Suitu kultūrtelpa
Like in many other places, the headdresses worn by maidens were different from the ones worn by married women. Nevertheless, in daily activities the both groups wore the same type of headdresses – small head scarfs that functioned for holding their hair in place. Sprangu vainags The main head ornament for young girls in Alsunga […]
The wealthiest Suiti men wore black leather boots or, if they did not have such, shoes and pastalas. The trouser cuffs were tucked into patterned socks, which were as bright and beautifully decorated as the female ones. When dressing up, women wore shoes, pastalas or half-boots. To prevent the heels from wearing out quickly, they […]
The traditional Suiti male attire has been conserved as archaic as the female one. It was totally traditional until 1880. Although the male costume bears resemblance to the counterpart of the Kuldīga area, it is more extraordinary, archaic and conservative than the other Latvian male attires. The Suiti male costume contains a coat, bruslaks jacket, […]
The Suiti heritage contains a vast variety of self-made and manufactory-made woven villaines, yet they do not show sophistication around their denominations. Bigger villaine for cold weather, let it be grey or brownish, is called simply lielā drān’ (meaning the big clothing). There are mainly villaines and shoulder shawls called in peculiar names. For example, […]
Up to nowadays, knitted ornamented gloves and socks are useful in everyday life and also form an integral part of weddings, funerals and other celebrations. “During wedding celebrations, the newlyweds shall give “gifts”, i.e., presents in a ceremonial manner. The same goes for burying a deceased person, meaning that in the ceremony of burial the […]
Both males and females wear knitted or crocheted cuffs dūrgali or mauči over their shirt sleeves. The patterns are formed by colourful worsteds or smeldzes (beads) knitted in. The custom of knitting dūrgali in the Suiti community was resuscitated by Dace Nasteviča. It all started just like a fairy-tale – a very long time ago, […]
The most popular wardrobe articles include mittens and gloves, used widely even today. Just like socks, the Suiti mittens are bright and lavishly decorated. The tradition of mitten knitting and wearing is carried on in the Suiti community even today. When knitting new mittens for everyday use, the old patterns and colour combinations are frequently […]
The Suiti people still show off their brooches passed down by their ancestors, and they are called in different names just like other garments. There are dižās saktas (great brooches): trīsrindenes, divdinrendes and vienrindenes (three-lined, two-lined and one-lined brooches respectively). Unlike the neighbouring areas, the Suiti brooches are decorated with red eyes. The Suiti uniqueness, […]
Types of Alsunga patterned belts Belt fabrics in the Alsunga area The Kurzeme ethnographic material pertaining to the 19th-20th century includes wide (2.5 – 7.5 cm) patterned woven belts, known in the so called Alsunga area, in the four civil parishes within the former region of Aizpute: Alsunga, Basi, Gudenieki and Jūrkalne. 19. M. Siliņš […]
The jacket is worn both in daily life and celebrations. The Suiti women have three different types of jackets in their wardrobe – the black jacket or vamzis, Suiti jacket and summer jacket. Each of them is short and covers only the skirt bodice part (the top). Vamzis The Suiti festive attire includes the black […]
Skirts (lindruki, lindūki) Lindruki were casual clothing the Suiti women wore straight over their shirts. Regular skirts were made from wool or woolen mixture, while in some cases they were made from flaxen for working purposes. The fabric used in Suiti lindruki is monotone, without any stripes or checks, except for some texture of short […]
Judging by the design structure, the Suiti female shirt should be classified as a tunic-like shirt with epaulettes – straps sewn on shoulders. The shirt consists of two parts – the upper part and the lower part, respectively pierētne and pietriekums, as the Suiti call them. The upper part of the shirt was tailored from […]