Celebrate the Romanian Blouse in Luxembourg!

The online community La Blouse Roumaine in Luxembourg is celebrating for the fourth time the Romanian Blouse, called IA.

The festivities will take place on Saturday 24 June from 18:00 when those attending will gather in Place Clairfontaine, wearing the traditional Romanian Blouse; there will be Romanian singing and Romanian dancing too.

They will be joined by the Romanian folkloric dancers from the “Carpatii” group directed by Horatiu Dragan and will go to a beer garden where they will socialise and tell the story if IA. If you are curious about Romanian traditions and folklore, come along and join in.

The Romanian Peasant Blouse is a representative piece of their folklore. Rooted in an idyllic past, Romanian women carried on the tradition of sewing peasant blouses. With manual embroidery, just one blouse could take up to 3 weeks to be completed.

IA preserves tradition through its ornaments which highlight the differences in age, social status and life events. The structure of the Romanian blouse has remained unchanged over the centuries. In 1940, the famous French painter, Henri Matisse, created an important series of paintings which portrayed women in Romanian blouses. Despite the decreasing number of Romanian women who create these authentic pieces of art, the beauty and handmade embroidery of peasant blouses inspired several designers, like Karl Lagerfeld, Tom Ford and John Galliano.

In 2013, over 24,000 people, in 50 countries, across six continents, chose to voluntarily participate in the day of the Romanian blouse. In many cities around the world, Romanian woman wore IA and then posted their pictures on facebook. The day of the Romanian blouse was created and it is celebrated every year on 24 June.