An emblematic element of traditional Romanian women’s wear, the embroidered stripshirt is a Carpathian type shirt, wrinkled around the neck and with ornaments traditionally distributed on the chest, hem and along the sleeve. What is representative of this type of shirt is the fact that all the pieces from which it is made are gathered around the neck on a ribbon.
Altița represents a part of the sleeve that is positioned at the top of it, on the shoulders. This piece of cloth is gathered at the top in the neck area and traditional motifs are embroidered on its surface.
The way to make the shirt with a high waist is as follows: it is made from several pieces of rectangular cloth, one for the chest, one for the back and two for the sleeves. In the past, the top was cut separately, being a piece of cloth with a length of about 20 cm. This type of shirt is called a “separate hem and functional crease shirt”.
The hem arose out of a practical need, making the connection between the neck of the shirt and its sleeve. The function of the pleat is to reduce the dimensions of the width of the sleeve, the latter being wrinkled at the base of the neck.
The role of the shirt is complex and has evolved over time. In the past, the shirt conveyed important information about the skill and talent of the woman who made it, about the material condition and social position of the wearer, about her marital status and age, as well as about ceremonial status (e.g.: bridal shirt, mother-in-law shirt, of mourning, the shirt of mourning, etc.).
Today, the double-breasted shirt has an especially aesthetic, identity and cultural value. The social and cultural prestige it had in traditional communities continues to give it a special status and attract special attention in different settings, such as family, school and educational institutions. In recent decades, actions have been initiated to revive the skills of making the high-waisted shirt in Romania. In the villages, in addition to the traditional forms of making, family associations and NGOs dedicated to the transmission of the art of the shirt with altița have appeared. In the urban environment, meetings are organized in which women of all ages and professions, passionate about traditional clothing, learn to make altita shirt. Irrespective of the environment in which they are made, rural or urban, shirts with high tops keep social memory alive and contribute to the promotion of intangible cultural heritage.
„Shirt with embroidered strip”,exhibition at the Ethnographic Museum of Transylvania 2022
Shirt with embroidered strip reproduced from old models kept in the Ethnographic Museum of Transylvania
Shirt with embroidered strip from Vâlcea, 19th century, on display at the Ethnographic Museum of Transylvania 2022