un mort frumos cu ochii vii

in 2017 dior copied the design of a traditional romanian coat from the county of bihor and sold it for 30,000 euro, giving no credit to the local artisans. in response, romanian fashion magazine beau monde helped the community create their own brand, bihor couture, which sells the original coat, handmade to order, for 500 euro a piece. they also sell other traditional clothing and jewelry for much more accessible prices (5-45 euro). they’ve been hugely successful so far, and currently have enough pre-orders to cover 4.5 years of work, with 100% of the profits returning to the community. 

it’s surprisingly common for big name fashion designers like dior, gaultier, tom ford and altuzarra to copy traditional romanian clothing and sell it for ridiculous prices, with minimal original input, while giving nothing back to the community where these designs originated. it’s completely unfair that a big name designer can just steal so much hard work and misuse it to make huge profits. 

also romania: 

Alexandru Andrei Manole

un mort frumos cu ochii vii

anna karenina - sentence prompts 

“Alright fine I’ll accompany you to the grocery store then. Because you phrased it so poetically.”

Alexandru, do me a favour though. If I start falling asleep, give me shake, yes? It is bad for my neck like this. [ Where she’s leaning against him, and where she knows knitting is not no guarantee she’ll stay awake ]

Last time I did that, you swatted at me. Maybe I should bring a pillow for you after all?

ie aesthetic

The Universal Day of the Romanian Blouse (Ziua Iei) is celebrated in June 22-24, all around the world. The Universal Day of the Romanian Blouse has become a truly global event celebrated on six continents, 55 countries, 130 cities, and 200 events. In 2014, the movement grew exponentially, to almost 100,000 members, with an audience of millions of visitors mostly from Romania, the rest of Europe, and the United States.Last year, June 24 was officially recognized by the Mayor of Washington as the “Universal Day of the Romanian Blouse” in the US capital.

The Romanian blouse, ie by its original Romanian name, is not a simple traditional peasant blouse, but it became a symbol of Romania, with its legends, stories and deep significance.The ie (pronounced ee-eh) is a blouse, traditionally worn by Romanian girls and women. And it has overcome its traditional peasant confines, as it became an important source of inspiration for the fashion designers in Romania and abroad. High-ranking names such as Tom Ford based his 2012 collection on the Romanian traditional motifs.

The ie is entirely hand-made from a special fabric called approx. in English ‘sheer lawn’, with exquisite embroideries on the chest, back and sleeves, with designs preserved for centuries.