Around the polar circle

Around the polar circle

Winter in Lapland 1827

What meanings do clothes have?
Ildikó Lehtinen
PhD, curator, Museum of Cultures

”A second influential distinction is between the everyday and the aesthetic. This distinction is addressed in Alice Walker’s well-known story “Everyday use”, which turns on the differing attitudes of two daughters for some old family quilts. For one daughter they are simply useful objects in her daily life, while for her college-educated sister they have become examples of authentic folk art, to be hung on the wall and admired.” (Rita Felski. Doing Time. Feminist Theory and Postmodern Culture. New York & London 2000.)

Clothing is a basic need for people, if only to be protected by the climate. However, clothing is also much more. It is a visible sign, like a passport, from which traits such as nationality, age, marital status, social status and religion may be represented. According to Roland Barthes, the way people dress is actually a costume game. People dress according to certain norms, in which case the costume is a sign of the sort of a person an individual sees themselves as and how they wish to look to others. Clothes are an answer to the endless question that preoccupies people: “Who am I?”. It is a means of communication and it emphasizes the picture meant for others, not the inner me.

National costumes appeal because they are so decorative. They are handmade masterpieces, yet meant to withstand everyday use. Fashion has always taken advantage of costumes from distant countries for inspiration. We have become accustomed to regard clothes used “elsewhere” and by “others”, as opposites to our clothes.

What does “elsewhere” mean? In our time of globalization, Moroccan bazaars or Indian textiles practically belong to our everyday lives. I have had the opportunity to observe the way Finno-Ugrian people “elsewhere” dress. I have been able to ask, what clothes mean and why clothes are excessively decorated? I ask this question, because even today Mari women in Central Russia stitch their dresses and aprons with embroidery as an indication of handmade work, as this has always been the measure of a woman’s work. The embroidery is decorative, however at the same time they are symbols of protection. Embroidery stitched onto the chest of a woman would protect her as a mother and a pattern sewn onto the shirttail of a man was believed to protect his sexual organ and consequently his manhood. Patterns which have been weaved or embroidered in the shape of a triangle are universally known as a means of keeping away the bad eye.

Museums are overflowing with amazing clothes that reveal the instinct to decorate and the creativity of people. In the end, what is a national costume? It is a folksy costume, which reverts to the traditional model that has been shaped through times. Are there any national costumes in use today? Are jeans and T-shirts national costumes? or Marimekko shirts? In natural economy costumes were made be oneself, they were a part of one’s “ego”. Thoughts, reflections and memories were connected with handmade clothes. Contexts did not have a big difference. The same cut, the same embroidery patterns and the same jewelry reoccurred on weekdays and holidays. New features, materials and cuts have always been adopted for national costumes. However, at its best, the national costume reflected identity and as festive use it was a symbol of national identity.

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