FolkCostume&Embroidery: Costumes of Vorarlberg, Austria, part 3 Montafon

Hello all,

Today I will continue my series on the Costumes of Vorarlberg with the tracht of Montafon.

Montafon is located in the southwestern corner of Vorarlberg, bordering Tirol and Graubunden. Montafon was originally settled by Romansh speakers from Walgau and Graubunden. The Romansh language was replaced by Allemanish in the 15th cent. The name of the valley itself is Romansh, as are many place names within it.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Montafon

Montafon

Region 7 on our map

Montafon has both an old and a new tracht, as well as a summer dirndl. The tracht does not vary substantially within this region, there being only minor variations in some of the side valleys.

The Women's formal outfit.

The skirt and bodice of the juppe are black, the skirt is full and ankle length. The bodice reaches the waist, and has a round opening in front bordered by moire ribbon. The shoulders are not sewn, but fastened with a ribbon. An underbodice of light colored silk is also worn which covers the front opening. Over the underbodice a triangular, relatively narrow plastron is worn. The overbodice laces shut over all of this, forming a distinctive pattern, the underbodice being visible on the sides.

For the festive costume, a blouse would not be worn, but presumably a sleeveless chemise and two or more underskirts. In place of the blouse, a jacket would be worn over the bodice, closing at the neck and cut away at the waist to show off the embroidered plastron and bodice while covering the arms.

There are two types of jacket. This one shown above is called Glöggletschopa, and has embroidered cuffs that match the apron bands. This is worn with either the fur hat or Mäßli. It also has a small, red lined ruffle in the rear.

The second type of jacket is called Schlutta, and has black ornamentation, lace or ribbon, sewn near the end of the sleeve. This is worn with the Sanderhut.

A small black kerchief would be tied around the neck, or may be replaced with jewelry.

The apron is extremely wide and full. It is worn around the waist, and hooks where it meets in the back, completely covering the skirt. The apron bands wrap around to the front, are tied in a bow, and the embroidered ends are let fall to reach the hem. The color of the apron always harmonizes with the embroidery. The cuffs of the jacket may be embroidered. This ensemble is worn with lace gloves.

Four different hats are known. Two of them we have seen before, shown below on the right, the maiden's crown Schäppel, and the fur cap, Pelzkappa.

The flat cap of straw or felt is here called Sanderhut. It is ornamented with a large bow, gold filigree on the bow, and gold embroidery on the underside of the brim. This hat likely migrated to Kleinwalsertal from Montafon.

The last hat is called Mäßli. It is made from the wool of a local breed of sheep, the Montafon Steinschaf. It is made in the form of a cylinder with no brim but a wide circular crown. This hat is not found outside of Montafon.

The bridal outfit combines the woman's dress outfit with the maiden's crown. It also includes two embroidered bands similar to the apron ties that attach to the braids. This is also part of the maiden's dress outfit. This ensemble is only worn by the bride.

For the maiden's dress costume, the jacket is replaced by a blouse, long sleeved with lace at the cuff, worn under the bodice, and a collarette, similar to that found in Grosse Walser Tal, and various places in Switzerland.

For formal occasions the braid bands are included. The rest of the outfit is the same as for the women. For some ceremonial occasions, the apron may be white.

This is a bride and her attendants.

As a modern development, this outfit may be worn by married women in warm weather, or for performances. The blouse then has elbow length sleeves, with lace on the cuff, and neither the maiden's crown nor any other hat is worn.

The traditional everyday work outfit has also been preserved. This is a simple, practical outfit usually made of cotton, with short skirts. It includes a jacket which may be worn at need.

Montafon also has some new trachten. The first of these to be developed was the Tanzjüpple. This was developed at the end of the 19th cent. The idea was to have an outfit that was practical for dancing which still retained the distinctive bodice of the Montafon formal tracht. The bodice is made from patterned silk in colors other than black and the skirt is short with a contrasting band at the hem which harmonizes with the bodice. A blouse is worn, but the collarette is not, and the apron is replaced by one of printed cotton, which does not completely encircle the waist.

Sometimes today the skirt is made long again.

The new wool brocade tracht.

This is another new tracht, attractive in its own right, but which loses the distinctive features of the traditional Montafon festive attire. The bodice is made of wool brocade, in a dark color and edged with black ribbon. The jacket resembles that of the traditional everyday outfit, and the apron is made of resist dyed indigo cotton.