Ok so just about every summer fast fashion chains bring blouses like these back into rotation:
These particular ones are from h&m and romwe, tho you can find them all over the place, but the thing is that these designs are pretty blatantly lifted from eastern european traditional clothing designs (but poorly made & without a penny going to those eastern european communities). So, if you like these types of designs but hate fast fashion, I’ve decided to compile a list of some alternative places where you can buy them from actual eastern european artisans. Just as a side note, you are more than welcome to wear these designs even if you do not belong to the culture the design is from, the only issue here is with big corporations profiting by ripping off our culture and then doing nothing for our communities.
Also, a heads up that while the fast fashion version of these shirts are generally really cheap, the traditionally made ones are usually start at around US$50 or more, depending on the complexity of the designs & some other factors (but they also last much longer than the cheap ones & are pretty much always made of natural fibers, like cotton or linen). You’ll notice that many of these places make garments to order, so you can often contact them to request a custom size or color.
So, without further ado:
BRS - Here you’ll find a lot of items that are made in the romanian tradition but feel fresh & updated. Gorgeous & ethically made but kind of pricey (with most blouses in the $150-250 range)
De Toujours - This brand is collaborating with romanian artisans on a traditionally made blouse that costs €200
Folklorica - A poland-based etsy shop with some blouses embroidered in the Polish tradition, along with other traditional and tradition-inspired garments (most items are in the $30-50 range)
EtnoSoul - A ukraine-based etsy shop, traditional & tradition-inspired fashion. They have embroidered blouses along with other things, such as dresses & children’s clothing. They also have wedding dresses & men’s embroidered shirts, which both look sick as hell (price range: $90-270)
SvitVyshyvanok - Another Ukraine-based etsy shop, really pretty embroidered dresses!! (price range: $60-200 for most items)
This is ofc an incomplete list, please feel free to add on! Also, if there are local or diaspora artisans of other cultures whose traditional designs resemble that of these types of embroidered shirts, please feel free to add them as well!
In the spirit of May 24th - a national holiday dedicated to Bulgarian language and culture - I’ve got a bunch of Bulgarian artists with similar motifs to add:
Veze - the High Fashion of the bunch, if you’re feeling fancy. They do tailored dresses and shirts.
Vezba - a wonderfully diverse website with quality material. Not too expensive, particularly by Western standards - about $25 for a t-shirt, more for a hoodie.
Bulgarka - They have several categories you can look through with traditional motifs - be it dresses, scraves or t-shirts.
Rose&Pepper - my personal favourite. Some of the beautiful scraves they have/make are less than 10 euros and worth every penny. Unfortunately, they only have a Facebook store, not a separate website, but they do deliver abroad, too.
Charshia-handmade - how about a legit old-timey technique used to make whatever you’re shopping for?
Babina Rakla - Literally meaning grandma’s old chest, they offer traditional items and clothing, as well as modern ones with a traditional twist.
If anyone wants to look into a place that does real deal traditional outfits - a bunch of local ones are available for order at Shevitsa - whether it’s a festival or a special event of some sort, you can get a pretty legit outfit. Same goes for Magazin Mluchkov.
let me add Vidana clothing studio - Ukraine-based, worldwide shipping, designs are pretty and modern-looking
also ivko, founded and led by a woman. it’s a serbian knitting label started during 80s yugoslavia by danica komnenic as a small family knitting workshop and turned bigger later. the designs and ornaments are based on serbian ethnic costumes and are distributed globally 🖤
i also recommend bihor couture from romania (the online store is under maintenance at the moment but should be open again at some point). it has an interesting story because it started as a campaign precisely in response to a major fashion brand stealing designs without crediting or compensating the sources.
in 2018 dior launched a collection which clearly copied designs that have been traditional in villages in bihor county for hundreds of years. of course there was no mention of where the design came from. local artisans were never consulted, asked to collaborate or given any remuneration for designs that were quite simply stolen. you can read more about it here.
dior sold some of these for 30,000 euros ($36,500) per piece. in response to this, a romanian fashion magazine called beau monde supported local artisans in opening an online shop where you can buy the same designs for a few hundred dollars instead, knowing that the money is going directly back to the community.
