La blouse roumaine ( outfit )

blouse : mother's

50s skirt : vintage (Etsy)

mink hat : vintage (Etsy)

cape : vintage (grandmother's)

kid gloves : vintage (Etsy)

fur stole : vintage

boots : thrifted

Happy December 1st!

For most of you, this probably just means we've officially entered winter time and Christmas is around the corner. In Romania, we celebrate our national holiday on December 1st.

It never really meant that much to me or to most people I know; usually it was just a day off from school (or even two if we were lucky), some boring military parades and shops being closed.

But now that I'm away, it kinda starts having a different significance - it's not like I suddenly care, it's just one of those little reminders about where I come from and what does that mean to who I am.

Lately being Romanian has gathered much more significance, or I just started using in my work more, making my colleagues ask if I am really Romanian and whether or not I grew up in the States or something ( the French are quite puzzled by my English, but they also suck at languages so maybe they shouldn't go to Romania any time soon).

So in honor of this day and recent events, I decided to share one of my prized possessions - a traditional Romanian blouse.

You know, the same type of embroidery that's now showing up all over Pinterest. That Matisse basically made famous back in 1938. IIa Romaneasca.

I wish I could say it's been in my family for generations, but the truth is my parents bought it in the '90s for this American couple, then it mysteriously got stained and ended up in my closet. I still love it to pieces and I am seriously considering finding more on my next visit.

It's just that it's so hard to find the authentic ones; also, the prices basically skyrocketed in the past couple of years. 

It might seem painfully basic, but I think this is a positive national symbol (and an extremely pretty one too) that I'm glad to perpetuate. From what I hear now people wearing this kind of blouses in Romania are mostly right-wing homophobic nationalists, which just seems...sad. 

But there's a lot of ugly shit going on in Romania right now, some of which you may have heard of. Rosia Montana anyone? Back in the summer there were many protests about the cause. 

So before an early screening we took advantage of the rare 10 minutes of Parisian sunshine and shot these. There were so many nice shots that I should probably do another post... But what I didn't mention is that this is probably my first real outfit post like ever? I hate lugging a camera around, so it's always either shit on film that gets developed months later, my disposables(same) or other random shit that I never get a hold of. Or stuff for the shop.

This is really first I think! I'm not trying to say it will become a usual thing, but it's nice to chance things around from time to time.

Unfortunately the circumstances still haven't been right to shoot my holiday look book ; I have velvet dresses basically crying on the hangers! Seriously, in order to shoot in this weather you need the planets to align or something. Fucking Parisian grey, Henry Miller warned us all along.

I also have a whole new batch of knits and dresses to put in the shop starting Tuesday.

Until then there are still many wonderful things left in the shop - last chance to enjoy a sweet 25% off !