The dress

The dress sewn from woollen cloth by Grunia Klitenik (after the war in Poland her name was polonised by officials to: Grania). She sewed it for herself while staying in Krasny Kuta. The costume was sewn from many pieces of material: scraps of navy blue uniforms so they were air force neckties. Its cut is simple, without a cut at the waist. The dress is long (it reached Klitenik's knees), has long sleeves ending in cuffs, a collar and a decorative front (centre) seam. Decorative appliqués of the same pattern were sewn on in three places. Two of the appliqués are on the hips and one on the torso (right side). Each applique consists of three pieces of fabric. The central piece is almond shaped and dark blue in colour. It is surrounded by two long strips of cloth the colour of the dress. Their edges overlap (fishtail/swallowtail finish). There are cut-outs at the ends of the decorative strips. The sleeves have an additional decorative application in the form of a tooth (fabric sewn together in an irregular, diagonal manner, the shape of which is reminiscent of a tooth) visible at mid-length on each sleeve. The collar of the dress has pleats. It is trimmed, like the cuffs, with dark blue piping. At the front, in the upper part, there is a cut-out fastened with 12 haberdashery buttons with loops. The buttons are covered in dark blue fabric. The front has two vertical topstitching running from the shoulder to the inner edge of the application. At the back, two decorative topstitching runs down the back of the garment from the shoulder to the bottom edge of the garment, and tapers to the waist. Conspicuous darts are at the armholes. The sleeves are fastened with haberdashery press-studs (two at each).

Marta Frącziewicz