A fair dedicated to Romanian traditional blouse “ie” to start in Bucharest

Alchemia art gallery and Iiana fashion line invite fashion lovers to attend a new edition of the Romanian ‘Ie’ Fair (ie – the Romanian traditional blouse), which will present the biggest and most valuable collection of such traditional blouses, along with many other genuine garments and accessories, held between October 3-6.

At this fair, 700 new and vintage items of the fall-winter collection 2013-2014 will be put on display. The fair will be hosted by Alchemia – centre for contemporary arts – and will be open from Thursday, October 3 until Sunday, October 6, between 10:00 AM and 10:00 PM.

During this event, the public will see and also buy Romanian ‘ie’ blouses for women, men and children, unique folk skirts (‘fote’ and ‘valnice’), dresses with vintage embroidery, vests made of natural sheep hair, or handmade wool vests and belts specific to various regions of Romania. More details are here.

In June, the online community La Blouse Roumaine proposed the celebration the International Day of the Romanian Blouse Ie on June 24, when the Sanziene holiday is also celebrated.

According to their official page, 48 countries and 109 cities took part at the event, with people wearing the traditional blouse. The airline company Blue Air dressed their female crew with Ie blouses, while the passengers with the same dress-code received a gift.

“La blouse roumaine” is the name of a painting signed by Henri Matisse in 1940, which consists of a series of portraits dedicated to Romanian Ie. Matisse was fascinated by the Romanian blouse that he discovered through the friendship with the Romanian painter Theodor Pallady. Paper oil “La blouse roumaine” depicts a peasant woman dressed in Ie, with plaits braided crown and placed his hands in his lap. The painting measures 92 X 73 inches and is exposed at the National Museum of Modern Art in Paris.

By painting “La Blouse Roumaine” Henri Matisse gave it artistic permanence and also international recognition. Indeed the painting had become an icon of Romanians and in particular of Romanian feminists.