Romanian IA

La Blouse Roumaine and Henri Matisse

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La Blouse Roumaine

Henri Matisse and his La Blouse Roumaine painting are the subject of this new article dedicated to the beauty of the Romanian traditional blouse. When I wrote the first article about IA, little did I know what feedback I would get. So, here I am again with what I hope to be a nice story about colors, symbols and friendship. And you’ll se why I mentioned the latter one!

La Blouse Roumaine … the best known Romanian IA

First of all, few know that French painter Henri Matisse was one of the first to capture the beauty of the Romanian traditional blouse simply called IE. Although he painted and draw many sketches of the Romanian IA, his painting called La Blouse Roumaine is the best known one. It’s an oil-on-canvas painting dated 1940. It measures 92 × 73 cm and is held at the Musée National d’Art Moderne in Paris.

Henri Matisse paintings
Henri Matisse paintings – 1. La Blouse Roumaine (1940) 2. Peasant blouse (1936) 3. La Hongroise a la blouse verte

It took Matisse few years to show the world his Romanian paintings. There were hundreds trials and sketches before there was a Romanian blouses collection. There are plenty of Romanian symbols used in the traditional IA embroidery.

“Each work of art is a collection of signs invented during the picture’s execution to suit the needs of their position. Taken out of the composition for which they were created, these signs have no further use.” (Henri Matisse)

Henri Matisse - drawings
Few sketches of Romanian IAs by Henri Matisse. The second (middle) sketch called “Femme à la blouse roumaine” (1943) was drawn in Vence was sold by Christie’s in 2011 to a private collector for $191,951.

Henri Matisse, Theodor Pallady and the Romanian IA

Furthermore, even fewer know that Matisse’s Romanian paintings were inspired by a collection of traditional blouses he received as a gift from Theodor Pallady. Pallady was and still is one of most famous Romanian painters of all times. Matisse had been friend with Pallady for many years when he got this gift. They met around 1892, in Paris, in Gustave Moreau’s studio were they were working along with Georges Rouault and Albert Marquet.

Henri Matisse
Henri Matisse – 1. Woman Seated in an Armchair, (1940); 2. Still Life With Sleeper (1940)

Matisse’s interest in oriental themes first emerged in the 1920s when he began to express an interest in the interplay of ornamental patterns. This fascination with decorative designs is seen in these works and it will remain with Matisse till the end of his life.

Henri Matisse
Henri Matisse – 1. La Blouse payssane 2. The Dream (1940)

Noteworthy is that in 2012 New York Metropolitan Museum of Art opened “Matisse: In Search of True Painting.” Vogue magazine called it “the eye-opening new exhibition”.  The star painting of the exhibition was Matisse’s voluptuous called “The Dream” (1940), another portrait of a woman sleeping and wearing a Romanian traditional blouse.

Falling in love with colors …

As one would expect from such a great artist as Matisse, his style evolved throughout time, yet he kept the traditional costume as a source of inspiration and ideas. I’m no art expert, but my feeling is that the generous color palette of the Romanian IAs had something to do with this. Matisse’s own personal beliefs about the use of color are most noteworthy:

“Seek the strongest color effect possible… the content is of no importance.

“The use of expressive colors is felt to be one of the basic elements of the modern mentality, an historical necessity, beyond choice.”

Henri Matisse
Henri Matisse – 1. La Gerbe (1953) 2. Stained glass, Chapel of the Rosary (Vence)

“A certain blue enters your soul. A certain red has an effect on your blood-pressure.”

“Color helps to express light, not the physical phenomenon, but the only light that really exists, that in the artist’s brain.”

“Drawing is of the spirit; color is of the senses.”

In conclusion …

Matisse and Pallady’s friendship lasted a lifetime. What neither one of them imagined is that their admiration for our national blouse years later will make the Romanian IA a fashion icon. But, that’s another story worth knowing! And if you want to know more about the Romanian IAs, you can check these two articles: Falling in Love with My Romanian IA and Wearing the Romanian IA on Wedding Day.

Finally, you can also check out on Facebook La Blouse Roumaine or follow on Twitter the stories published by La Blouse Roumaine, the first online community supporting IA, the symbol of the Romanian cultural identity.

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Vintage Romanian IA Exhibition at ParkLake  

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Vintage Romanian IA

As you well know, I‘ve written before about the beautiful Romanian traditional blouse called IA … This time it’s the story behind the scene of creating The Amazing Vintage Romanian IA Exhibition at ParkLake. Celebrating The International Day of IA on June 24-25 2017, ParkLake Mall marketing team brought together Iulia Gorneanu and MSPS agency to prepare a very special full-weekend event.

Being at the same time longest day of the year celebrated across the globe, June 24 is also known as Midsummer, Summer Solstice or Litha (the fire festival in neopagan cultures), Adonia, St. John’s Feast Day, Jāņi, Liða / Litha, Midsommar, Ivan Kupala Day, Juhannus, Mittumaari, Alban Hefin, etc.

It’s a day when the sky opens up and let’s the charming, yet mean Sânziene (also known as Baccante, Nimphys, Fees, Naiads or Dryads) to dance till they burn the ground where they gather/ It’s the day when the two worlds, The Sky and The Earth, communicate at energetic and vibrational levels just the same way two people who truly love each other do. It’s the moment when plants get miraculous healing powers and women wear Sanziene flower wreaths on their heads.

Unique vintage Romanian IA

I shall not keep you too long reading as I would rather have you gaze at the pictures I’ve taken at ParkLake while Iulia Gorneanu and her great friends, MSPS team and myself were working on making happen a very special IA dedicated event ParkLake. It all started around 10PM and lasted until around 4AM in the morning, when we finally said “yes, this is it!”.

We assembled a customized 3 meter high aluminum construction and secured it, so it can hold over 35 Romanian traditional IAs dating back to the beginning of the XXth century. And it only took 8 people to do this, great dedication and much attention to detail. Iulia is a perfectionist, so make no mistakes, assembling the metallic display support was far easier than choosing and arranging the IAs. With a collection of more that 50 vintage Romanian IAs to choose from, we had to be extremely picky, so we can show the different types of symbols, patterns and IA models covering all Romanian ethnographic regions.

Vintage Romania IA

Vintage Romania IA

Vintage Romania IA

These wonderful handmade embroidered IAs are part of Iulia Gorneanu’s personal collection. Putting together piece by piece such a vintage Romanian IA collection is quite extraordinary! Each one of these IAs has a story behind and I’ve listened many of them. It’s just captivating! With a soft voice, big blue eyes and very gentle touch, you can actually feel the love Iulia has for the Romanian traditional blouse. These wonderful IAs have been collected with great diligence, fitted and cared for with great love that such creations born around 1900-1940 deserve. And Iulia’s mom put huge efforts in helping her keep the IAs’ beauty.

Sacred geometry

Many of these IAs are extremely difficult to see and those familiar with the sacred geometry or with the traditional costumes from other parts of the world will not be surprised to discover that the signs and symbols are sometimes identical.

Sacred Geometry and traditional costumes

Sacred Geometry and traditional costumes

Reinterpreting the traditional …

For years Iulia Gorneanu is known for being an IA curator, creative director and fashion stylist showing and teaching women how to reinterpret in a modern registry the different elements of the Romanian traditional costume. She’s also known for her long-term collaboration with some well-known Romanian designers. Fortunately, this weekend (June 24-25), if you visit ParkLake mall in Bucharest, you’ll see exactly what I’m talking about… in the meantime, just for you, my dear readers, a small incentive to get you out of the house! Credits and applauses got to photographers Ciprian Strugariu and Cristian Floriganta, Art Director Alin Galatescu and proud IA collector Iulia Gorneanu.

Romanian IA

Vintage Romanian IA @ ParkLake

and celebrate the International Day of IA

I do hope this story will convince you to visit ParkLake Mall in Bucharest with your friends and family and enjoy all the things that a large team of dedicated people put together for you, so you can properly celebrate International Day of IA with your family… and if your are not convinced yet, allow me to summarize below why you should spend few hours at ParkLake this weekend:

  • Iulia Gorneanu’s vintage Romanian IA collection
  • Photo Exhibition – see how you can reinterpreting the traditional clothing in a modern context; don’t miss the chance the see some first-time ever shown pictures of old folk costume elements combined with modern clothing pieces; credits go to….
  • Free make-up and hair braids (2-8PM) – take your IA, go to ParkLake main area and Kendra beauty magicians will give you a millions bucks look;
  • Photo-booth (2-8PM) – great moments must be preserved, so once you’re done with the makeup, go and get your free picture and take it home with you;
  • deDor boutique corner – shop really authentic IAs, vintage Romanian clothing and
  • Creative workshops for kids (4-8PM, Saturday and Sunday) – where they will learn how to make their own toys and create various accessories and objects with Romanian elements;
  • Romanian traditional music – (6-8PM, Saturday and Sunday) – listen and dance the Romanian way with Silviu Biris and Diana Matei, two great singers and entertainers.

All above events will take place at ParkLake, Main Square area. The exhibitions are open to the public starting 10AM till closing time (11PM). Join us in celebrating The International Day of IA!

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Wearing Romanian IA on the Wedding Day

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Wedding Day

I was born and raised in Bucharest, yet the stories my dad told me about his family, their life histories and the traditions they treasured kept calling me… so, from the moment I took my driving license, the almost 400 km road from Bucharest to Neamt County seemed very short. It is during one of this trips that I’ve discovered what it meant for my ancestors to wear our Romanian IA on their wedding day …

Every trip I take to one of these places, either Valea Seaca, Varatec, Agapia, Bistrita, Bicaz and so on, bring to light another story of family members, people I never met, yet their personal histories are somehow part of me… I guess there’s a connection that never gets lost no matter how many years go bye… they live through thousands of invisible wires that make us who we are.

Family wedding

This time, the story I’ve learned is about the Romanian traditional folk costumes from Bistrita and Bicaz (Neamt County) that my relatives used to wear not only on Sundays when going to church, but also on the day of their wedding.

wedding day
Aneta and Niculae Gavril Dragusanu (Secu village) – on their wedding day (late 1920’s) wearing their Romanian national folk costumes

From my grandparents with love …

St. Mary’s day brought me back to my father’s home… there my grandparents raised 7 children and tens of grandchildren and grand-grandchildren.  I never thought I would still find some things that brought tears to my eyes. Not only that I’ve found and read my grandfather’s will, but, kept in an drawer of an old dark sideboard, I’ve come across some pictures that touched my soul. These pictures below I want to share with you in this unexpected update of this post (10.45pm)

wedding day
1. Maria and Ilie Bodaproste (Valea Seaca village) – my grandparents on their wedding day (May 18, 1929) wearing their hand-made folk costumes (Valea Seaca village, Neamt region); 2. My dearest grandmother, Maria Bodaproste. The picture was taken in late 1920’s in L.Hersovici photo studio (Tg.Neamt); 3. My aunt, Victoria Bodaproste & Victor Bendrea on their wedding day (1949).
Wearing Romanian IA on the wedding day
1. My uncle, Ioan Bodaproste (Badia Jenica) with one of his sweethearts (late ’40). 2-3. Relatives in Piatra-Neamt area wearing the Romanian national folk costumes.

Hopefully, these pictures will inspire you to go back to your roots…

The traditional folk costume

The traditional folk costume of Romanian women living in Neamt region has several clothing pieces:

  • IA – the traditional blouse (aka IA) made of home;
  • Poale – the white long skirt wore by women is embroided at the bottom with the same elements sewed on the IA;
  • Catrință – similar to a skirt, it covers the poale; gold and silver threads are used if catrință is used only for special occasion (like a wedding, Christian holiday etc);
  • Bârneață – it’s a girdle or waistband tied above the catrință;
  • Bundiță – it’s a vest with rich hand-made embroidery; both women and men wear it;
  • Casâncă – it’s a black handkerchief or wrap women wear after they get married; in some villages, women wear a wrap with either floral elements or silk fringes called bariz.

IA’s rich embroidery & natural colors

The embroidery has floral, geometrical, zoomorphic and even anthropomorphic elements, which are generally sewed in two or three colors, depending on the geographic area where are made. The most used elements one can identify are flowers, buds, grapes, grape leaves, oak leaves, acorn, snail, flies, ram horns etc. After the II World War, sparkles and beads were added in the embroidery, especially of the folk costumes people were on special occasions.

In terms of color, the embroidery was done in one color; black, red, burgundy and blue; for floral elements, other colors were added (yellow, orange, green, violet etc.). The threads were painted with colors obtained from various plants and flowers such as alder bark, walnut leaves, green walnut bark, onion peel, Crocus Vernus (both purple and orange), Perforate St John’s-Wort (Hypericum Perforatum), Origanum Vulgare.

Opinci is the Romanian name of the footwear both women and men were wearing more than 50 years ago. They were made out of pork are cow skin. Today people were opinici only on special occasions.  As you can see in the pictures, quite often people would choose to wear leather shoes.

The only thing I would like to add… I’m grateful and lucky at the same time for having such wonderful people in my life who shared with me these stories.

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Falling in Love with My Romanian IA

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To me the beautiful Romanian IA or La Blouse Roumaine, as some of you may know it, it’s not just a fashion icon. For me, IA is a part of me! It’s a way of being connected with the DNA of the Romanian people. Wearing it is one way of preserving the heritage left by those who came before me. IA mirrors all our life experiences — the history, the traditions and most profound beliefs, our entire history. My Romanian IA is who I am!

My friends know how much I love my Romanian IA. I’ve been wearing them for years, whether at a business meeting, social event, wedding or when going out with my friends.

I’m not sure exactly when I fell in love with my Romanian IA or why. It might have happened the first time I laid my years of the old picture of my grandparents wearing their Romanian traditional costumes on their wedding day. As well it might have happened during high-school years when I was reading Queen Marie of Romania’s memories. It’s not even important, I think.

The Romanian IA

This traditional blouse represents the main element of the Romanian folk costume. Worn by women, originally the IA was made from a homespun material either white linen or cotton. Later on, the blouse was manufactured from different materials such as silk or “borangic”. The intricate details of the embroidery bear the weight of numerous popular Romanian motifs, patterns and mystic symbols. Nothing is at chance, at least not when it comes to truly authentic or vintage IAs. They are directly linked with the traditions and specificity of the region the IAs were made. Therefore, the cut, the embroidery and even the colours on the IAs differ from one region of the country to another. Truth to be told, there are embroidery elements shared across different regions of the country. And from a cultural identity perspective, I would say, these common elements brings it all together. They unite us in one country.

One might say the IA comprises the life and history of the people living in that region. Put together IAs tell the story of the Romanian people.

Marie of Romania & a blouse fit for a Queen

Marie of Edinburgh (1885-1938) or Missy, as her dear ones used to call her, was the fifteenth granddaughter of Queen’s Victoria, wife of kind Ferdinand of Romania, sister of Alexandra of Russian and one of the greatest ambassadors my country ever had.

I came to this country at very young age, yet I became one of you. Queen Marie of Romania

Queen Maria of Romania
Queen Marie, the 22th granddaughter of Queen Victoria, became at an early age a great Ambassador of Romania.

Queen Marie brought the world’s attention on the beautiful Romanian folk costumes not just by writing about it, but also wearing them and inspiring the same love she had for it to her children. Here are just some of the pictures she had taken of herself and her children wearing these awesome Romanian traditional costumes:

1. Queen Marie and King Ferdinand (left). 2. Queen Marie with her grandson, young King Michael of Romania (right).  3. Queen Marie (middle) with her daughters – Irene of Greece (Duchess of Aosta), Princess Ileana (Archduchess of Austria), Princess Marioara (Queen of Yugoslavia) and Princess Elena (Queen Elena of Romania).

Queen Mary – English by birth, Romanian by heart

Twenty-three years have I now spent in this country, each day bringing its joy or its sorrow, its light or its shade; with each year my interests widened, my understanding deepened; I knew where I was needed to help. (…) I want only to speak of its soul, of its atmosphere, of its peasants and soldiers, of things that made me love this country, that made my heart beat with its heart. I have moved amongst the most humble. I have entered their cottages, asked them questions, taken their new-born in my arms. Queen Mary of Romania

These are some of the opening lines from Queen Mary’s book called “My Country”.  Her thoughts reveal a woman who got to know now her Romanians in a way like no other. That’s who she was … the most loved queen by the Romanian army. It was a love that grew step by step not on the grounds of the official relationship between a sovereign and militaries, but on courageous deeds of war. One could not help admire her taking care of the wounded soldiers, cholera and typhoid sick people. She did not care about the danger she exposed herself and risked her life without hesitation.

Communist regime’s historians did their best to diminish her role and influence in shaping Romania’s future, and maybe for a while they succeeded, yet their victory did not last long. Probably one of the reasons had to do with our grandparents who opposed the regime the way they knew best… by keeping alive the memory of the heroes and history as it happened, although they had to whisper it to their children. Here’s a short British Pathe interview from 1934 with Romania’s most loved queen. As you’ll see, the Romanian IA is always there!

Queen Marie once wrote, “I came to this country at very young age, yet I became one of you”. And she really did that despite all shortcomings and distrust she experienced because of it. She lived and breathed Romanian. Nowadays, her heirs are trying to give her back the place she deserves among the great Romanians.

Henri Matisse’s IA

The French painter Henri Matisse is known as one of the first to capture the beauty of the Romanian ie. Simply called La Blouse Roumaine is an oil-on-canvas painting dated 1940. It measures 92 × 73 cm and is held at the Musée National d’Art Moderne in Paris.

It took Matisse few years to show the world his Romanian paintings. There were hundreds trials and sketches before there was a Romanian blouses collection.

Henri Matisse IAs
1-3. Sketches done by Matisse.  The second sketch (middle) called “Femme à la blouse roumaine” (1943) was drawn in Vence was sold by Christie’s in 2011 to a private collector for $191,951.

Few know that Matisse’s Romanian paintings were inspired by a collection of traditional blouses he received as a gift from Theodor Pallady, one of most famous painters, whom he had been friends with for many years.  Matisse and Pallady met around 1892, in Paris, in Gustave Moreau’s studio were they were working along with Georges Rouault and Albert Marquet.

The Romanian IA as seen by Henri Matisse

Matisse’s interest in oriental themes first emerged in the 1920s when he began to express an interest in the interplay of ornamental patterns. This fascination with decorative designs is seen in these works and it will remain with Matisse till the end of his life.

Matisse and Pallady’s friendship lasted a lifetime. What neither one of them imagined is that their admiration for our national blouse will turn years later Romanian IA into a fashion icon… and that’s my next story all about … And it’s called La Blouse Roumaine and Henri Matisse.

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