Women’s shirt

A woman's shirt from 1900 that went with the so-called Krzczonów garment. It is made of knitted linen, hand-sewn, cut with borders, and creased at the hem. It is composed of rectangular or square parts (front, back, sleeves, armholes, wedges under the armpit called 'wtok'), which were usually joined along straight lines, without any undercuts or trimming. The shirt has a large, padded, rectangular collar tied at the neck with a red ribbon. It has a shallow slit at the front. It is long, reaching to the knees. The sleeves are long, sewn at the lower end into a split cuff laced through four loops with a red ribbon. The shirt is decorated with white or red-and-white embroidery on the edges of the hem, collar and cuffs. Different types of stitch are used there, showing their richness in this region: 'obrzucka', 'ciskanka', 'kula', 'wenclik'. 'Obrzucka' is a stitch used to finish the edges of the collar and hem and reinforce the lower edge of the chest opening of the shirt. 'Ciskanka' is a three-thread stitch dividing the collar, cuffs and frills with parallel lines. It could be made with white or red thread. The same role was played by the 'wenclik', except that it was a four-thread wide stitch, and between its lines, other decorative motifs were often placed, including, as in this case, spheres, i.e., a stitch forming a broken line at an acute angle. It consisted of two elements, the small round ends at the top and longitudinal links running diagonally in two directions. The centre of the cuffs and collar is decorated with red and white embroidery called lockstitch, which could be single, double, triple or quadruple, and ran across or was interrupted. Embroidery was used not only for decoration but also to stiffen the collar and cuffs. The upper parts of the sleeve with the hem are connected by an embroidery called 'cyra', 'cyrka', which also strengthens the seam connecting the different parts of the garment. Such a beautifully decorated shirt was worn with festive costumes; it was tucked into a skirt and thus also served as a petticoat. A corset or kaftan was placed over it.