Ethnic Items: Romanian Embroidered Blouse and Kenyan Accessories….

Every time we travel to new country we try to bring back an article of clothing or an accessory that is traditionally from that region. So when I (Brooke) went to Romania and Danielle went to Kenya we both brought back some beautiful items…

From Romania, I of course needed to find a traditional Romanian embroidered blouse. These traditional embroidered shirts are embedded in Romanian culture and Romanian souvenir shops are lined with endless blouses with hundreds beautiful designs… so the decision was quite hard.

Each pattern has a meaning; fertility, war, love, fragility, power and faith. For instance, trees stand for wisdom and life while sunflowers represent the sun, a symbol of God and prosperity. In the past, the blouses used to indicate the age, social and marital status; Young and unwedded girls would wear bright colours while married or older women would wear simple patterns and discrete colours. Today still, there are artisans hidden away in small villages, who carry on their ancestral traditions in making these blouses, by hand, and who continue to pass on this unique know-how to their daughters and granddaughters.

https://www.detoujours.com/en/shirts/125-traditional-romanian-blouse.html

My boyfriend ended up picking this blue blouse for me which I absolutely love. I have no idea what it symbolizes but I just love the color and the geometric pattern.

Now moving on to the accessories from Kenya. Danielle had the daunting task of picking from hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of absolutely beautifully hand beaded sandals, amazing jewelry, intricate trinkets, and bright fabrics that the Masai markets had to offer. The Masai tribe is famous for its distinct customs, dress and culture and Kenya is filled with countless markets displaying their unique goods. Despite the somewhat aggressive vendors all very vocally advertising their wares and through several visits to the Masai markets in Nairobi and endless texts back and forth, she managed to pick the bracelet and shoes below.

Do you have any special clothing or accessories you bring back from when you travel?

Sending hugs and happiness, Brooke and Danielle, Colorful Sisters