Post by Madalina Dobraca

The Universal Day of the Romanian Blouse, which is dedicated to the traditional blouse named ░i░e░ (pronounced ee-eh), is celebrated #OnThisDay (June 24) around the world.   Initiated and coordinated by the online community “La Blouse Roumaine”, the first Universal Day of the Romanian Blouse was marked on June 24, 2013, at the celebration of Sânziene aka Drăgaica (the festival of the midsummer fairies of Romania).   French painter Henri Matisse was one of the first to capture the beauty of the Romanian traditional blouse. Although Matisse painted and drew many sketches of the Romanian ░i░a░ (NB: the noun with definite article in Romanian), his 1940 painting “La Blouse Roumaine” is the best known (Matisse’s paintings were inspired by a collection of traditional blouses he received as a gift from the Romanian painter Theodor Pallady).   Part of the national heritage, ░i░a░ subsequently became an authentic country brand, with several Romanian and international fashion designers (Yves Saint-Laurent, Oscar de la Renta, Jean Paul Gaultier, Tom Ford, Isabel Marant, among others) successively including it in their collections.   In national history, the Romanian folk costume was also proudly worn by both Queen Elisabeth and Queen Marie of Romania.   📷 Henri Matisse, La Blouse Roumaine painting series 📷 Queen Elizabeth of Romania (pen name Carmen Sylva, 1843-1916) wearing the Romanian blouse 📷 Queen Marie of Romania (1875-1938) wearing the Romanian blouse 📷 Yves Saint Laurent collections inspired by the Romanian blouse (Credits: Ana-Maria Bogdan, The Romanian IA – The Fashion Icon Designers #GIVECREDIT, September 2020)   “A Romanian blouse does not belong to any period. All peasant clothes are passed down from century to century without going out of fashion.” Yves Saint Laurent.   #artbasedlearning #RomanianBlouse #lablouseroumaine #ie #ia #heritage #tradition #folklore #ethnicity #history #CarmenSylva #ReginaMaria #artsandcrafts #folkart #matisse #theodorpallady #fashion #fashiondesign #givecredit #peopleandculture