Garter

The garter used to keep a stocking or a long sock from slipping off the leg was rarely a visible garment element and even more exposed. It is the case with the costume from Pyrzyce, which surprises with innovative and individual solutions in many elements. The costume exaggerated in proportions and colours, striving to fill every free space with decoration, also made the garters a decorative element. The garters were sewn from velvet (here black) in the shape of an ellipse measuring approximately 30 × 7 centimetres, trimmed with silk ribbon (intense purple). The entire surface of the garters was embroidered. Here red, green, yellow and blue flat embroidery and sequins were used. The composition is made up of flowers such as roses, forget-me-nots and, most typical of the Pyrzyce pattern, tulips, which in the Netherlands were a symbol of wealth, prosperity and happiness. As decorative motifs, they appeared wherever Dutch colonists settled, brought mainly for land reclamation works. Work awaited them in Pomerania, Żuławy, Kociewie, so tulips are decorative motifs in Northern Poland; they are rarely found in other regions. Beautifully embroidered garters (with or without tulips) were tied with colourful strings below the knees, just above the skirt line. A large bow made of silk ribbon was attached centrally to the garters.

Iwona Karwowska