Folk Costume of the Székely, Hungarian people of Transylvania, Romania

 

Hello all, 

Today I will be talking about the Székely, one of the Hungarian peoples of Romania. 

There are over a million Hungarians currently living in Romania, and the Székely are the largest group, making up about half of the total. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sz%C3%A9kelys

The Székely do not have their own politically recognized state or province, but they do have a flag. 

These people have been in this area for quite a long time, forming the eastern guard of the old Hungarian Kingdom in southeast Transylvania. They had their own autonomous region in the mid 20th cent., but under Ceaușescu, the  Székely lands were split between the counties of Harghita, Covasna and Mureș. Within their region, they make up an absolute majority of the population. 

The folk costume of this group is relatively simple, There being no great extent of embroidery. 

Traditionally the Székely raised and wove their own linen and wool. 

The shirt is similar in cut for both men and women. The mens shirts had a square fold over collar and cuffs on the sleeves with no lace, where women had a square or round collar, often with lace, and sleeves that were gathered at the wrist. 

Originally, the womens shirt was cut long, but now it is more usual to make the underskirt a separate garment. 

The women have a separate skirt and bodice, usually in red with black trim. The homewoven wool was heavy, and so the skirts were traditionally gathered into the waistband, and then a second field was gathered into the first. Skirts were originally ankle length, but today are shorter.

The exact pattern of the woven stripes and the trim on both the bodice and skirt varied by region, and in some regions by denomination, so that others in the community could immediately identify your home village, and if you were Catholic, or Unitarian, or Protestant. I have not found any guide to such details, however. Here is a video of a Catholic service in Szekelyland, and you can see that the women are dressed alike. 

https://indirekt.ro/centenariumi-unnepseg-zetelakan

Some outfits include stripes of other colors, or even plaids.

Traditionally older married women would wear vests and skirts in blue, but this is rarely seen these days. 

Often today women will buy plain red cloth to make these garments, and just use black trim. 

The bodices have a round neckline, often linen with prairie points, are cut straight around the waist, usually with black ribbon at the waist, and ornamenting the bodice with many different designs. 

You will occasionally see black vests with a scalloped waist. 

Traditionally, younger women and girls wore a white linen apron. Usually plain, but today often decorated with lace and/or embroidery. The embroidery is rather generic Hungarian style. 

Traditionally, married women wore woven wool aprons, but again, these are rarely seen today. 

An elaborate lace cap was particular to these people, but unfortunately has fallen out of use. 

Jackets were worn when necessary, as you can see above. 

Men's clothing consisted of shirts with a similar cut to the women's, but with no lace, and with sewn on cuffs. Pants are of white wool, close fitting, with a front flap and some minor black cord embellishment on the front. The outfit is finished with a vest, a felt hat, and boots. The ornament on the pants does vary with locality, but is never very elaborate. 

Just a few more images from this region. 

Here is a video of a dance performance from Székelyföld. This looks like a professional ensembe. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_-ODwKJI6qc&list=RD_-ODwKJI6qc&start_radio=1

A short video about the  Székely, in Hungarian, featuring local dancers. People from other parts of Transylvania also make appearances. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Go1OCQSN2I

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

Roman K. 

email: rkozakand@aol.com