Clothing of post-war settlers

The clothing of post-war settlers reflects the varied origins of Lower Silesia’s new inhabitants. The display includes garments brought from Poland’s former eastern provinces, central Poland and Romanian Bukovina. Each group brought skills and habits to its new home. Shirts from the Lviv and Ternopil areas feature rich embroidery. Shirts worn by Poles from Romanian Bukovina were decorated with tiny beads. The same type of garment could therefore have different decoration, depending on local tradition and the maker’s craft.

Hutsul sheepskin garments were embellished with embroidery and leather appliqué. Clothing from Polesia uses white and red, while Łowicz and Opoczno are represented by multicoloured striped textiles. Together the garments reveal differences in materials, colours and the arrangement of patterns. In the first years after the war, publicly expressing regional origins was difficult. Festive clothing made those origins particularly visible. Many garments consequently passed to the museum almost directly from the chests used during the journey. They document both older traditions and the difficulties of maintaining them in changed surroundings.