Skirt

A festive skirt from an outfit worn by townswomen, wives of merchants involved in the sieve trade, commonly known as the sieve outfit. It is produced from factory-made material – brocade with a yellow background and large floral patterns. It is 134 cm wide, sewn from two so-called shelves (one shelf is a sheet of fabric about 75 cm wide and 86 cm long). The back and sides are arranged in small folds sewn into a strip of reddish fabric, slightly longer as its ends form the straps for tying the skirt. The front is unwaisted; a strip of inferior fabric is sewn halfway up the skirt is at the top. It was done to save on fabric, as this part of the skirt was covered by an apron. The whole skirt was lined with linen underneath, and the lower edge was reinforced with tape. The costume with the presented skirt was distinguished from other varieties of traditional costumes occurring in the territory of the Lublin voivodeship by the richness of the form and the materials used. From the 17th century, one of the most thriving sieve-making centres in Poland developed in Biłgoraj and Tarnogród. Merchants selling sieves became much richer; they formed a separate social class. They travelled with their goods to neighbouring countries, from where they brought back beautiful and expensive fabrics and stories about clothing and innovations. Individual elements of this clothing were modelled on the old fashion of the nobility and were intended to emphasise the distinctiveness and wealth of that social group.