Schwalm Costume

Schwalm women wore short beaded necklaces with their festive costumes.

These necklaces were mostly made with Bohemian glass beads with a bevel polishing.

They were also made with amber beads (for wealthier women).

The amber beads also got a bevel polishing.

A coloured silk ribbon was used to secure the necklace.
The beads of the necklace did not fully encircle the neck; a short distance at the back of the neck was bridged with the silk ribbon.
The beads were strung onto a strong thread.

Often the heavy necklaces were worn doubled. A knot in the thread

marked the place where the strand was turned and laid back.

The mid point of the silk ribbon was fastened at one end of the strand.

One end of the ribbon was threaded through the folded back strand at the knot mark on the opposite side of the necklace.

The ribbon ends were secured with a knot at the back of the neck.

In single strands, the beads were approximately the same size, but different sizes for girls and women were common.

Often the beads for adults had a diameter of about 2 cm. Such a double-row necklace containing thirty beads (on the left in the above image) weighs 280 g! Did you ever wear such a heavy necklace?

The amber discs had a thickness of nearly 1 cm
and a diameter of more then 2 cm.
Such a double-row amber necklace containing seventy-four discs weighs 190 g.

The chains lie upon the silk neckerchiefs.

This makes wearing the heavy rocks more pleasant.

Black necklaces made from glass beads were worn with the black costume.

In addition to these most common necklaces, there were also necklaces for special occasions such as marriage. These will be subject of a future article.

The joy-and-sorrow neckerchiefs were a special type of neckerchiefs worn by Schwalm women.

Especially precious cloths made of pure silk were worked in such a way that they could be worn for either cheerful or mournful occasions.

Because the square cloths were folded diagonally, either the colourful

or the black

or the white-and-black side was visible.

Often these especially pretty cloths were embellished with embroidery.

Schwalm women wore neckerchiefs with their festive costumes. These square cloths were made of pure silk.

The neckerchiefs of young women were often very colourful reflecting the basic colour of the costume.

Fringe made from silk threads knotted at the edges was common.

The bundled threads of the fringe were knotted at least once again,

but usually more often.

The square cloths were folded diagonally. The established triangle was laid in the back.
Depending on how the cap bands (subject of a future article) were worn – in the back or in the front – the ends were either inserted in the front at the waist between skirts and apron

or wound around the neck, crossed over in the front, and knotted underneath the triangle in the back.

When the weather got colder, Schwalm women wore a short long-sleeved jacket over the bodice and waistcoat of their festive costumes.

The outside fabric was silk, cashmere or wool.

The jackets were completely lined –

either with a plain linen-weave fabric made of linen threads in the warp and hand-spun lambswool in the woof

or with the same fabric felted.

The front pieces were cut with large curves like the cut of the waistcoats. The arrangement of the buttons formed a heart.

Similar to the waistcoats, most of the jackets had black velvet bands under the button sections.

There were jackets in green, lilac (matching the blue costume), and black.

Often the green silk fabric

was hand embroidered with small red patterns.

The sleeves were long and snug fitting

and closed with two buttons.

The edges of the sleeves were trimmed with black velvet, cut zigzag and decorated with simple ornamental stitches.

The jackets reached from the collarbone to the waist and were close fitting.

A 5 cm high strip of inverted pleats was added at the bottom edge. When the jacket was worn, the pleats lay upon the waistband of the skirts. This pleated section gave the jacket the name of “Troll” jacket.

The fabric strip for the inverted pleats was edged with black velvet.

In patterned fabric the pleats were arranged to match the pattern.

So that the pleats would keep their shape, they were secured on the back with two rows of stitches

in different techniques.

Girls also wore such green jackets with their red costume.