Cum sa NU purtati o camasa - IE

 Mi-a venit în cap postarea asta foarte aproape de 24 iunie și deci de Ziua Iei când toata lumea își scosese zestrea din dulap sau de prin lăzi și o postase pe rețelele de socializare. Sunt niște reguli de bun simț, zic eu, dar vreau să rămână aici pentru că și eu fac unele din aceste greșeli.

Din capul locului spun că eu nu sunt una dintre puristele care predică nepurtarea cămășii la blugi. Ba chiar o găsesc benefică pentru că astfel doamnele din secolul ăsta aduc din trecut un element al portului popular, ii găsesc utilizarea și nu îl uită. Așadar purtați ia cu ce vreți voi. Puneți mâna pe ac și faceți o cămașa urbana, purtăreață, aia chiar că merge la blugi, la palazzo, la chino, la bootcut, la ce vreți voi. 

1. Încercați să purtați cămașa cât mai aproape de statura ei inițială

Ce vreau să spun aici. În trecut cămășile, chiar și cele cu despicătura în față se purtau închise pe lângă gât. Și eu fac greșeala asta, pentru că eu nu pot purta nimic pe lângă gât, deci mai toate cămășile mele sunt făcute să stea ele țepene pe umerii mei cât să nu cadă pe spate, să nu își piardă ținuta. Dacă au brezărău fixez părțile cămășii și las mobile doar părțile din față. Dacă sunt cu bentiță, o cos în așa fel încât să stea locului. Evident, vorbesc de cămășile pe care le-am cusut eu. La cămășile pe care le cumpărați de pe net sau de prin târguri eu vă sfătuiesc să nu intervenți, să nu le modificați, decât dacă ați cusut 5 cămăși cu mâna voastră și ați stat cel puțin 10 ani pe grupul semne cusute în acțiune de pe fb. Altfel, croitoreasa, bunica, mătușa, prietena, vânzătorul... nu au cunoștințele (în sensul de knowledge) necesare pentru a modifica o cămașă veche.

2. Nu purtați cămășile cu poale fără fotă sau fusta pe deasupra

Da știu că pare angelic, diafan și frumos, dar de fapt sunteți cu fundul gol. Cămășile, mai ales cele vechi, nu au fost create pentru a fi purtate fără ceva pe deasupra. De cele mai multe ori poalele erau făcute din materiale de o mai proastă calitate, de cele mai multe ori acele materiale se rodeau prin frecarea cu fota, mai ales in Moldova unde fotele erau făcute din lână. Și chiar dacă aveți o cămașă cu poale într-o stare impecabilă și chiar dacă arătați perfect în ea, NU. Pur și simplu NU.

3. Fiți atente la proporțiile dintre cămașă și fotă/fustă

În special la doamnele mai în etate am văzut chestia asta și e un pic deranjantă. Sunt sigură că acele doamne sunt înconjurate de cațe care le mănâncă de fund și care nu le-ar spune ever că arată ridicol. Ei bine o fac eu. Nu știu dacă e o regulă, dar vizual ar fi ok ca de la sâni la brâu să fie o distanță de cel puțin o palmă. Arată oribil, dar oribil, să vă atârne sânii peste brâu. ORIBIL. Și, și mai oribil e să fii imortalizată pe vecie într-o poză așa pe internet să râdă alte cațe de tine. Vă trageți în poză, verificați poza. Este dreptul dvs. să spuneți ”NU îmi place acea poză, nu o vreau online”. Iar dacă vă place să vă pozați și vedeți că una dintre voi are breteaua de la sutien pe afara, o șuviță de păr aiurea, sânii peste fotă, deschideți gura și remediați situația, nu mai bârfiți pe la colțuri, că de asta suntem unde suntem.

4. Aveți grija la despicătura fotei

Fota vine parte peste parte de sus până jos, nu se trage pe fund sau pe burtă, nu lasă să se vadă poalele albe decât dacă voi vă puneți poalele-n brâu. Țărăncile de acum ceva vreme erau mult mai micuțe decât suntem noi acum. Așa încât, dacă vă achiziționați o fotă veche, aveți grijă să vă cuprindă. Fota se pune parte peste parte în față și trebuie să treacă binișor o parte peste o alta. Fota nu e ca o fustă parte peste parte, îmbinarea trebuie să fie dreaptă de sus până jos. Știu că sunt meșteri care țes și în zilele noastre fote, deci vă puteți face una pe dimensiuni. Sau dacă nu, purtați cămașa cu o fustă, fără model, și sunteți mult mai câștigate.

5. Purtați elementele costumului din aceeași zonă

Bine aici chiar și la muzee am văzut bazaconii, dar învățăm. Așadar ce vreau să spun aici. Cred că am trecut de faza ”vreau o cămașa mov să se potrivească cu o fotă mov”. Elementele de port popular nu se asortau una cu cealaltă. Ele se purtau pe regiuni. Dacă v-ați cusut sau v-ați cumpărat o cămașă dintr-o zonă și ați vrea să purtați tot costumul, cercetați ce vine în partea de jos a costumului și ce brâu sau ce paftale sau ce se pune în talie... Regina Maria purta o cămașă de Argeș la o fotă de Muscel, dar ea era Regina Maria, înțelegeți? Ea promova costumul, noi azi îl purtăm că ne place, e o mică nuanță acolo. Plus, din nou, cațele de pe net abia așteaptă. P.S. În opinia mea, costumul de Bucovina nu se poartă cu paftale. În opinia mea.

Acesta este un articol ce va fi revizuit din timp în timp. Dacă aveți sugestii, le primesc cu plăcere. Ne găsim pe Instagram @mademoiselle.ralu

P.S. Tabloul este pictat de Constantin Stahl și se află la Palatul Culturii din Iași, pe care vă îndemn să îl vizitați.

Belgium - Sakura of Arlon

I have totally forgot about posting this post and as you can probably tell (if you follow me on Instagram @mademoiselle.ralu) it is full Summer here in Arlonia, but I could not post the wild field flowers without posting this. 

The Saint-Donat church of Arlon is situated on the "Knippchen", this is the name of the hill where the church is built on. History tells us that on the same spot, the highest one in Arlon, there was probably a fortification of some sort build by the Gallo-Romans. Actually the whole Arlon is filled up with Roman vestiges and they are very proud of their Roman heritage. The capital of the Roman province was in Trier which was called "Augusta Treverorum" as Arlon was called "Orolaunum".

The Sain-Donat church was built by the “Capuchins" in the year 1626 and restored in the year 1851, and once again in the 19th century. The church is surrounded by a balcony called Belvedere from where, of course, you can see all the land around the city of Arlon.

During Spring, the cherry trees surrounding the Belvedere are in full bloom creating what I call, "the Sakura of Arlon". And again if you follow me on Instagram you might have spotted some lovely pictures taken there during the years.

That is it folks! If I have not said it in every paragraph of this post, do follow me on Insta as I am indeed more active there.

Belgium - Let's tour the brocants! - Brocante de Charme at Deulin Castle

When we first arrived to this area we were novices in what a brocante is, we of course had our fair share of car boot sales and we went to flea markets, but in this area the Brocantes are so much more.

First of all, what is a brocante. While researching for this article I've stumbled upon this website which explains, in English, the whole terminology related to flea markets and the differences between a flea market and a car boot sale.

To sum it up, a Brocante is something similar to a flea market. The term comes from Dutch and more common in French you will hear Marche de Puces, because of course everything has to be dubbed. Arlon has a very famous brocante on the first Sunday of every Summer month and I think the same goes to Luxembourg as well.

Another term you will encounter is Braderie. Not to be confused with Brocante, the Braderie is a sale. Luxembourg has braderies twice in a year if not more and what it means, is the shops are opened on Sunday, and every shop owner opens a stand outside with things on sale.

The last term is Vide-Grenier and to my Romanian and English ears it sounded like emptying the barn and I would not be too far off, as it means emptying the attic. It is similar to a garage sale or car boot sale, you will find them on the side of the road, in small villages. 

It is not on the website I've linked, but here I found Troc stores. We had the term in Romanian and it roughly translated to bargaining, but what truly means it a transaction without money, a barter in modern words. Of course if you go in a troc store you will pay for what you buy with money, but I just wanted to tell you how similar our words are. From all the alternative commerce I have mentioned here, I loved the most to go to trocs. The one in Messancy, Arlon is huge and I guaranty you will never leave empty handed. From furniture to little trinkets, to plates and cookery, you will find everything at the Troc in Messancy. There is of course the Troc in Luxembourg, but as you can imagine they have Luxembourgish prices. 

Ok so after all this introduction, I wanted to tell you about the Brocante De Charme au Chateau Deulin. Doesn't sound nice? During the Summer every Sunday you can visit a brocante, I think there is even a schedule of brocantes in the area you can check out, but this one is closer to my heart as it is the first brocante we went to with Ilinca and it is in the courtyard of a castle and you are allowed to enter with your dog, so what more would we ask for? 

I've found it last year over Facebook, another strong plus point, as it is always good that they have an online presence and they can be easily found by younger audiences such as us. I honestly go there just to watch and if I find something to buy, even better. 

This sort of brocante brings a different crowd to what I am accustomed every day, well dressed people, with money to spend and an eye for what is indeed worth buying. There were a few ladies there that I could only wish I would be when I will older. 

From the start, I haven't bought anything. I am in a phase of de-cluttering and rearranging my cluttered house and I always ask "do I really need this" before buying anything. Well, if anyone would go by this philosophy, no one would visit the brocantes, but this is me, now.

So here are a few pictures of things I've liked. Just so you know the brocante in Deulin Castle is opened even today, on Monday, but if you stumble upon this article sometime in the year, just know what you might find in this charming brocante.

There were a few of this bags, well priced, I want one, but just not that one.

I've liked this pot with the flowers and I would actually have space for another one, but did not buy it. I have this picture if I would ever want to replicate that. 

These beads are for Rwanda, there is a big market in the area for African art, but the seller did not know of what they were made of. I've liked them nonetheless and bought four to turn into earrings as they are lightweight. 

Then I've liked this mirror. It was 75 euros, maybe one could haggle it down to another price, I've liked its style, but at the end left it there

Then this armoire, isn't it lovely? I would have to re-build my whole house around it as it fit's none of our styles, but left it there.

Loved this jug. I think it was part of a set with a large bowl and it was used for washing the face in the morning, the older version of an en-suite loo. I have a thing with jugs at the moment, well to be honest I had it for years, but regardless, it stayed there.

Isn't this just lovely?

At some point in this life I will buy a trunk like this one, painted blue. This however remained at the brocante.

 

I would have liked to visit the castle a bit, of course there are some rooms opened, as the chapel and some workshops behind the castle, but the entrance hall is the only "room" that is opened to the public. It gives me such Wedgwood vibes, enough to keep me curious to visit the whole castle, if possible, one day.

This is just one of the courtyards of the brocante, the one where I could find the most fashion related treasures, such as lace and vintage bags and vintage linens. 

So that is folks, the Brocante du Charme au Chateau Deulin. I hope you liked this post as much as I've liked writing it and if you want to chat you will find me on Instagram @mademoiselle.ralu

Luxembourg - Staycation with a game - LetzBingo

To be honest, I don't feel like writing about anything. I feel that the experiences and travels we did in the past, stay in the past and writing about something that happened even a month ago seems pointless, to me. I'm saying that, because one of the next posts will be about the cherry trees in Arlon, that being in Spring, and although I've wrote the post then and uploaded the photos, I can't bring myself to give it a nice shape and press Publish. Don't get me wrong, if that is your thing, do your thing, I follow someone on Instagram that posted weekly pictures from the Spring Holiday up to the Summer Holiday and I enjoyed them. But at this point, I don't feel like writing about the past. I also don't feel like doing anything as it is again a pandemic Summer.

You see it in the amount of cars towing a trailer on the motorway or having an extra boot on top, you have conversations with your friends about nearby places to visit or nice places to have a holiday somewhere in the neighbouring countries. Fortunately for us the neighbouring countries have amazing spots, I'm thinking of Alsace or Bretagne in France, Eiffel or Bavaria in Germany, the whole Netherlands, the Belgian seaside and others. Only one of my friends dodged the bullet and booked a holiday on an island on a resort, the rest are exchanging ideas of camper rentals or of staycation places to tick.

And speaking a places to check, the Luxembourg City Tourist Office is having a great campaign, "Lëtzebuerg, dat ass Vakanz" inviting you to take part in a game called LetzBingo. You go on their website, download a bingo card, and start ticking things off it. Things like the highest point in the country, the nicest castle, the best food... and that is exactly what I plan on doing on my social-media handles.

The rules are simple; up to September 15th you have to check the places on the bingo card, take pictures, share them on social-media hashtagging them with #letzbingo and @visitluxembourg and at the end I think there are some prizes, but in fact having an active Summer and not becoming a Netflix watching couch potato is the real win. Also, getting to know the country you live in is another win. I know last Summer I would hear people living in Luxembourg for more than 15 years not knowing obvious places around the country, such as Larochette Castle, or Koler, the graffiti village.  

What I hope to discover playing the game? Well, I've never hiked the highest point in Luxembourg, I've never visited the smallest village in Luxembourg, I never went to a three frontier point, except Schengen. The biggest challenge? Catching a rainbow. They are so rare here in Luxembourg compared to Ireland. Even with similar weather and cloud formation, it is impossible to catch a rainbow in Luxembourg. 

What you win if you follow me? Posts about the new things I would discover, experiences I will have and places I will visit.

In case you want to follow my adventures, I am Raluca Caranfil on Facebook and @mademoiselle.ralu on Instagram.

That's it folks! Have a great end of the Summer! and #letzbingo 

Luxembourg - The Day of the Romanian Blouse, 2021

A bit late and a bit un-wanting to write this post as I think there is nothing to write about, but let's see together what I come up with. 

So, the Universal Day of the Romanian Blouse, (please let me know if the people of the ISS celebrated it, if not could we please just call it The Day of the Romanian Blouse?) is celebrated since 2013 all over the world where Romanians live. And as we spread quite a lot, you can imagine the day is celebrated everywhere. Every community is free to celebrate in its own way, but in general what we do is at least wear a Romanian Blouse on that specific day. Some communities gather in a public space and socialize, some go even further and organise events such as exhibitions, talks, book launchings or sezători. 

In Luxembourg, me and my friends have organised the day since 2013, and what we usually do is meet up in the Place Clairefontaine, wearing our blouses, then we have a picnic or a gathering of some sort, where we get to admire other blouses, meet new people who might have arrived in the last year in Luxembourg, see how everyone is doing. From one year to the next the quality of the blouses is getting better, but I still admire all women and men who found in their luggage a place for this heritage from home. I resonate more with migrants who hold on to their roots, to their unicity and authenticity. I don't need to tell you how much I love the Romanian Blouses and what they represent, you have a whole section on my blog dedicated to the topic.

There is also another group, also my friends, who make blouses. Yes, you have read it right, in Luxembourg there are women who make correct and authentic Romanian Blouses. Maybe this deserves a separate post as it is a bit amazing and a bit unthinkable a few years ago, but in Luxembourg there are women who not only know how to use the needle, but women who study and who take classes and who are really interested and willing to spend the time to make a blouse as it should be. You should see us how we ask for advice, how we debate a pattern, how we organise joint DHL packages with fabric and threads and sequins and all you could think of. How we source old Romanian Blouses and we examine them or how we talk about exhibitions organised in Romania... it is interesting and I really love the dynamic of this group. As I think I am more like them now, not wearing Romanian Blouses as much, but enjoying making them.

So, with my friends we decided to celebrate the day in our own way, partly because of the pandemic, public gathering is limited to a certain number of people and no one could really control the actual number of people willing to take part in our celebration. And, also because 24th of June, the Day of the Blouse, comes after June 23rd the National Day of Luxembourg, usually a free day. 

We decided to organise a photo shooting, because some of the ladies have made their own new blouse in the past year and because the number of authentic and correct Romanian Blouses in Luxembourg is growing as there are more and more ladies willing to dedicate time and money into making one or acquiring one.  

The photo shooting took place in a castle, as there are quite a few in Luxembourg, and I came with my new to that point, blouse with a chirușcă. Chirușca is the red triangle you see on my shoulder, it is the altiță, but instead of making it rectangular, you make it triangular. This type of altiță is to be seen in Vrancea, in Romania and it migrated to the neighbouring regions, but it is traditional to Vrancea. Of course, the traditional chirușca is embroidered, heavily I might say, but because this is an everyday blouse, an urban blouse, I chose to make it from a different fabric to mark it in some way. What is interesting in a chirușcă is the cut as the triangular shape gives the blouse a different dinamic. It is also gathered around the neck as all Romanian Blouses are, but because of the change in shape, it flows different in the back. 

On my blouse I chose to embroider the sleeves with a patern from my region, which is Iași, and embellish it with sequins. In the photo above you can see how the chirușcă is supposed to stand on the shoulders, similar to the shoulders of soldiers, proud, giving a certain figure to the person wearing the blouse. In all the other pictures, the red triangle falls on the back a little, because I did not tie the blouse around my neck. 

Also, new to me, I chose the embroider with red. This is not one of my favourite colours or even a colour I would go to when picking something to wear. I am more of a blue with mustard or orange combination. But, I had to step a little out of my comfort zone. The blouse is made with linen fabric, embroidered with red silk and wool and embellished with sequins, again something I am not very found of, but I chose to do that because the traditional chirușcă is opulent, abundant with metallic thread, with sequins or with tel (a type of flat metallic thread).

See here as the chirușcă is slipping to the back? Since the photos were taken, I've adjusted it. Also in this picture, you can see a bit better the patern used. If you are interested I will try to write a detailed post with photos about the stages of making this blouse, but as I am so behind with publishing posts on this blog, you have to wait a good while. 

They are some of my friends passionate about Romanian Blouses: Camelia, Mirela, Brândușa, Laura, Georgiana, Ștefania, Ștefana and Mădălina. Most of them wear blouses they made and also skirts they made. They are incredible as a group of friends and as individuals. They are my home away from home, the ladies who share the same language and passions, my clan. 

Pictures were taken by Gabriela, from Lightstories.lu check her handles and if you are in need of a photo session, don't hesitate.

Speaking of Romanian Blouses, if you want to make one for yourself and have no idea where to start, get in touch and we will help you. If you want one already made, please take a look at this website: croi.shop,  where ladies from Romania started making blouses to sell and they are gorgeous. It is the only website selling Romanian Blouses, I feel confident recommending. 

I hope you liked this post as much as I've enjoyed writing it and as usual you can find me @mademoiselle.ralu 

P.S. If you are interested to see how we celebrated the Day of the Romanian Blouse on June 24th in 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2020 just click on the links.