Married woman’s cap

Married woman's headgear consisting of a wooden hoop on which a piece of patterned, dark red Tibetan kerchief – a factory-made fabric from the wool of Tibetan sheep or goats, usually printed with floral motifs – is stretched and specially modelled. In this case, a large floral pattern of red and beige roses and blue cornflower has been placed in the centre of the base, and a band of the same, specially-modelled fabric surround its edges. At the bottom of the cap, two more corners of the scarf, decorated with a floral print and red tassels at the edges, have been sewn with a kind of the so-called tail hanging loosely over its edge. The cap is hand-sewn. This type of headgear is an element of women's costume from Biłgoraj; married women wore it for festive dress in the last period of its functioning among the villagers in the first years of the 20th century. The scientific literature introduced the term 'folk costume' in the post-war years to describe villagers' old clothes. Daily, festive and ceremonial clothes were distinguished. Everyday clothes had to be comfortable and practical, protect against cold and heat, and could not restrict movement. Festive clothes were representative as they testified to the owner's wealth, marital status, profession, religion and ethnicity or membership in a local group. Thus, we can identify different costumes occurring throughout the country, in individual regions and provinces. In the Lublin region, based on available sources, fourteen types of costumes can be distinguished, while in some areas, they occurred in different varieties. The Biłgoraj outfit is one of the more archaic and was usually made of self-made materials. It also belonged to those more conservative ones, was not subject to significant changes, and was worn even in the inter-war period.