Folk Costumes: Europe

Hello everyone! Today I will make a compilation of some of my old folk costume articles from SDC and this week I will focus on Europe. The countries I will include are: Germany/Austria, Portugal, Russia, Romania, and Serbia. I'm very interested in Serbia and Russia in particular. 

Germany/Austria:

A dirndl is a set of clothing consisting of a knee length skirt, a peasant blouse, and a waist coat/vest and an apron . It originates from Austria. It was originally worn by servants but was picked up by the upper class women in 1870. The full word for dirndl is "dirndlgewand" which means "maids dress".

Portugal:

There are many different folk costumes in Portugal, varying from region to region. I have chosen the folk costume from the province of Viana do Castelo which used to be called Minho.  

The local term for this folk costume is "Lavradeira" or "Traje Domingueiro" which means "Sunday Clothes". Minho folk costume consists of; a skirt that is either red, black or white, an apron called a "Avental do tear", a waist pouch called "Algibeira", a cape called "Capotilha",  black shoes, and a white and blue blouse. Filigree gold jewelry is also worn with the folk costume. Portuguese filigree jewelry is very well made and very detailed usually containing hearts called "Coração Português" or crosses. Silk or lace head scarves are also usually worn with the folk costume.

Lavadiera used to be worn everyday in the old days, but now it is only worn on special occasions. Also the styles can vary between social class and age. 

Romania:

Like most folk costumes Romanian folk costume is not worn very often by regular people in day to day life, however before WW1 many people wore these garments on a daily basis. Romanians still do wear traditional clothes for special occasions and folk events in the present.

Women's folk costume consists of 3 parts: a peasant blouse called a "Le", a skirt called a "Fotă", and a head scarf called "Maramă". 'Le' blouses are white with traditional embroidery and are gathered around the collar. 'Fotă' skirts are long wrap-around skirts that are decorated and are made of wool material. There are a few different names for Fotă skirts depending on the region you are from like "pestelcă" in Muntenia, "cretință" in Moldova, and "păstură"in Transylvania just to name a few. Head scarves called "Maramă" are usually worn with the folk costume, the design varies from region to region. 

Russia:

Russian folk costume for women consists of a kokoshnik which a tiara like headdress, a peasant blouse and a sarafan dress. The kokoshnik headdress is a tall usually crescent shape tiara tied in the back.  Kokoshniks were originally worn by married women with a slightly different headdress for maidens called povyazka. Russian women always wore kokoshnik headdresses on special occasions until the Russian Revolution in 1917. A sarafan is a pinafore dress worn over a peasant blouse. Sarafan dresses can be plain or fancy depending on the occasion. After the 18th century most upper and middle class women stopped wearing sarafan as day to day wear. Most peasant women wore sarafan until the 20th century. 

Serbia:

Šumadija:

Timočka Krajina:

Belgrade:

Serbian folk costume varies quite a lot from region to region.  

The essentials for women's Serbian folk costumes are a embroidered peasant blouse,  a vest called a "jelek" or "zubun", a full skirt and opanci shoes. Coin jewelry is also worn with Serbian folk costume

I hope you enjoyed my article about European Folk Costume. I will make more of these article in the future.

Folk Costumes: Africa

Hello everyone! Today I will be compiling some of my folk costume articles from SDC. This time I will focus on the African folk costumes. Unfortunately because some of the African folk costumes were hard to recreate in the game I only have 2 articles about folk costume from Africa. The 3 countries I will be showing in this article here are Nigeria and Ethiopia/Eritrea.

Nigeria:

Buba and Iro is a 2 piece set of clothing that consists of a Buba (blouse) and waist wrapper skirt (Iro). This set is usually worn with a head wrap called Gele. This set of clothing is one of the main traditional clothes worn by Yoruba women. It is also a common folk costume in neighbouring cultures but has a different name and style than Nigerian Buba and Iro. Women in Nigeria wear Buba and Iro for special occasions and sometimes day to day wear. The Buba and Iros for special occasions are made of exquisite traditional fabrics. Many brides in Nigeria wear Buba and Iro for their traditional wedding with a matching suit made for the groom.

Ethiopia and Eritrea:

The Habesha people are an ethnic group of Ethiopia and Eritrea. Mainly they live in the Ethiopian Highlands and Eritrean Highlands. Habesha is the word to describe a few very similar ethnic groups including Amhara, Tigray, Tigre, Guarage, and Harari. They are of a variety of religions: Orthodox Christian, Sunni Muslim, Catholic and Judaism.

Habesha Kemis is the name of  the dress worn by Habesha women. In English it is called "The Ethiopian Coffee Dress". It is a long chiffon or linen dress that is either white, grey or beige fabric. It usually has very colourful traditional embroidery. Many women wear them with a long matching shawl called netela. These dresses are worn on special occasions by Habesha women and are a big part of their culture.

Thank you for reading, I will publish more like these articles soon. Then I will start on countries I didn't write articles about when I was with SDC. 

-Amy Katrina

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How to Stay Warm in The Winter

Hello everyone! Today my article will be a life hack. As you all know, winter is slowly approaching and it's going to get cold. This article will be simple things to stay warm when it starts to get cold. I live in central Manitoba, one of the coldest places in Canada outside the arctic. I also have been winter camping with Girl Guides and have picked up a few tricks to stay warm. I will list from head to toe things you can do to keep warm. I also have tips for a warm sleep.

Here is how to stay warm using clothing: 

Head: Wear a toque, try to find one that covers your ears. DO NOT wear just earmuffs. Heat radiates out of the head so wearing a full toque will keep the heat in, as opposed to ear muffs where the heat can escape. 

Neck: Wear a wool scarf. Wrap it around so it covers your whole neck. You can pull it over your mouth if it is windy or you are walking

Torso: Wear layers. Start with an undershirt that you tuck into your pants (this will keep the heat in). Then add a shirt, then a sweater preferably something warm like wool or polar fleece that can zip up to your neck.  Then your winter jacket of course. Zip it up all the way.

Hands: Mittens. Layer them so you have at least 2 pairs on. Stay away from gloves. Gloves separate the fingers and the fingers can't keep the heat in the same. If you want to wear gloves, wear them inside your mittens. Materials for your mittens also matters, try for wool, thermo material or leather. If you layer them, put the wool mittens on first.

Legs: Wear leggings or long-johns underneath you pants. I also know people wear their pyjama pants underneath their pants. Wear pants that are thicker like denim or corduroy. If you have ski pants, then wear your ski pants over your regular pants.

Feet: Socks. Preferably wool or polyester wool. Do not wear cotton, because cotton wicks up the moisture from your feet and will just make your feet colder. Wear 2 layers of socks if it is really cold. For even more warmth, tuck your pant leg into your socks. Finally, wear winter boots.

Now I have some tips for sleeping:

-Sleep with a hoodie on, and pull the hoodie up over your hair, like I said above heat escapes through the top of your head.

-Wear Socks, and tuck your pyjama bottoms into the socks.

-Have many blankets to layer. I have 4 blankets in my room all different thicknesses and warmth levels.

-If you have money buy an electric heated blanket

-Do not put a space heater close to your bed, that can be dangerous.

-Sleep in the fetal position, this keeps all the heat towards your body

I hope you benefit from this list. I'm always cold so I know all the tricks for keeping warm. I have used these tips while camping and at home. I know lots of people who are also always cold, and this list is for you. 

The History of Classical Dance in India

Hello everyone! I found an old assignment from Mr. K's class on my computer that I can make into a blog post. It is about the 8 Classical Dances in India and the history behind them. This assignment was a PowerPoint, so I have modified it for this post obviously. I will include videos of each dance that I linked to in the original PowerPoint. I made this assignment for Grade 12 World History. I hope you enjoy this article even though it is old work and not that in depth.

The History of Classical Dance in India

Indian dance has many common elements, like gunghroo (anklets with bells, Murda (ancient sign language).
The dances are all ways of telling sacred Hindu stories through movement and Murda (ancient sign language) and are based on Natya Shastra from 400 BCE

Classical dances are all performed in Temples. And royal courts.

The classical dances are considered elemental, Bharata Natyam being fire, Kuchipudi being earth, Odissi is water, Mohiniyattam being air, Kathakali is sky.

Most of these dances were supressed during the British Raj. There has been a modern rebirth of these dances.

Odissi ଓଡ଼ିଶୀ

Oldest surviving form of Indian dance. Oldest evidence of Odissi is found in a cave called Manchapuri, where carved images of dances in 2nd century BCE. Odissi was originally a dance preformed at temples, not just Hindu temples but also Jain and Buddhist temples. Female dancers called Maharis were considered wives of the god Jagganath and devoted their lives to dance.

Bharata Natyam பரதநாட்டியம்

Also known as Sadir Attam
Bharata Natyam originated in the golden age called the Sangam of Tamil language arts.
Many dancers were Devadasis which has caused much controversy in its rebirth.
Bharata Natyam owes it’s modern rebirth to 4 brothers who documented it, Chinnayya, Ponnayya, Vadivelu, Sivanandam or the “Tanjore Quartrate” as their called in the dance community.

Kathak कथक

The name Kathak comes from Kathakas, which means storyteller. Kathakas were storytellers that passed the dances along to their children.
This dance was preformed in Mughal courts, by female dancers. Kathak has a lot of Persian influence.
Kathak was also preformed by tawaifs, as seen in the Bollywood movie “Umrao Jaan”.

Kuchipudi కూచిపూడి

Started in the village Kuchipudi Krishna, Andhra Pradesh.
Like other classical dance it is preformed in temples. Kuchipudi is a blend of Odissi and Bharata Natyam.
The dance was hidden so the Devadasi’s wouldn’t pick up this dance.
A unique part of Kuchipudi is dancing on a big brass plate with diyas(candles) in both hands while balancing a small water vessel on their head.

Mohiniyattam മോഹിനിയാട്ടം
Mohiniyatttam is preformed by women only. It was started in the 17th century in Kerala. Like the Tamil “Sangam” age, this period is considered to be the golden age of Kerala arts.
The name Mohiniyattam comes from the word Mohini meaning ‘enchanting women’ and Attam wich means dance. Put together it means “dance of the enchanrtess”

Kathakali കഥകളി

Like Mohiniyattam, Kathakali Originated in Kerala in the 17th century. Preformed by men only. The stories they tell through dance are based on the gods Rama and Krishna.
The dance lends from 2 other very similar dances “Krishnanattam and Ramanattam”
Kathakali uses lots of makeup and costumes.

Manipuri मणिपुरी नृत्य

This dance originates from Manipur, close to Myanmar. Based on tribal dances. Like Kathakali many of the stories are  about the god Krishna. Most preformances are about the ‘Raslila” story of Radha and Krishna.
Manipuri dancers do not wear ghungroo (anklets)

Sattriya সত্ৰীয়া নৃত্য

Sattriya is from Assam. It originated in the 15th century. It was created by the saint Srimanta Sankardeva. Like other classical dances it it telling stories through dance.
Sattriya wasn’t considered a classical dance till 2000

Sources:
www.wikipedia.org
www.youtube.com
http://onlinebharatanatyam.com
http://indiandancestyles.net

http://www.edmontonragamala.ab.ca

Folk Costumes: Asian Part 2

Hello! This is the second part of my folk costumes for Asia. As I said in my previous article I'm compiling some of my old work from SDC to make articles on here. I will try to make more of these articles because I love talking about culture and folklore.

This article will include folk costumes of: Bhutan, Vietnam, North and South Korea, and Japan.

Bhutan:

Bhutan is a small landlocked country in between China and India. The official language is Dzongkha. Most Bhutanese people are Buddhist. Bhutan is a constitutional monarchy. The King of Bhutan is Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck and the Queen Consort is Jetsun Pema.

The folk costume for women is called Kira. It is a long wrap around skirt that is wrapped around the body. The Kira is held up by belt called 'kera' This wrap around skirt is worn with a long sleeve blouse underneath called a 'wonju' and a jacket overtop called 'toego'. The Toego is held together with with a silver broach and the sleeves are folded to show off the wonju.

In modern day Bhutan Kira is still worn all the time. This is because Bhutan is one of the remaining countries that has laws as to what people can wear in public. Women are required to wear Kira out in public and men are required to wear the male folk costume called 'gho'. Every citizen of Bhutan must wear either Kira or Gho depending on your gender. 

Viet Nam:

Áo dài is a long tunic (áo) worn over palazzo like pants(dài). It is made of silk. It can come in any colour. The tunic usually comes with a high "oriental style" collar in traditional styles. Modern style tunics have no collar. Traditionally áo dài was a loose garment with lots of fabric however modern áo dài are very fitted. 

The earliest form of the áo dài dates back to the Nguyen dynasty of the 18th century. It was mostly worn by aristocrats who favoured expensive fabric. From the 20th century on, many schools for girls have had the áo dài as the uniform for students. A famous Vietnamese fashion designer known as 'Le Mur' helped modernize the áo dài by creating the fitted version we see today. During the communist period modern áo dài was rarely worn in Viet Nam as it was seen as too decadent. Looser versions were preferred during the communist period and was only worn at weddings and other special occasions. 

Currently the áo dài is now worn as school uniforms for girls and is also uniform for many service industries like flight attendant, waitresses, bank tellers, etc.. It is usually worn for special occasions now but is still worn day to day by some women in Viet Nam. 

North Korea and South Korea:

Hanbok (한복)clothing is what the South Korean's call their traditional folk costume. It is called Joseon-ot (조선옷) in North Korea. Women's  clothing consists of a shirt called a Jeogori and a skirt called Chima. A Jeogori is a plain blouse that is long sleeved. It is worn by both men and women, but the women's is much different. A woman's jeogori comes to the waist line. The Chima also known as a Sang, or Gun comes to above the waist line and is worn with a belt. Petticoats are worn under a Chima skirt. The Jeogori is worn over the Chima and belt. There are many different accessories worn with Hanbok clothing including various types of hair clips and different pendants. 

Presently Hanbok clothing is worn only on special occasions but like many folk costumes they used to be worn as everyday wear in the old times. Hanbok clothing has been around since 3rd century BCE. It has changed much during this time, sleeves changed shape, Jeogori changed length, Chima styles varied. 

Joseon-ot clothing is one of the national Symbols of North Korea, and is worn often to showcase the culture of North Koreans. North Korean culture is very insular so there are very little influence from outside cultures. Certain styles that have faded from South Korean Hanbok are still present in North Korean Joseon-ot. 

Japan: 

Kimono is a long robe with long sleeves and a high collar tied with a sash called an 'Obi'. They are always worn left side overtop of the right. You only see the right overtop the left when someone dies and is being buried. To make a kimono you require one whole bolt of material usually silk, brocade, crepe or satin and the bolt is called a 'tan'. A traditional kimono is hand sewn and hand decorated. Kimonos are worn with traditional shoes called 'geta' or 'zori' which are different kinds of clog sandals.

The earliest form of kimono came about in the 5th century AD. It used to be called 'gofuku'. The early kimonos were very heavily influenced by the hanfu dresses worn in China. Over time the style of kimonos changed and modified just like any other folk costume. During the 1800s the clothes Japanese people wore shifted from kimonos to Western clothes. Now kimonos are only worn on special occasions. 

Thank you for reading! I will make more of these articles, one for Europe, Africa, Central America and the Middle East. I also plan to make new write-ups about folk costumes I didn't feature on SDC. I plan to make several articles about East Indian folk costumes. I look forward to making those. 

-Amy Katrina 

Folk Costumes: Asian Part 1

Hello everyone! Today I will be compiling some of my old work on the blog I used to write for. When I wrote for SDC I made articles about folk costumes and recreated them on Stardoll. For this series of articles on this blog I will just include pictures of each folk costume and the write up I had for each folk costume. I include history and descriptions of each folk costumes. I will mainly focus on female folk costume because when I recreated them on SD I only did the female folk costume.

This entry will be about Asian folk costumes. I have to split this one into 2 articles because I have so many from Asia that if I were to include them all I'd have a really long article. The countries on this part will be: China, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Cambodia.

Let's get started:

China:

A cheongsam also known as qipao ( 旗袍) is a dress that has a high collar with ornamental buttons. The modern cheongsam is tailored and tight fitting with short sleeves. The old cheongsam was loose aand long and only showed a woman's head, hands and tips of her feet. The modernization of the cheongsam happened in the 1920's in Shanghai when influential women of the time like celebrities and noble women adopted the new modern style. For a while in the 1960's to 1970's the Chinese government tried to get rid of the cheongsam and many other cultural things during the Chinese Cultural Revolution. Since the 1980's cheongsam and other cultural things have been accepted back by the Chinese people and have made their way back into fashion. Now-a-days women usually wear cheongsams at formal or diplomatic events. Also some women are required to wear cheongsam as a uniform like as a waitresses or flight attendants.

Indonesia:

A kebaya is a set of a blouse and skirt worn by women in Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Cambodia, and Burma. The word kebaya actually comes from the Arab word "abaya" and the Javanese word "kemben" meaning chest wrap or blouse. Kebayas can be made of many different fabrics including cotton, silk, or batik or the traditional songket fabric. Most kebayas are heavily embroidered or brocade. Blouses are usually transparent with a chest wrap worn underneath.

There are a few different varieties of kebaya worn by different regions and different ethnic groups. The one I chose to recreate is from the Peranakan (ethnic Chinese) people called 'Nonya kebaya'. 'Nonya kebaya' is mostly worn in Malaysia and Singapore by women of Peranakan ethnicity.

Malaysia: 

A Baju Kurung is a long tunic and a long skirt underneath. It is usually worn with a tudong (hijab). Baju Kurung is Malay for "Enclosed Dress". The word "baju kurung" can also refer to the traditional clothes Malay men wear, but is almost always referring to the female dress. There are 2 different styles of tunic:  teluk belanga which has no collar, and cekak musang which has a standing collar with buttons. This style of dress has always been popular with Malay  women even in the present day. It is most popular with Muslim women but is also worn by other ethnic minorities in Malaysia, mostly due to baju kurung being the uniform of most schools and civil servant jobs.

 Cambodia: 

Sampot is a long cloth tied in various ways to make a skirt or dhoti like pants. Each style of draping has a name and different weave of silk. Silk is very important in Khmer culture and the weaving techniques used in each type of Sampot are preserved in their culture. The type of fabric used in each Sampot used to be an indicator of social class.

In present day Cambodia Sampot is only worn at special occasions, but in the olden days it was worn daily.

The ones I chose to point out are Sampot Sang and Sampot Samloy.

Sampot Sang is a simple silk skirt tied in a knot in the front worn with a simple blouse. The other style I recreated is Sampot Samloy, which is a light woven long skirt worn with a matching blouse. Puffy sleeved blouses are most commonly worn with Sampot. The Khmer Sampot is very similar to the folk costumes of the surrounding countries especially Laos, Thailand, Burma and Indonesia. 

This concludes my article for this week. I know I was 2 weeks late. I'm sorry. Stay tuned for next weeks article which will be a continuation of Asian folk costumes I've written about.  

Songs That Are Helping Me Through a Bad Time in My Life

Hello everyone! Today my article is a personal one. These songs are all songs that have helped me out recently. Most of my friends know I haven't been okay mentally the past few months. I've been almost suicidal at times this year. I honestly don't know what has caused this sudden downfall in my mental health. I am in the process of getting counselling and I'm fighting every day. For those who don't know, I have doctor diagnosed OCD, Social Anxiety Disorder, and Clinical Depression.

Anyways, music has really helped out quite a bit. I Googled songs that are about mental health and found one site that listed all these songs about mental health problems. I started searching a lot of the songs, mostly ones by artists I recognized and then some that I didn't recognize. I found lots, but I will list the ones that have helped the most. I will be focusing on the lyrics and not the song itself.  I will also include the lyrics that stuck the most for me. This list is mostly about the recent songs I have found, not old favourites, because they aren't about mental health. They are about the oddest things but they have been helping me relax every night to help me sleep. I listen to music every night just to calm down enough to sleep. 

Here are the 5 songs that have been helping me cope:

Kodaline 'One Day'

This song I found a few weeks ago. The lyrics describe a girl going through depression or some other kind of mental problem in my opinion. That is what it means to me. I can relate to the lyrics "One day it's here and then it's gone/How are you still holding on?" speaks to me by the fact I'll go days where I'm fine and my OCD is not bothering me and then the next day everything changes and I'm back to being in agony. I also relate to these lines "You've felt this way for far too long /Waiting for a change to come" because I have had OCD for so long and I expect it to get better but it never does. Finally the other lyric that gets to me is "You always try to see yourself /Through the eyes of someone else" because of my coping mechanism of making new people in my head. It's really too long to explain here. I might make a article about this coping mechanism I have but today is not that day. 

Owl City 'Silhouette'

I love this song so much. It is a perfect way to explain what it feels like to go through mental health crisis. I could quote literally every line in this song because it is so relatable. One of the most relatable lines is "I'm new to this grief I can't explain /But I'm no stranger to the heartache and the pain" because I have had OCD for years but recently it's gotten worse and is slightly different,  so I'm new to the suffering yet very familiar with it.

Twenty One Pilots 'Car Radio'

This song is one of the most helpful songs on this list. I found it a few months ago and to me it helps describe intrusive thoughts. The song is about someone suffering from either really bad depression or intrusive type thoughts, who's car radio is stolen and they can't listen to music in their car anymore which is their distraction. This song also reminds me that I'm not alone in having to distract myself to get by. 

 I have been trying so many things to distract myself from my OCD that when I don't have a distraction my mind feels like I'm at war. The line "Sometimes quiet is violent" speaks to me because I feel like I can't just sit around and have to listen to my own thoughts. I have to distract myself. Another 2 lines "I ponder of something terrifying /'Cause this time there's no sound to hide behind" again describe what it's like not to have a distraction.

Sum 41 'Slipping Away'
This is just a really short song from their album 'Chuck'. It really helps describe what it's like on really bad days. The entire body of the song describes what it's like day to day during a period of poor mental health. "I'm trying to make it through each day /I'm falling apart now in every way /I'm finding it harder to get by /There's a hole in my heart /And I don't know why /Now I've come to realize"

Twenty One Pilots 'Truce'

When you are mentally unwell you literally live day to day. This song describes what it's like to go through that. It is also a song that reminds me to just keep going even if it's day to day. This song doesn't have many lyrics, but you don't need many lyrics to get your point across. It is also a song discouraging suicide and that can be important when the agony won't stop.

I hope you take time to listen to these songs, they are good songs. I hope I haven't alarmed anyone with this subject. Please don't worry about me, I'm making it through all right and I am receiving help. I'm not suicidal currently. I thank you all for reading and I will post another article next week

-Amy Katrina 

Welcome to my blog

Hello everyone! My name is Amy Katrina and this is my new blog. I made a new URL for this blog because I didn't want to delete the pictures on my old blog. I used that blog page to share original files of pictures that I edited on PS. Anyways, this blog will house my articles that I will write. I plan on writing about fashion, life hacks, advice, mental health and culture.

I will republish a few of my old articles from the website I used to write for because I kept all the original files on my computer. Just 2 or 3 of them, because they are life hack articles I made when the site didn't have much traffic. The site I wrote for deleted all my articles after I quit. I don't know why they did that, I was literally the only writer that made articles for many months.

I look forward to writing for a blog again. I have so much pent-up creativity and ideas. I will try to write every week or 2 depending on how busy I am and how stressed I am.

I will try not to be too political with my blog posts only because I don't want conflict. I know that politics is a big issue right now and we all have our own ideas about certain issues. I'm a centralist skeptic, so I know my ideas won't necessarily be the popular opinion. I also won't address religion for the same reason as politics.

Anyways, I hope that my friends will read this blog and that I gain a few followers on here. Honestly I know that I won't have many readers and that's okay, I just want somewhere to voice my ideas.

Thank you for reading.

-Amy Katrina
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