me: “Fine, thanks.”

I recently started following the zventenze blog because they’ve been posting a lot of Eastern European winter festivals and costumes, which introduced me to some of the stylin’est, greatest imagery I never knew about. SO GOOD. 

These remind me of my grandmother’s sets of unedited folklore from around the world, which captured my imagination as a child. The stories were always scarier, more surreal, and more beautiful than their post-Victorian retellings. My favorites – regardless of origin – gave me this same cozy-creepy feeling.

First three are Bulgarian kukeri, or mummers.

Next two are New Year’s bear dancers in eastern Romania, (which I’ve seen posted everywhere but only just learned the context.)