Around the World in 80 Dresses

A dirndl is a most complicated outfit. It comprises a skirt with a flowery pattern, a matching spencer, a blouse and not to forget an apron in a contrasting colour. Well, having put on all that you can easily look like the Austrian or Bavarian maiden climbing down from the alpine pastures while herding her cattle. I thoroughly scrutinized my complete dirndl from Linz and me in it. I had bought it in the lovely Austrian town in a small shop right at the cathedral while the noon bells were drowning every conversation you might want to entertain with the shop attendant. Off went the spencer, off the blouse and the apron followed. I stuck to the deconstructed version. The skirt is not only becoming, it is versatile and even comfortable on a summer day in the garden. My precious bracelet I got years ago in Meran. It adds that hint of folklore which resists deconstruction. The intricate silver work with its gilded griffins is too tempting t...

Ethnic silver jewellery used to be a sort of insurance for women in many countries. Traditionally they would not work but stay at home and raise the children. Depending on the culture they got silver jewellery as a dowry or as a bride price to protect them from poverty should their husband die prematurely or divorce them. Therefore, ethnic silver jewellery makes always a statement. The more silver got into a piece and the more intricately it was decorated the better. Arabic pieces often have Quran verses inserted in small tubes or engraved on coins. On a visit to Santiago de Chile to see my daughter on her internship I found the crocodile brooch decorated with turquoise and lapis lazuli at the wonderful Museo Chileno de Arte Precolombino in Santiago de Chile. My pieces come from countries as diverse as Egypt, Syria, Afghanistan, Morocco, Turkey, Iran, Argentina, Chile, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore and China. ©sergom5, pixabay The labyrinths of Istanbul’s Grand...