, ' Coiffes et Costumes des Bords de Rance', Dinan, 1989
Simone Morand, 'Coiffes et Costumes de l'Ancien Comte de Rennes', Quimper, 1979








1 comment:

  1. Dear Roman: Thank you for another glimpse of living history! I think the embroidered tulle on these headdresses is the loveliest I have seen - one could spend a lifetime just learning to do these patterns! And the smocks! Thank you for finding those two pictures - I'm going to get some blue fabric as soon as I finish here! The material looks glazed - do you know if they used potatoe water starch as they do in Hungary?
    Stay safe and well and please keep up the amazing work. Charlotte in California

    ReplyDelete